What’s Your MIND Score? The Links Between Diet and Brain Health

Minding what you eat may help to keep the mind sharp. Those are the findings of a new study that found that people who adhered most closely to a diet rich in leafy greens, whole grains, olive oil, chicken, fish, berries, beans and nuts tended to maintain memory and thinking skills better than those who ate less of these foods.

 

The findings show only an association and do not prove cause and effect. But they add to growing evidence that what we eat can affect our brain health.

 

“With the number of people with dementia increasing with the aging population, it’s critical to find changes that we can make to delay or slow down the development of cognitive problems,” said study author Dr. Russell P. Sawyer of the University of Cincinnati. “We were especially interested to see whether diet affects the risk of cognitive impairment in both Black and white study participants.”

 

For the study, published in Neurology, the researchers looked at 14,145 men and women whose average age was 64. About 70 percent were white and 30 percent Black, a higher percentage of Black participants than in most previous studies of foods and brain health. The researchers followed them over a 10-year period.

 

To get a sense of their overall eating habits, participants completed questionnaires about the foods they typically ate over the previous year. The study looked at how closely they adhered to the MIND diet, which combines elements of two diets that have been shown to be beneficial for heart health: the traditional Mediterranean diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and olive oil; and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, low in salt and likewise rich in vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy and nuts. Previous studies have found that the MIND diet may reduce a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

 

Participants’ diets were ranked according to the following scale, with one point given for each of the following typical food patterns:

 

Participants were divided into three groups according to their typical diets. Those with the lowest adherence to the MIND diet (4,456 people) had an average diet score of 5; those in the middle group (5,602 people) had an average score of 7; and the high-adherence group (4,087 people) had an average score of 9.

 

Researchers also assessed their thinking and memory skills using standard cognitive tests at the start of the study period, and again 10 years later,. During that time, 12 percent of the low-adherence group developed memory and thinking problems; 11 percent of the middle-adherence group developed cognitive problems; and 10 percent of the high-adherence group developed cognitive problems. 

 

The researchers then considered other risk factors for cognitive problems such as age, high blood pressure and diabetes. They calculated that adhering most closely to a MIND-style diet was independently associated with a 4 percent decreased risk of developing memory and thinking problems. In those who showed signs of cognitive decline, the declines were slower in those who followed a MIND diet, especially among Black participants.

 

The study relied on self-completed food questionnaires, which can be unreliable. And many factors likely play a role in the links between diet and brain health. “But it’s exciting to consider that people could make some simple changes to their diet and potentially reduce or delay their risk of cognitive issues,” Dr. Sawyer said.

 

By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by Eric Schmidt, Ph.D. Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University. 

 

Source: Russell P. Sawyer, MD, Jessica Blair, MS, Rhonna Shatz, DO, Jennifer J. Manly, PhD, and Suzanne E. Judd, PhD, MPH: “Association of Adherence to a MIND-Style Diet With the Risk of Cognitive Impairment and Decline in the REGARDS Cohort.” Neurology, September 18, 2024