You may be hearing more about the MIND diet lately. A recent study added evidence that diet, which includes a variety of brain-friendly foods, may help protect against Alzheimer's disease.
Eating certain foods can help improve brain health and preserve brain function. There is growing scientific evidence that shows that sticking to a method called dieting MIND it can make a difference in the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.
“MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay,” says Murad. “It's a combination of two other healthy diets: the Mediterranean diet and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, and includes a variety of brain-friendly foods.”
MIND: choose carefully what to eat
What he emphasizes are green leafy vegetables; berries; nuts, especially those high in omega-3; the fish; and one other vegetable besides green leafy vegetables,” adds Murad. Murad says the MIND diet is nutrient-dense and not difficult to follow. Foods to avoid or limit include butter, cheese, red meats and sweets.
People who eat a diet rich in leafy greens as well as other vegetables, fruits, whole grains, olive oil, beans, nuts, and fish may have fewer amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain (signs of Alzheimer's disease) than to people who don't. consume such diets, according to a study published in the March 8, 2023 online issue of Neurology.
The study looked at how closely people followed the MIND and Mediterranean diets. Although similar, the Mediterranean diet recommends vegetables, fruit and three or more servings of fish per week while the MIND diet prioritizes leafy greens such as spinach, kale and kale along with other vegetables. The MIND diet also prioritizes berries over other fruits and recommends one or more servings of fish per week. Both the MIND and Mediterranean diets recommend small amounts of wine.
While this study shows an association between regular consumption of these diets and fewer Alzheimer's plaques and tangles, it does not establish a cause and effect relationship.
“These findings are exciting: Improving people's diets in just one area, such as eating more than six servings of leafy green vegetables a week or not eating fried foods, was associated with fewer amyloid plaques in the brain, in similar way to when they were about four years old. younger,” said study author Puja Agarwal, Ph.D., of RUSH University in Chicago.
“While our research does not prove that a healthy diet leads to less deposition of amyloid plaques in the brain, also known as a marker of Alzheimer's disease, we know there is a relationship and following the MIND diet and the Mediterranean diet could be one way people can improve their brain health and protect cognitive abilities as they age.”
The study involved 581 people with an average age of 84 at the time of the diet evaluation who agreed to donate their brains upon death to advance dementia research. Participants completed annual questionnaires asking how much they ate of food items in various categories.
Participants died an average of seven years after the study began. Immediately before death, 39% of participants had been diagnosed with dementia. When examined after death, 66% met the criteria for Alzheimer's disease.
During the autopsy, researchers examined the participants' brains to determine the amount of amyloid plaques and tau tangles. Both are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, but can also be found in the brains of older people with normal cognitive abilities. The researchers then examined the food questionnaires collected during follow-up and ranked the quality of the diet for each person.
For the Mediterranean diet there were 11 food categories. Participants were assigned a score from zero to 55, with higher scores if they respected the diet in these categories: whole grains, fruit, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, fish and potatoes. They received lower scores if they ate red meat, poultry and full-fat dairy products.
For the MIND diet there were 15 categories. Participants were given a score from zero to 15, with one point each for 10 brain-healthy food groups, including leafy greens, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine. They lost a point if they ate more than recommended foods in five unhealthy food groups, including red meat, butter and margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, fried foods and fast food.
The researchers then divided the participants into three groups for each diet and compared those in the higher groups with those in the lower groups. For the Mediterranean diet, people in the highest group had an average score of 35 while those in the lowest group had an average score of 26. For the MIND diet, the highest group had an average score of 9 while the lowest group had an average score of 9. score 6.
After adjusting for age at death, sex, education, total calorie intake, and whether people had a gene linked to a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease, the researchers found that people who scored highest for having who adhered to the Mediterranean diet had medium amounts of plaques and tangles in their brains. similar to being 18 years younger than the people who scored the lowest.
The researchers also found that people who scored highest on adhering to the MIND diet had similar average amounts of plaques and tangles being 12 years younger than those who scored lowest.
A MIND diet score one point higher corresponded to the typical plaque amount of younger participants by 4.25 years.
Looking at individual components of the diet, the researchers found that people who ate the maximum amount of leafy green vegetables—seven or more servings per week—had amounts of plaques in their brains corresponding to being nearly 19 years younger than people who ate less, with one or fewer servings per week.
“Our finding that eating more leafy greens is itself associated with fewer signs of Alzheimer's disease in the brain is intriguing enough to prompt people to consider adding more of these vegetables to their diet,” he said. said Agarwal. “Future studies are needed to further establish our findings.”
One limitation of the study was that participants were mostly white, non-Hispanic, and older, so the findings cannot be generalized to other populations.
A diet designed to improve brain health appears to benefit people with multiple sclerosis (MS), new research suggests.
For the study, a team from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City looked at 185 people diagnosed with MS over the past five years. They each had MRI brain scans and answered detailed questionnaires.
The result: Those who ate more “good” foods from a brain-healthy eating regimen known as the MIND diet and fewer “bad” foods tended to have more preserved tissue in a critical relay station in the brain called the thalamus.
The study also found a link between consuming more high-fat dairy products and fewer MS-related brain lesions. Consuming omega-3 fatty acids from fish also had benefits for the brain.
The MIND diet combines aspects of the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.
MIND is the abbreviation of Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. The diet is designed to promote brain health, and previous studies have suggested it could help prevent Alzheimer's disease and preserve thinking skills in older adults.
Foods considered “good” include leafy greens, berries, nuts, and fish, while those considered “bad” include fried foods, butter, cheese, red and processed meats, and sweets.
About 1 million Americans suffer from MS, a central nervous system disorder with symptoms that can range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. Most people are diagnosed with the disease between the ages of 20 and 50. The disease affects women three times more often than men. There is currently no cure.
Dr. Ilana Katz Sand, a neurologist, conducted the study.
The study had a couple of key limitations: The research was limited to patients in the early stages of MS and only required a one-time snapshot.
But the findings provide further evidence about the impact of diet and nutrition on outcomes for people with MS, the researchers said. They will continue to follow participants to determine whether healthy diets continue to have benefits as MS progresses.
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