MIND diets may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease

According to a study, individuals who consume diets rich in green leafy vegetables, as well as other foods such as fruits, whole grains, olive oil, beans, nuts, and fish, such as the MIND diet (short for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) may have fewer Alzheimer’s disease indicators, including amyloid plaques and tau tangles, compared to those who do not eat such diets.

These food items are predominantly found in brain-focused diets and plant-based Mediterranean diets.

Although similar, the Mediterranean diet recommends vegetables, fruit, and three or more servings of fish per week, while the MIND diet prioritizes green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collard greens, along with other vegetables.

The MIND diet also emphasizes berries over other fruits and recommends one or more servings of fish per week. Both the MIND and Mediterranean diets also advise moderate consumption of wine.

The study discovered that individuals who consumed the most green leafy vegetables, or seven or more servings per week, had plaque levels in their brains comparable to those almost 19 years younger than individuals who consumed the fewest, with one or fewer servings per week

Puja Agarwal, a researcher from RUSH University in Chicago, stated that the study’s discovery that consuming more green leafy vegetables is associated with fewer indications of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain is intriguing enough to encourage individuals to incorporate more of these vegetables into their diet.

The study, which was published in the Neurology journal, demonstrated an association between regularly consuming these diets and having fewer Alzheimer’s disease plaques and tangles; however, it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

Nonetheless, Agarwal found the results exciting, explaining that enhancing one’s diet in a single area, such as consuming more than six servings of green leafy vegetables per week or avoiding fried foods, was related to having fewer amyloid plaques in the brain, which is similar to being about four years younger.

While their research does not prove that a healthy diet leads to fewer brain deposits of amyloid plaques, an indicator of Alzheimer’s disease, Agarwal believes that following the MIND and Mediterranean diets is a way for people to improve their brain health and protect their cognitive abilities as they age.

In the study, which involved 581 participants with an average age of 84 when their diet was evaluated, the individuals agreed to donate their brains after death to aid research on dementia. The participants died, on average, seven years after the study began.

At the time of death, 39% of the participants had been diagnosed with dementia, and upon examination after death, 66% met the criteria for Alzheimer’s disease.

One drawback of the study was that the participants were primarily white, non-Hispanic, and elderly, indicating that the results may not be widely applicable to other populations.

Agarwal acknowledges that further research is required to validate their findings.