The topic of cognitive health has been increasingly significant in recent years, with dementia posing a significant challenge. Dementia affects an individual’s thinking, memory, and reasoning skills, disrupting their everyday life. Often, years before the onset of dementia, individuals may experience cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment. Therefore, the identification of interventions that could either delay or prevent these preliminary issues could substantially reduce the risk of dementia.
Several studies have suggested that a healthful diet and sound eating patterns could enhance cognitive function. Certain diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, which focuses on fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, and the DASH eating plan, designed chiefly for hypertension treatment or prevention, are the primary routes explored so far.
A diet that combines the key aspects of the Mediterranean and the DASH diets is known as the MIND diet. MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. Its goal is to maintain and improve brain health. This heart-friendly healthful diet encourages a high intake of green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and berries, along with a weekly serving of fish. Meanwhile, it suggests limiting the consumption of red meat, sweets, cheese, fast food, and fried foods.
A team of researchers led by Dr. Russell P. Sawyer from the University of Cincinnati conducted a study to examine if there is a connection between the MIND diet and cognitive health. They were also interested in identifying whether there were any noticeable differences among Black and White Americans and between genders, given that previous studies on diet and cognitive health scarcely included Black participants.
The researchers utilized data from an extensive, ongoing study named REGARDS (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) supported by NIH. REGARDS aims to investigate why Black Americans and others are at a higher risk of stroke and related conditions impacting brain health. Among the 30,000 participants of REGARDS, about 14,000 individuals had sufficient data on their cognitive status and eating habits for inclusion in this new analysis.
Based on the extent of individuals’ adherence to the heart-friendly healthful diet recommendations, the research team devised a score for each participant. Cognitive health was evaluated both at the start and end of the study. Generally, the researchers discovered that individuals who adhered more to the MIND diet demonstrated lower cognitive impairment and slower rates of cognitive decline. This dietary adherence was found to decrease the risk of cognitive impairment by 4%.
In addition, stronger adherence to this diet was linked to an 8% lower risk of cognitive decline in women, with no similar association observed in men. Moreover, adherence to the diet turned out to be a superior predictor of cognitive decline in Black participants than in White ones.
While these findings align with previous studies that scrutinize the association between cognitive health and the MIND and other healthful diets, additional research is imperative for a more profound understanding of the function of healthy eating in cognitive health. As the population continues to age and the number of dementia cases rises, exploring modifications that can slow down or delay cognitive issues is paramount. The variations in the impact among men and women and Black and White individuals necessitate further investigation.
