Have you ever heard of the MIND Diet? I hadn’t until I saw this headline:
“New Research Shows MIND Diet Keeps Brains 7.5 Years Younger”
Now who wouldn’t want a diet that would help them keep their brain younger. Well, MIND is short for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. Its a hybrid of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH eating plan designed to control blood pressure. It was developed by the nutritional epidemiologists at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center.
Before I share with you the results of their study, here is a brief summary of the MIND diet:
At least three servings of whole grains a day
A salad and one other vegetable a day
A glass of wine a day
A serving of nuts a day
Beans every other day
Poultry and berries at least twice a week
Fish at least once a week
Limit unhealthy-brain foods, especially butter (less than one tablespoon a day), cheese, and fast or fired food
Personally, I no longer consume whole grains since I’ve gone Gluten Free. But I use flax hull lignans everyday in my morning shake, which provides a good source of fiber. I’m good on the salad (spinach every day) and vegetable. I don’t drink alcohol but I get red wine extract everyday. I’m good with the nuts since I add a tablespoon of almond butter to my morning shake. I no longer eat beans. Poultry and berries are almost every day. Fish is like once a month. And I pretty much stay away from the unhealthy-brain foods except for butter. I don’t buy into the dangers of butter as long as its from hormone free cows.
So I’m not perfect but according to the researchers at Rush University Medical Center you don’t have to be perfect to derive benefits.
In their study they examined 923 Chicago residents between the ages of 58 and 98 over a 10 year period. Those who followed the DASH diet saw a 39% reduced risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. Those who followed the Mediterranean diet saw a 54% reduction in Alzheimer’s risk. And for those who adhered to the MIND diet, they saw a 53% reduction in risk.
Here Was Their Biggest Finding For The MIND Diet!
Those who only moderately stuck to the Mediterranean and DASH diets did not see their Alzheimer’s risk decrease. Those who moderately followed the MIND diet still saw their risk for Alzheimer’s disease drop by 35%.
This means you don’t have to be perfect to derive a benefit.
Additionally, the longer men and women followed the MIND diet, the greater their protection against cognitive decline. By as much as 7.5 years for those who strictly followed the diet. For those that adhered to the diet the least, they still saw a 5 year improvement in cognitive function. According to Martha Clare Morris, a nutritional epidemiologist at Rush University Medical Center,
“The study findings suggest that the MIND diet substantially slows cognitive decline with age.”
Again, you don’t have to be perfect to derive a benefit.
The key is to start.
If you’re into morning shakes and smoothies, then this is the place to start. Add your spinach, almond butter, and berries with a whole grain fiber source and you’ve knock off 4 of the 8 recommendations. Add poultry and a vegetable in a later meal and your beginning to “rock it!”
Summer is quickly coming to a close and most everyone will be back to a normal schedule. As that happens make the needed changes to improve your ability to incorporate the MIND diet into your lifestyle.
10 years from now your mind will remember and thank you for it.
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