People whose diet more closely resembles the MIND diet may have a lower risk of cognitive impairment, according to a study published in the September 18, 2024, online issue of Neurology ® , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Results were similar for Black and white participants. These results do not prove that the MIND diet prevents cognitive impairment, they only show an association.
The MIND diet is a combination of the Mediterranean and DASH diets. It includes green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and collard greens along with other vegetables. It recommends whole grains, olive oil, poultry, fish, beans and nuts.
It prioritizes berries over other fruits and recommends one or more servings of fish per week. 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. We were especially interested to see whether diet affects the risk of cognitive impairment in both Black and white study participants.
" Russell P. Sawyer, MD, study author of the University of Cincinnati in Ohio and member of the American Academy of Neurology The study involved 14,145 people with an average age of 64. Of participants, 70% were white and 30% were Black.
They were followed for an average of 10 years. Participants filled out a questionnaire on their diet over the past year. Researchers looked at how closely the foods people were eating matched the.