Ep. 127: The MIND Diet for Improving Brain Health, Part 1
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A growing body of research suggests that your food choices can affect the long-term health of your brain to the extent that certain diets, such as something called the MIND diet, may significantly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. In fact, research indicates the MIND diet can be so protective of the brain that one study showed those who most adhered to it had a brain age 7.5 years younger compared to those who least adhered to the diet. So how does the MIND diet work? Which foods are in the MIND diet—and what are some practical tips to help us to incorporate this eating pattern into our lives? In the second of our three-part series on Alzheimer’s, Leslie Beck gets the answers from two of the researchers who helped develop the MIND diet: cognitive neurologist Dr. Neelum Aggarwal, (above, left) and nutritionist Dr. Christy Tangney, (above, right) both of Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center.
LINKS
This pair of observational studies were co-authored by Dr. Aggarwal and Dr. Tangney and published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia back in 2015. These studies first put the MIND diet on the map.
Learn more about the MIND diet randomized controlled trial, designed to establish causality, and meet the researchers.
Learn more about the MIND diet and cognition with these helpful articles:
Can Certain Foods Really Stave Off Dementia? In the New York Times, April 2022.
Talking food and brain health with Dr. Martha Clare Morris, lead researcher of the MIND diet study in Dr. Annie Fenn’s blog, Brain Health Kitchen.
Leslie Beck has written about the MIND diet in her column in the Globe and Mail:
How (and why) to ‘green’ your Mediterranean diet (January 2022)
To protect your brain, add these brightly coloured fruits and vegetables to your diet (August 2021)
Anti-inflammatory diet may be best to slow cognitive aging (November 2021)
Follow the MIND diet to stave off Alzheimer’s (April 2015)
Since this article was published, the recommended servings of certain brain-healthy foods have changed. Learn about why researchers have adjusted recommended servings. [29:16]
Learn more about the MIND diet randomized controlled trial, designed to establish causality, and meet the researchers.
Dr. Martha Clare Morris & her daughter, Laura Morris, wrote a book on the MIND diet, and how to incorporate it into your lifestyle. That’s called Diet For The Mind. Check it out at Chapters/Indigo and Amazon.
Read up on more relevant scientific research:
Dr. Christy Tangney is a principal investigator of the US Pointer trial: The Alzheimer's Association U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk.
Dr. Tangney also mentions the PREDIMED trial, which was published in the April 2013 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, and found that a “Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts reduced the incidence of major cardiovascular events.”
The Health and Retirement Study was published in the August 2017 issue of the Journal of American Geriatrics Society, and found that the study participants who most closely adhered to either the Mediterranean diet or the MIND diet had a 30 to 35% lower risk of cognitive impairment.
Dr. Aggarwal is a co-author of this study, published in the June 2019 issue of the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, which found that “high adherence to the MIND diet was associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline after stroke.”
INSIGHTS
Where did the MIND diet come from, and how were Dr. Christy Tangney and Dr. Neelum Aggarwal involved in its creation? [4:30]
The first studies on the MIND diet were conducted in 2015, and their results helped shift our understanding of the connection between diet and brain health. [9:35]
What is the MIND diet score? [10:56]
Dr. Tangney and Dr. Aggarwal are both researchers of the ongoing MIND diet randomized controlled trial, and they are actively looking at the data. [13:11]
Dr. Tangney and Dr. Aggarwal break down the staple brain-healthy foods of the MIND diet, and just how much of each you should try to incorporate into your dietary pattern. [18:57]
Leafy greens [19:03]
Berries [20:42]
Nuts [22:59]
Beans and legumes [23:54]
Whole grains [27:17]
Olive oil should be your main cooking oil, and it’s important to use extra-virgin olive oil for its unique fat content and fatty acid composition. [21:26]
In the past, red wine was considered one of the MIND diet’s brain healthy foods. Dr. Tangney, Dr. Aggarwal and the other randomized controlled trial researchers decided to omit red wine from most of their research. [24:49]
Dr. Tangney explains why the recommended portions of brain-healthy foods have changed over time. [29:16]
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