MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective cohort study with longitudinal follow-up
PubMed 26086182 · doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2015.04.011
What was done
Researchers evaluated 960 participants from the Memory and Aging Project followed for an average of 4.7 years. They devised the Mediterranean-Dietary Approach to Systolic Hypertension (DASH) diet intervention for neurodegenerative delay (MIND) diet score based on neuroprotective dietary components and evaluated its association with cognitive change over time using adjusted mixed models.
What was found
The MIND diet score was positively associated with slower decline in global cognitive score (beta = 0.0092, P < .0001) and with slower decline across each of five cognitive domains. The difference in rate of cognitive decline between the top tertile and the lowest tertile of MIND diet scores was equivalent to being 7.5 years younger in age.
Why it matters
The paper introduces the MIND diet as a targeted dietary pattern for dementia prevention and provides longitudinal evidence linking its adherence to slower cognitive aging.
Limits
The study design is observational, meaning confounding remains possible and causality cannot be determined. The abstract does not report baseline participant demographics, specific domain-level statistics, or loss to follow-up, and confirmation in randomized clinical trials is needed.
Cited by
- supports The MIND diet was developed from data in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, where higher MIND diet scores were associated with a lower risk of later dementia.