MIND Diet Helps in Keeping Alzheimer Away

MIND Diet Helps in Keeping Alzheimer Away

Ayurveda, ancient Indian medical system has always favoured prevention over cure. This system has advocated healthy eating and simple living as the best way to survive. A new study where a healthy diet regime is successful in keeping Alzheimer (AD) at bay just one of its example.

A number of diverse factors such as genetics, environment and lifestyle may contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s; the research suggests that diet is certainly among these factors. As such, targeting nutrition may be an effective prevention measure.

Researchers developed the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet based on information that has accrued from years' worth of past research about what foods types effects on the functioning of the brain over time. This is the first study to relate the MIND diet to Alzheimer's disease.  The study shows that the MIND diet lowered the risk of AD by as much as 53% in participants who adhered to the diet rigorously, and by about 35% in those who followed it moderately well.

The MIND diet is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets, both of which have been found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular conditions, like hypertension, heart attack and stroke. Some researchers have found that the two older diets provide protection against dementia as well.

The MIND Diet incorporates elements of the Mediterranean diet -- which is high in fish, healthy fats, vegetables and whole grains and has been found to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer -- and the DASH which is heavy in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy and has been found to reduce the risk of hypertension, heart attack and stroke.

MIND diet:  a person should take at least

three servings of whole grains,

a salad and one other vegetable every day,

a glass of wine,

snacks most days on nuts,

has beans every other day or so,

eats poultry and berries at least twice a week ,

fish at least once a week .

However, person must limits intake of the designated unhealthy foods, especially butter (less than 1 tablespoon a day), cheese, and fried or fast food (less than a serving a week for any of the three), to have a real shot at avoiding the effects of AD, according to the study.

The study enlisted volunteers already participating in the ongoing Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP), which began in 1997 among residents of Chicago-area retirement communities and senior public housing complexes. An optional "food frequency questionnaire" was added from 2004 to February 2013, and the MIND diet study looked at results for 923 volunteers. A total of 144 cases of AD developed in this cohort.

Article Citation: Morris, M. C.; et. al. MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia Mar2015. DOI:10.1016/j.jalz.2014.11.009

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