The MIND Diet
A Rush University study compared the DASH and Mediterranean-style diet with a hybrid of both diets that the researchers called The MIND diet.
The MIND trial followed 923 individuals aged 58 to 98 for an average of 4.5 years (in a range of two to 10 years). Participants’ diets were scored by how closely they matched up with recommendations for the Mediterranean, DASH, or MIND eating patterns. High adherence to any of these diets was associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline. For the people who followed the diet most closely, the Mediterranean diet had the greatest impact, with the top one-third of adherents realizing a 54% reduction in the risk of developing AD. The MIND diet was a close second at 53% reduction. But the MIND diet was the most effective overall, since the middle one-third of MIND diet followers had a significant reduction in AD (35%) during the study period, even when results were adjusted for AD risk factors. Study author Martha Clare Morris, ScD, states “unlike the other two diets we studied, even moderate adherence to the MIND diet brought about significant reduction in dementia risk”.
The MIND Diet Guidelines
| Include These | Limit These |
| Green Leafy Vegetables – every day | Red Meats |
| Other Vegetables – at least once per day | Butter and stick Margarine – less than 1 tablespoon per day |
| Nuts – every day | Cheese – less than one serving per week |
| Berries – at least twice per week | Pastries and Sweets |
| Beans – every other day | Fried or Fast Food – less than one serving per week |
| Whole Grains – three times per day | |
| Fish – at least once per week | |
| Poultry – at least twice per week | |
| Olive Oil | |
| Wine – one glass per day |
Because of the limitations of these types of studies, it’s not possible to tease out which inclusionary foods provide benefits and which of the inclusionary foods provide little if any benefit.
However, with the current preponderance of evidence on plant-based diets, I don’t think that it is a big leap to assume that most of the benefits seen in the MIND diet comes from the veggies, berries, beans, whole grains and nuts.
The MIND Diet modifies the DASH and Mediterranean-style diets by placing an emphasis on foods that have been linked by previous research to improved cognitive function and delayed decline. The MIND diet emphasizes foods shown to support a healthy brain and recommends limiting potentially damaging choices.
I decided to check the article that was cited to support the foods chosen for the MIND Diet. It turns out that it is just an article that describes the MIND Trial. But interestingly enough, the subtitle of the article is “MIND Diet rich in vegetables, berries, whole grains and nuts”.
My hope is that there will be future studies comparing The MIND Diet with a well-balanced Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) diet that completely eliminates fish, poultry and wine in addition to the foods that are just limited on the MIND Diet. Maybe even more benefit will be seen in WFPB diets that are especially high in blueberries which the authors claim are particularly potent in protecting the brain.
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