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 The study, carried out by researchers in a Chicago Medical Center, evaluating cognitive change over a period of 4.7 years among 960 dementia-free adults with average age of 81.4 years. The participants were tested on their ability in five areas – episodic memory, working memory, semantic memory, visuospatial ability relating to visual perception of spatial relationships among objects and lastly the perceptual speed, according to a report in Drinks Business.
Martha Clare Morris, a nutritional epidemiologist, helped developed the diet known as the Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND). The pre-selected diet of the subject was recorded and analyzed.
“Everyone experiences decline with aging and Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the US, which accounts for 60 to 80% of dementia cases”, she says. “Therefore, prevention of cognitive decline, the defining feature of dementia, is now more important than ever. Delaying dementia’s onset by just five years can reduce the cost and prevalence by nearly half.” With the longer expected life expectancy, dementia and Alzheimer’s have taken on a significant role in India as well.
The diet is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets, which have both been found to also reduce the risk of cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension, heart attack and stroke.
“The MIND diet modifies the Mediterranean and DASH diets to highlight the foods and nutrients shown through the scientific literature to be associated with dementia prevention”, said Morris.
Like all similar studies of this nature, there is a rider. “There is still a great deal of study we need to do in this area, and I expect that we’ll make further modifications as the science on diet and the brain advances.,” she sums up.
Glass of Red Wine for MIND
Medical Daily recommends this new diet that can help avoid the dreaded Alzheimer’s Disease. The MIND diet, was found to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s by more than half (53 %) of the participants who stuck to it faithfully. It also benefited those who love rich foods and occasionally cheated. Moderate MIND dieters who did their best achieved a 35 percent lower risk of developing dementia.
The MIND diet has 10 components that are good for brain, including a daily glass of red wine added to the mix. This includes Green leafy vegetables, Other vegetables, Nuts, Berries, Beans, Whole grains, Fish, Poultry and Olive oil. The study findings suggest that the MIND diet substantially slows cognitive decline with age.
The Study was funded by The National Institute of Aging and the results of the study were published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. |