The Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) Diet for the Aging Brain: A Systematic Review.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to provide an updated and comprehensive overview of human studies examining the MIND diet's association with brain aging outcomes in adults aged 40 years and older.
Results Summary
Higher adherence to the MIND diet was protective against dementia in 7 of 10 cohorts and showed positive associations with global cognition (3 of 4 cohorts) and episodic memory (4 of 6 cohorts). However, evidence for cognitive decline and other brain outcomes was mixed or limited.
Population
Adults aged ≥40 years, primarily North American cohorts.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MIND diet | decrease | dementia | adults aged ≥40 y | 7 of 10 cohorts | protective of | #1 |
MIND diet | increase | global cognition | adults aged ≥40 y | 3 of 4 cohorts | positive associations were demonstrated for | #2 |
MIND diet | increase | episodic memory | adults aged ≥40 y | 4 of 6 cohorts | positive associations were demonstrated for | #3 |
MIND diet | decrease | cognitive decline | adults aged ≥40 y | 2 of 7 longitudinal cohorts | protective effects on | #4 |
MIND diet | decrease | episodic memory decline | adults aged ≥40 y | 1 of 6 longitudinal cohorts | protective effects on | #5 |
MIND diet | no change | domain-specific cognition, cognitive impairments, Parkinson's disease, brain volume, and pathology | adults aged ≥40 y | - | results were mixed or only few studies had been performed for | #6 |
MIND diet | increase | healthy brain aging | North American populations | - | may be the preferred diet for | #7 |
The Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet seems a promising approach to preserve brain function during aging. Previous systematic reviews have demonstrated benefits of the MIND diet for cognition and dementia, though an update is needed. Additionally, other outcomes relevant to brain aging have not been summarized. Therefore, this systematic review aims to give an up-to-date and complete overview on human studies that examined the MIND diet in relation to brain aging outcomes in adults aged ≥40 y. Ovid Medline, Web of Science core collection, and Scopus were searched up to July 25, 2023. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool. We included 40 articles, of which 32 were unique cohorts. Higher MIND diet adherence was protective of dementia in 7 of 10 cohorts. Additionally, positive associations were demonstrated in 3 of 4 cohorts for global cognition and 4 of 6 cohorts for episodic memory. The protective effects of the MIND diet on cognitive decline are less apparent, with only 2 of 7 longitudinal cohorts demonstrating positive associations for global decline and 1 of 6 for episodic memory decline. For other brain outcomes (domain-specific cognition, cognitive impairments, Parkinson's disease, brain volume, and pathology), results were mixed or only few studies had been performed. Many of the cohorts demonstrating protective associations were of North American origin, raising the question if the most favorable diet for healthy brain aging is population-dependent. In conclusion, this systematic review provides observational evidence for protective associations between the MIND diet and global cognition and dementia risk, but evidence for other brain outcomes remains mixed and/or limited. The MIND diet may be the preferred diet for healthy brain aging in North American populations, though evidence for other populations seems less conclusive. This review was registered at PROSPERO as CRD42022254625.