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The MIND Diet: Protection Against Alzheimer's Disease (AD)
A new diet, known as the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for
Neurodegenerative Delay), could significantly lower a person's risk of
developing
Alzheimer's disease, according to a paper published online for subscribers
in March in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's
Association. Researchers found that people who followed the diet closely had a
53 percent lower chance of developing Alzheimer's, and those who only moderately
adhered to the diet still lowered their risk of developing the devastating brain
disease by 35 percent.
Alzheimer's disease is an incurable, progressive degenerative disease of the
brain. It is the most common form of
dementia, a broad term for the deterioration of brain function which results
in loss of
memory, reduced language skills and behavioral and emotional problems.
Morris, a Rush professor, assistant provost for Community Research, and
director of Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology and her colleagues have
developed the MIND diet based on information that has accrued from years' worth
of past research about what foods and nutrients have good, and bad, effects on
the functioning of the brain over time.
Blueberries are one of the more potent foods in terms of protecting
the brain
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The MIND diet has 15 dietary components, including 10 "brain-healthy food
groups" -- green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole
grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine -- and five unhealthy groups that
comprise red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and
fried or fast food.
The MIND diet, advices a person to eat,
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 Three servings of whole grains
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One other vegetable every day
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A glass of wine
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Snack most days on nuts,
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Have beans every other day
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Eat poultry and berries at least twice a week
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Fish at least once a week.
One should limit the 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. The longer a person
eats the MIND diet, the less risk that person will have of developing AD.
The
DASH and
Mediterranean diets also help to reduce a person's risk of AD - by 39
percent and 54 percent, respectively.
Ref:
Dated 24 March 2015
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