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According to a recent study, eating a Mediterranean diet high in vegetables, fruits and nuts, fish and cereals, and low in meat and meat products, dairy products (cheese, yogurt) and wine, can have a beneficial effect on your brain. The research has found the diet significantly reduces the chances of developing mild cognitive impairment, also called borderline dementia, as well as the transition from mild cognitive decline to Alzheimer’s disease.
Previous studies have shown that Mediterranean diet is protective for cardiovascular risk factors such as cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes.
The study, carried out by Nikolaos Scarmeas, assistant professor of clinical neurology at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center and other researchers at Columbia, included 1,393 individuals with healthy brains and 482 patients with mild cognitive impairment. The participants were given questionnaires about their eating habits. They were followed for a period of almost five years.
At the end of the study, the researchers noted that 275 of the 1,393 study participants who did not have mild cognitive impairment developed the condition. At the same time, the study found that those who decided to follow a Mediterranean diet had a 28% lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment compared to those whose diets were les healthy. Even those who ate just some Mediterranean foods had a 17 % lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment compared to those with the lowest Mediterranean diet adherence scores.
Among the participants diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment at the beginning of the study, 106 developed Alzheimer’s disease during follow-up, but those with a good adherence to the Mediterranean diet had a lower risk for this transition.
The study is published in this month’s Archives of Neurology.
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