Can the Mediterranean diet reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease?
You may already know that a Mediterranean diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, olive oil, legumes, whole grains and fish, provides many benefits for heart health. However, the Mediterranean diet could also benefit your brain.
Studies show that people who closely adhere to the Mediterranean diet are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than people who don’t eat this diet.
Research suggests that the Mediterranean diet can:
- Delay cognitive decline in older adults
- Reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a transitional stage between the normal cognitive impairment from aging and the more serious memory problems caused by dementia or Alzheimer’s disease
- Reduce the likeliness of MCI progressing to Alzheimer’s disease
It isn’t clear which aspects of the Mediterranean diet could protect the brain function.
Researchers speculate that choosing healthy foods can improve blood sugar and blood cholesterol levels, in addition to the general health of blood vessels, which in turn can reduce the risk of MCI or Alzheimer’s disease.
Another theory suggests that eating the Mediterranean diet can help prevent brain tissue loss associated with Alzheimer’s.
So far it’s difficult to determine exactly what explains the relationship between eating the Mediterranean diet and reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Some research shows that individuals who moderately eat seafood showed fewer Alzheimer-related changes in their brains among people carrying the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE e4), which is believed to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s.
Nevertheless, in general, the evidence isn’t conclusive enough as to show that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. One problem is that most studies on the effects of diet on dementia are based on dietary surveys filled by participants who may have trouble remembering what they ate or who have memory problems.
The new study
Therefore, one study used a modified food survey developed for seniors to address this issue. The study analyzed whether eating the Mediterranean diet, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, designed to treat high blood pressure, or a hybrid diet that combines aspects of both diets known as Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND), could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
The results
The results showed that people who strictly adhered to any of the three diets had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, even the modest adoption of the MIND diet approach, such as eating two servings of vegetables a day, two servings of berries a week and one serving of fish a week, seemed to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
More research and clinical trials are needed to know to what extent the Mediterranean diet prevents Alzheimer’s or slows the progression of cognitive impairment. However, eating a healthy diet is important in order to stay physically and mentally fit.
Date: September 14th, 2019
Answer by: Jonathan Graff-Radford, M.D.
Nutrigenomics Institute is not responsible for the comments and opinions included in this article
