Greater Adherence to MIND Diet Linked to Reduced Cognitive Impairment

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Greater Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet adherence is associated with a reduced risk for cognitive impairment, according to a study published online Sept. 18 in Neurology.

Russell P. Sawyer, M.D., from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and colleagues compared MIND diet adherence to incident cognitive impairment and cognitive trajectory in Black and White participants using data from the Food Frequency Questionnaire in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study.

The MIND diet score and cognitive data were available for 14,145 participants (mean age, 64 years). The researchers found that after adjustment for all covariates, greater MIND diet adherence was associated with a reduced incidence of cognitive impairment (odds ratio, 0.96; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.93 to 0.99; P = 0.02). In the fully adjusted model, greater MIND diet adherence was associated with a reduced risk for cognitive impairment in women, but not men (adjusted odds ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 0.92 [0.89 to 0.96; P < 0.001] and 1.01 [0.97 to 1.06; P = 0.64], respectively). Greater MIND diet adherence was associated with a reduced risk for cognitive decline in all models. In Black versus White participants, MIND diet adherence was a better predictor of cognitive decline.

“Accordance to the MIND diet may affect cognitive reserve differently across races and warrants further research,” the authors write.

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