Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — People who follow the Mediterranean diet and the brain-focused MIND diet are less likely to develop hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, such as sticky beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain, according to a new study. at autopsy.
The MIND diet combines the Mediterranean and DASH diets and is a rapid intervention to delay neurodegeneration.
According to the study, people who follow either diet have “almost 40% lower odds” of developing enough plaques and tangles in brain tissue to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
“People who reported high adherence to the Mediterranean diet had, on average, the amounts of plaque and tangles in their brains 18 years younger than those who adhered to the diet by degrees,” read a statement about the study.
The researchers also found that people who adhered to the MIND diet had the same average amounts of plaque and tangles in their brains 12 years younger than those who adhered to the diet to lower scores.
The study pointed out that adding just one food category to any diet, such as eating recommended amounts of vegetables or fruits, reduced the buildup of amyloid in the brain to a level similar to those about four years younger.
“Simple modifications in the diet, such as adding more vegetables, berries, whole grains, olive oil and fish, can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease,” said study author Pooja Agarwal, assistant professor of internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Or reduce your risk of dementia as you get older.
She added that the greatest benefit lies in leafy vegetables, noting that adding more berries, whole grains, and other healthy foods recommended by diets is also beneficial.
Richard Isaacson, an Alzheimer’s disease researcher and preventive neurologist at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida, who was not involved in the study, said, “While this study does not definitively prove that brain aging can be slowed through dietary choices, it does.” The data is compelling for me to add green leafy vegetables to most of my meals, and to suggest to patients a diet like the Mediterranean diet.
As for Professor Rudi Tanzi, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the study, he said: “Of course, the Mediterranean diet is healthy for the heart as well … by reducing the risk of stroke, and damage to the nerve vessels that can increase the risk.” Alzheimer’s disease, too.
“What’s good for the heart is good for the brain,” added Tanzi, director of the Geriatrics and Geriatrics Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
The texture of the Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet focuses on plant-based cooking. Most of the meal consists of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and seeds, with a few nuts. There is a lot of emphasis on extra virgin olive oil. Butter and other fats are rarely consumed. Sweets and goods made from refined sugar or flour are also rare.
The use of meat may be rare in it, in order to flavor the dish. Instead, meals may include eggs, dairy and poultry, but in much smaller amounts than in a typical Western diet. However, fish, which is full of brain-boosting omega-3s, is a staple.
Numerous studies centered on the Mediterranean diet, which has been crowned as the best diet for years, and found that this way of eating may limit cognitive decline, but it helps the heart, reduces diabetes, reduces bone fracture, and encourages weight loss. .
MIND DIET STRUCTURE
The Mind Diet was developed by RUSH researchers in 2015, seeking to take the Mediterranean diet to the next level by focusing on brain health. Instead of making a blanket statement of eating more vegetables and fruits, similar to the Mediterranean diet, the MIND diet recommends specific amounts of foods known for brain health, says Agarwal.
For example, the MIND diet calls for leafy green vegetables, preferably dark in color. These include watercress, cabbage, endive, grape leaves, kale, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard and turnip greens.
It is also preferable in this diet to eat berries more than other types of fruits. Blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, or strawberries should be eaten a minimum of five days per week.
A 2017 study of nearly 6,000 healthy older Americans, with an average age of 68, found that those who followed the Mediterranean diet or the MIND diet reduced their risk of dementia by a third.
Benefits of leafy vegetables
The study, published in the journal Neurology Wednesday, examined the brains of 581 people who had donated their bodies as part of the Memory and Aging Project at Rush University. Agarwal said the project, which began in 1997, has been collecting annual information on the participants’ diet since 2004.
The current study analyzed diet data from 2014, for an average of six to seven years, and then compared that information with the number of plaques and tangles in each person’s brain at autopsy.
Looking at brain tissue to determine the exact level of signs of dementia was a unique part of the study, Agarwal said. “Previous studies of dementia risk have focused more on clinical outcomes, such as cognitive performance over time, but our study looks for signs of disease in the brain after death,” she said.
The study found that people who ate more pastries, sweets, fried foods and processed foods had significantly higher levels of plaques and tangles in brain tissue.
What are the most beneficial foods in reducing this accumulation? Green leafy vegetables, which are full of prebiotics and chemicals found in foods, reduce inflammation and promote health. Examples of bioactive compounds include vitamins, minerals, flavonoids (Antioxidants), and carotenoids (Pigments in the skin of vegetables).
And a statement about the study stated that the brain tissue of those who ate the most leafy vegetables appeared about 19 years younger in terms of plaque accumulation compared to those who ate one serving or less per week.
“The combination of the different nutrients and bioactive substances that we infuse in leafy greens makes them unique,” explained Agarwal. “It is very rich in several biostimulants, flavonoids and lutein, which is important for brain health.”
The most surprising effect of the two diets centered on the accumulation of beta-amyloid, not tangles, the study said, and “the inverse association with beta-amyloid load was stronger in the Mediterranean diet than in the MIND diet.”
Agarwal noted that there was some reduction in tau crosslinking, the other major marker of Alzheimer’s disease, but it was not as strong as that found in amyloid. However, Agarwal and her team conducted another study that found that eating berries, an essential part of the MIND diet, was helpful in reducing synapses in the brain.