Scientists from Rush University in the USA found that Mediterranean and MIND diets reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and keep the brain young. The results of the study were published in the journal. magazine Neurology.
The Mediterranean diet requires at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, regular consumption of fish and cereals, but does not exclude meat, which, in addition to protein, contains important elements – vitamin B12 and zinc, iron. The MIND diet is a brain-boosting diet that combines features from two very popular diets: the Mediterranean diet and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH).
The study examined the brains of 581 people who donated their bodies to science. The researchers also learned about the participants’ diets up to seven years before they died (data collected annually).
As it turned out, people who followed the Mediterranean and MIND diets had fewer signs of Alzheimer’s disease — beta-amyloid plaques and tau nodes in the brain.
“The brains of people who followed the Mediterranean diet were about 18 years younger than those who did not. If we talk about the MIND diet, the brain was 12 years younger, ”the scientists concluded.