New diet may protect against Alzheimer's disease

A new diet could lower a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by as much as 53 per cent if they adhere to it rigorously, a new study has claimed.
Martha Clare Morris, from the Rush University Medical Center and colleagues developed the 'Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay' (MIND) diet which can significantly lower a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), even if the diet is not meticulously followed.
In the study, the MIND diet lowered the risk of AD by 53 per cent in participants who adhered to the diet rigorously, and by about 35 per cent in those who followed it moderately well.

Morris and her colleagues developed the MIND diet based on information that has accrued from years' worth of past research about what foods and nutrients have good, and bad, effects on the functioning of the brain over time.
The MIND diet is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets, both of which have been found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular conditions, like hypertension, heart attack and stroke.
In the latest study, the MIND diet was compared with the two other diets. People with high adherence to the DASH and Mediterranean diets also had reductions in AD - 39 per cent with the DASH diet and 54 per cent with the Mediterranean diet - but got negligible benefits from moderate adherence to either of the two other diets.

The MIND diet is also easier to follow than, say, the Mediterranean diet, which calls for daily consumption of fish and three to four daily servings of each of fruits and vegetables, Morris said.

The MIND diet has 15 dietary components, including 10 'brain-healthy food groups' - green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine - and five unhealthy groups that comprise red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food.
The MIND diet includes at least three servings of whole grains, a salad and one other vegetable every day - along with a glass of wine.

It also involves snacking most days on nuts and eating beans every other day or so, poultry and berries at least twice a week and fish at least once a week.
Dieters must limit eating the designated unhealthy foods, especially butter (less than 1 tablespoon a day), cheese, and fried or fast food (less than a serving a week for any of the three), to have a real shot at avoiding the devastating effects of Alzheimer's, according to the researchers.