A breakthrough study indicates that the MIND diet can reduce the risk of dementia, especially among certain racial groups. The findings suggest that adopting a healthy diet at any age can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
As the population ages and dementia cases soar, a new study offers hope through dietary change. Researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa have found that following the MIND diet could significantly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
The MIND diet, standing for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, is a fusion of the Mediterranean diet and the blood pressure-lowering DASH diet. It emphasizes brain-healthy foods like leafy green vegetables, berries, nuts and olive oil.
“Our study findings confirm that healthy dietary patterns in mid to late life and their improvement over time may prevent Alzheimer’s and related dementias,” Song-Yi Park, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said in a news release. “This suggests that it is never too late to adopt a healthy diet to prevent dementia.”
Park and her colleagues analyzed data from nearly 93,000 U.S. adults who were part of the Multiethnic Cohort Study, starting in the 1990s. Participants aged between 45-75 years provided detailed dietary information. Over 21,000 participants developed Alzheimer’s or related dementias during the study period.
Those who scored higher in MIND diet adherence at the study’s start had a 9% lower risk of dementia. This risk reduction was even higher — around 13% — for African American, Latino and White participants. However, a significant protective relationship was not observed among Native Hawaiian or Asian American participants.
“We found that the protective relationship between a healthy diet and dementia was more pronounced among African Americans, Latinos and Whites, while it was not as apparent among Asian Americans and showed a weaker trend in Native Hawaiians,” added Park. “A tailored approach may be needed when evaluating different subpopulations’ diet quality.”
Park noted that dietary preferences and patterns can vary significantly across different racial and ethnic groups, which might explain the observed differences in dementia risk reduction. She suggested that further studies could help clarify these patterns and emphasized the need for tailored approaches in dietary recommendations.
The study also unveiled another promising finding: people who improved their adherence to the MIND diet over 10 years had a 25% lower risk of dementia compared to those whose adherence declined. This trend persisted across different ages and racial groups.
Park will present these landmark findings at NUTRITION 2025, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN), from May 31 to June 3 in Orlando, Florida.
The results, although compelling, are based on observational data, necessitating further interventional studies to confirm causality. The findings presented at NUTRITION 2025 are considered preliminary until they undergo peer review for publication in a scientific journal.
Source: American Society for Nutrition