MIND diet may slow age-related brain changes
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- Reviewed by Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & PsychiatryThose whose diets adhered most closely to the MIND pattern showed significantly slower structural brain aging. Specifically, every three-point increase in the diet score was linked to about 20% less shrinkage in grey matter - the tissue involved in a host of essential brain functions, including memory, thinking, and decision making. The change was equivalent to slowing brain aging by about two-and-a-half years. MIND diet followers also showed slower enlargement of the brain's ventricles (fluid-filled spaces that expand as brain tissue shrinks with age).
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About the Author
Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
About the Reviewer
Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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