Neuroprotective Diets Are Associated with Better Cognitive Function: The Health and Retirement Study

Abstract

Objective Evidence suggests that adherence to the Mediterranean (MedDiet) or MIND diet is neuroprotective but the association between these dietary patterns and cognition has not been evaluated in a nationally representative population of older US adults. Design Population-based cross-sectional study. Participants/setting Community-dwelling older adults from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 5,907). Measurements Adherence to dietary patterns was determined from food frequency questionnaires using a priori criteria to generate diet scores for MedDiet (range = 0–55) and MIND diet (range 0–15). Cognitive performance was measured using a composite test score of global cognitive function (range 0–27). Linear regression was used to compare cognitive performance across tertiles of dietary pattern. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between dietary patterns and clinically significant cognitive impairment. Models were adjusted for age, gender, race, educational attainment and other health and lifestyle covariates. Results Mean age of participants was 68 ± 10.8 years. Compared to those with low MedDiet score, participants with mid and high score were less likely to have poor cognitive performance (OR 0.85; 95% CI 0.71, 1.02: P = 0.08, and OR 0.65; 95% CI: 0.52, 0.81: P < 0.001, respectively) in fully adjusted models. Results for the MIND diet were similar. Higher score in each dietary pattern was independently associated with significantly better cognitive function (P < 0.001) in a dose-response manner (PTREND < 0.001). Conclusion In a large nationally representative population of older adults, greater adherence to the MedDiet and MIND diet was independently associated with better cognitive function and lower risk of cognitive impairment. Clinical trials are required to elucidate the role of dietary patterns in cognitive aging.

Diet and Inflammation in Cognitive Ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease

“…Observational studies that have evaluated the MD for cognitive health are summarised in Table 1 . In summary, greater concordance to the MD has been associated with better cognitive performance [ 53 , 54 , 57 , 58 , 65 ], slower rate of cognitive decline [ 61 , 66 – 68 ] and reduced risk of cognitive impairment [ 53 , 55 , 56 , 61 ] and AD [ 36 ]. However, the variable and sometimes disparate study findings [ 27 , 59 , 60 , 62 – 64 ] are likely due to differences between studies in the populations investigated and methods used to assess diet and cognition.…”

Cognitive impairment in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: disease burden, determinants and possible future interventions

“…Dietary intervention may imply adopting a different dietary pattern or supplementing the habitual diet with specific nutrients. The Mediterranean diet, the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet have been proposed as beneficial to cognition [142][143][144]. Drastic dietary changes, however, are not likely to be feasible for patients with advanced COPD.…”

Nutritional Intervention to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease: Potential Benefits of Xanthophyll Carotenoids and Omega-3 Fatty Acids Combined

“…Several large prospective observational studies conclude that adherence to a healthy diet, such as the Japanese diet [8] or the Mediterranean diet [9] can reduce risk of AD. Of note, there have been several studies on the Mediterranean diet, characterized by a high intake of vegetables, olive oil, and a moderate intake of fish, dairy products, and wine, which show that adherence to such diets is associated with better cognitive performance [10][11][12][13][14] and a reduced risk of dementia, especially AD [9,[15][16][17][18], but no clear evidence of the exact foodstuffs responsible. It is our view that the challenge is therefore to identify the exact nutrients within these diets that are responsible for protecting the brain from degeneration.…”