MIND Diet Linked to 2.5 Years of Delayed Brain Aging — SkimNews
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- MIND diet adherence was tied to slower brain shrinkage in a study of 1,647 middle-aged and older adults (average age 60) from the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort, published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
- Each 3-point increase in MIND diet score was associated with 0.279 cm³/year slower grey matter loss, equivalent to roughly 20% less age-related decline and about 2.5 years of delayed brain aging, the researchers reported.
- Higher MIND scores were also linked to slower ventricular enlargement (−0.071 cm³/year per 3-point increase), corresponding to 8% less tissue loss and about 1 year of delayed brain aging.
- Berries and poultry stood out as the most beneficial individual foods — berries linked to slower ventricular expansion, poultry to slower ventricular enlargement and slower grey matter decline.
- Sweets and fried fast foods were associated with the opposite pattern, tied to faster ventricular enlargement, hippocampal atrophy, and greater hippocampal volume decline.
- Some findings defied expectations: higher whole grain intake was linked to faster grey matter and hippocampal loss, while greater cheese intake was tied to slower declines in grey matter and hippocampal volume and fewer white matter hyperintensities.
- Researchers cautioned that the study is observational, relies on food-frequency questionnaires subject to recall bias, and drew from a predominantly White cohort, limiting broader generalizability.
Why it matters: For the estimated tens of millions of older adults at risk of neurodegeneration, even modest dietary shifts tracked over a decade showed measurable structural brain benefits in a well-characterized U.S. cohort. The 2.5-year delay figure gives clinicians a concrete talking point, while the counterintuitive whole-grain and cheese results complicate the simplistic 'everything in the MIND diet is good' narrative and may shape how dietitians prioritize specific foods.
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