Satellite
Satellite
.png)
Martha Morris, ScD
Professor and Director
Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University
The MIND diet (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) was created as an evidence-based diet approach to dementia prevention. The diet highlights the foods and nutrients shown through human and animal models to be important to brain health with aging. The diet has 15 components: 10 healthy foods, including extra virgin olive oil (green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, berries, fish, nuts, olive oil, whole grains, poultry, beans, and wine) and 5 foods to limit (butter, cheese, red meat, sweets and pastries, and fried food). In a study of 960 community dwelling older persons, compared with participants in the lowest third of MIND diet scores, those in the top score tertile had slower decline in cognitive abilities (equivalent to 7.5 years younger in age) and 53% lower risk of Alzheimer’s dementia. The effects of the MIND diet are now being tested in two large randomized intervention trials. The ongoing MIND trial randomized 604 participants aged 65-84 years to a 3-year diet intervention of MIND diet + 250 kcal/d reduction versus usual diet + 250 kcal/d reduction to test the effects of the diet on changes in cognitive abilities and in MRI-derived macro- and micro-structural integrity. Secondary outcomes include changes in blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, weight, HbA1c and glucose levels, depressive symptoms, oxidative stress, and inflammation, and CVD events (e.g. MI, stroke). The U.S. POINTER trial is a national trial of 2000 participants aged 60-79 years randomized to a 2-year intervention of Self-Guided vs. Structured Lifestyle Intervention focused on increasing aerobic exercise, adherence to the MIND diet, cognitive and social stimulation, and guideline-based health coaching to manage cardiometabolic risk factors. The primary aim of U.S. POINTER is to test the effects of the multimodal intervention on change in cognitive trajectory (based on a global cognitive composite outcome). These trials represent the first large-scale attempts to examine the effects of diet on dementia prevention. Results of the trials are expected as early as 2022.