Study: New Diet Lowers Alzheimer’s Risk

The change in the calendar year from 2015 to 2016 means one thing: Everyone jumping on the diet resolution bandwagon.

Accordingly, U.S. News and World Report has released their “Best Diets” of 2016. The magazine works with a panel of experts from the diet and nutrition world to rank 38 diet plans from their heart healthiness to the likelihood they can help you lose weight.

This year, the “MIND Diet” came in as one of the easiest diets to follow and the second best diet for healthy eating. MIND combines two proven diets, the Mediterranean Diet and the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), and looks at which foods specifically affect brain health. Researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago are hoping this diet can be used to combat Alzheimers Disease.

The researchers at Rush looked at and analyzed the food intake of 923 Chicago-area seniors. Over 4.5 years, 144 of the participants developed Alzheimer’s disease. For people following the MIND diet, they appeared to have less risk of developing the disease. The study found the MIND diet lowered Alzheimer’s risk by about 35 percent for people who followed it moderately well and then up to 53 percent for those who adhered to it rigorously.

MIND officially stands for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, and consists of 15 dietary components, with ten “brain-healthy food groups” and five unhealthy groups. The MIND diet recommends eating fish at least once a week,  snacking on nuts every day, eating leafy greens and other vegetables every other day, and even enjoying a glass of wine every day.

The diet also recommends limiting those unhealthy brain groups – red meat, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food.