MIND diet linked to slower brain shrinkage, roughly 2.5-year aging delay

In a decade-spanning analysis of the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort, researchers observed that participants with higher MIND diet scores suffered less decline in grey-matter volume and smaller increases in ventricular size, equating to about a 2.5-year reduction in brain-aging pace. The diet, which blends Mediterranean principles with hypertension-lowering guidelines, emphasizes leafy greens, berries, nuts, whole grains, fish, beans, olive oil and poultry while limiting butter, cheese, red meat, sweets and fried foods.

Berries and poultry were especially linked to favorable brain changes, whereas sweets and fried fast foods correlated with accelerated hippocampal atrophy. Unexpectedly, higher whole-grain intake was tied to faster grey-matter loss, while cheese showed protective associations. The observational nature of the study prevents causal claims, but the findings suggest the MIND diet could be a useful component of strategies to mitigate neurodegeneration.