MIND Diet
There is a new diet called the "MIND" diet created by Martha Clare Morris, a professor at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. It is an eating pattern that follows the traditional Mediterranean diet and the "DASH" diet. It takes elements from both eating patterns. The "MIND" diet has 10 groups of food to be included. These are whole grains, green leafy vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, fish, poultry, wine, and olive oil. Then, there are five food groups to avoid such as pastries and sweets, red meat, cheese, fried or fast food, and butter or margarine.
There has been research to determine the effects of the diet on the brain such as preventing the occurrence of Alzheimer's and improving mental and cognitive function. Researchers have found benefits among stroke survivors who follow this diet closely. Morris specifically followed 106 stroke survivors and broke them into groups depending on how well they stuck with the MIND-diet eating habits. Those who ate foods like leafy greens, berries, nuts, olive oil, whole grains, and beans regularly were the top one-third of the survivors being studied. The end result showed that those who were in the top one-third had only half the rate of cognitive decline compared to the others.
Morris mentioned that she can not explain cause-and-effect with these results but there is definite association. They are planning a study where they will randomly assign people to follow the MIND diet or not. There also was a study with results that older adults who ate one serving of leafy greens each day showed slower brain aging. The difference showed 11 years off their age when looking at their brain function compared to the people who rarely ate leafy greens. Most of this is because of the benefits of leafy greens such as vitamin K, folate, beta-carotene, and lutein, which support brain function.
This is very exciting for clinicians to get behind and to recommend these foods for people recovering from brain injuries such as a stroke, and to encourage healthy eating habits among younger adults so that brain decline can be slowed as long as possible.
LG
https://consumer.healthday.com/cardiovascular-health-information-20/heart-stroke-related-stroke-353/will-certain-foods-bolster-brain-health-after-stroke-730491.html
There has been research to determine the effects of the diet on the brain such as preventing the occurrence of Alzheimer's and improving mental and cognitive function. Researchers have found benefits among stroke survivors who follow this diet closely. Morris specifically followed 106 stroke survivors and broke them into groups depending on how well they stuck with the MIND-diet eating habits. Those who ate foods like leafy greens, berries, nuts, olive oil, whole grains, and beans regularly were the top one-third of the survivors being studied. The end result showed that those who were in the top one-third had only half the rate of cognitive decline compared to the others.
Morris mentioned that she can not explain cause-and-effect with these results but there is definite association. They are planning a study where they will randomly assign people to follow the MIND diet or not. There also was a study with results that older adults who ate one serving of leafy greens each day showed slower brain aging. The difference showed 11 years off their age when looking at their brain function compared to the people who rarely ate leafy greens. Most of this is because of the benefits of leafy greens such as vitamin K, folate, beta-carotene, and lutein, which support brain function.
This is very exciting for clinicians to get behind and to recommend these foods for people recovering from brain injuries such as a stroke, and to encourage healthy eating habits among younger adults so that brain decline can be slowed as long as possible.
LG
https://consumer.healthday.com/cardiovascular-health-information-20/heart-stroke-related-stroke-353/will-certain-foods-bolster-brain-health-after-stroke-730491.html
LG - This post was the perfect one to read since I am at my long term rotation currently. There are many people with dementia in long term care facilities and this diet may benefit in decreasing the rate of their brain aging for people with Alzheimer. This can also be encouraged to the patients that do not have it yet to help reduce their rate of developing Alzheimer and improving their cognitive thinking. It's amazing to read how one serving of leafy greens can impact brain aging and with research to back it up and encourage people to consume more of it. It is hard to get elderly people to eat what is healthy for them because they want to eat what they want at that point in their life. However, if they can improve their cognitive thinking and decrease the rate of brain aging, more people may be likely to follow the MIND diet.
ReplyDeleteLS