Key takeaways
- The MIND diet combines elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets to improve brain health and reduce the risk of dementia.
- This diet encourages the consumption of foods like green leafy vegetables, berries, nuts, olive oil, and fish, while limiting butter, cheese, red meat, fried foods, and sweets.
- Research suggests that following the MIND diet may reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, potentially slowing the decline in brain function, though more studies are needed.
“MIND” stands for “Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.” It is a combination diet that is designed to reduce the risk of dementia and loss of brain function as you age.
This article is a detailed guide for beginners, with everything you need to know about the MIND diet and how to follow it.
The MIND diet aims to reduce dementia and the decline in brain health that often occurs as people get older. It combines aspects of two very popular diets, the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.
Many experts regard these diets as two of the healthiest diets.
Researchers wanted to create a diet specifically to help improve brain function and prevent dementia. To do this, they combined foods from both diets that had been shown to benefit brain health.
For example, the Mediterranean and DASH diets both recommend eating a lot of fruit. Fruit intake has been linked with improved brain function, but berries, in particular, are supported by the strongest evidence.
Thus, the MIND diet encourages eating berries but does not emphasize consuming fruit in general.
What to know: Currently, there are no set guidelines for how to follow the MIND diet. You can simply eat more of the foods that the diet encourages and eat less of the foods that it recommends you limit.
The next two sections discuss which foods to eat and which to avoid on the diet.
Here is a list of nine foods that the MIND diet encourages:
- Green, leafy vegetables: Aim for six or more servings per week. This includes kale, spinach, cooked greens, and salads.
- All other vegetables: Try to eat another vegetable in addition to the green leafy vegetables at least once per day. It’s best to choose non-starchy vegetables because they provide a lot of nutrients for a low number of calories.
- Berries: Eat berries at least twice per week. Berries such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries all have antioxidant benefits.
- Nuts: Try to get five or more servings of nuts each week. The creators of the MIND diet don’t specify what kind of nuts to consume, but it is probably best to vary the type of nuts you eat to obtain a variety of nutrients.
- Olive oil: Use olive oil as your main cooking oil. Check out this article for information about the safety of cooking with olive oil.
- Whole grains: Aim for at least three servings daily. Choose whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and 100% whole wheat bread.
- Fish: Eat fish at least once per week. It is best to choose fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, trout, tuna, and mackerel for their high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.
- Beans: Include beans in at least four meals per week. This category includes all beans, lentils, and soybeans.
- Poultry: Try to eat chicken or turkey at least twice per week. Note that fried chicken is not encouraged on the MIND diet.
If you’re unable to consume the target number of servings, don’t quit the MIND diet altogether. Research has shown that following the MIND diet even to a moderate degree is associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive impairment.
Keep this in mind: When you’re following the diet, you can eat more than just these foods. However, the more you stick to the diet, the better your results may be.
The MIND diet recommends limiting the following five foods:
- Butter and margarine: Try to eat less than 1 tablespoon (about 14 grams) daily. Instead, try using olive oil as your primary cooking fat and dipping your bread in olive oil with herbs.
- Cheese: The MIND diet recommends eating cheese less than once per week.
- Red meat: Aim for no more than three servings per week. This category includes all beef, pork, lamb, and products made from these meats.
- Fried food: The MIND diet highly discourages fried food, especially the kind from fast food restaurants. Limit your consumption to less than once per week.
- Pastries and sweets: This includes most of the processed snack foods and desserts you may think of — ice cream, cookies, brownies, snack cakes, doughnuts, candy, and more. Try to limit these to no more than four times per week.
Researchers encourage limiting your consumption of these foods because they contain saturated fats.
Studies have found that trans fats are associated with several diseases, including heart disease and even Alzheimer’s disease. However, the health effects of saturated fat are widely debated in the nutrition world.
It’s worth noting that partially hydrogenated oils (the major source of trans fats in the food supply) have been banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2020. They’re still naturally found in much lower amounts in fried foods, dairy, or red meat, but margarine, pastries, and sweets are no longer a major source.
The first official paper on the MIND diet was published in 2015. Since then, researchers have performed additional studies to investigate its benefits for brain health.
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A 2022 randomized clinical trial found that those who followed a calorie-restricted MIND diet for three months had higher scores for working memory, verbal recognition memory, and attention compared to the calorie-restricted control group.
That said, more research is still needed to gauge the true effectiveness of the MIND diet.
The MIND diet may decrease oxidative stress and inflammation
Current research on the MIND diet has not been able to determine exactly how it works. However, scientists think it may work by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.
What to know
Oxidative stress occurs when unstable molecules called free radicals accumulate in the body in large amounts, often causing cell damage. The brain is especially vulnerable to this type of damage.
What to know
Inflammation is your body’s natural response to injury and infection. But if it’s not properly regulated, inflammation can also be harmful and contribute to many chronic diseases.
Together, oxidative stress and inflammation can be quite detrimental to your brain. In recent years, they have been the focus of some interventions
Following the Mediterranean and DASH diets has been
Because the MIND diet is a hybrid of these two diets, the foods that make up the MIND diet probably also have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
Making meals for the MIND diet doesn’t have to be complicated.
Focus your meals on the foods and food groups that are encouraged on the diet, and try to stay away from the foods that the diet recommends limiting.
Here are some recipe suggestions to help get you started.
Keep this in mind: Everyone’s nutritional needs are different, and each person should consider their personal health situation when evaluating the recipes suggested in this article.
If you have a health condition or specific nutritional requirements, it’s best to check with a healthcare professional, such as a primary care doctor or registered dietitian, before trying new recipes.
The MIND diet was created to help prevent dementia and slow the decline in brain function that can happen with age.
The diet encourages consuming vegetables, berries, nuts, whole grains, olive oil, fish, beans, and poultry.
These foods contain many nutrients that promote good brain health, possibly by reducing oxidative stress, inflammation.
Early research shows that closely following the MIND diet is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and slower loss of brain function over time. However, more research is needed to understand the diet’s effects.