Later-Life Adoption of MIND Diet Linked to Lower Dementia Risk
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, approximately 57 million individuals around the globe were grappling with dementia, and 60-70% of these cases were reported as Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers at Rush University Medical Center shook up the health scene back in 2015 when they introduced the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet. Since then, numerous studies have linked this unique dietary pattern to a decrease in the risk of dementia.
A recent study presented at the American Society for Nutrition's flagship annual meeting, NUTRITION 2025, suggested that adhering to the MIND diet may help lower the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease—even if you don't start following the diet until later in life. The benefits seemed to be particularly evident among participants who identified as African-American, Latino, or white.
The findings of this study are yet to undergo peer review and appear in a specialized journal.
The MIND Diet Breakdown
For this study, researchers examined dietary data from around 93,000 U.S. adults aged between 45 and 75, who were participants in the Multiethnic Cohort Study, which kicked off in the 1990s. Partcipants belonged to five racial and ethnic groups: African American, Latino, white, Native Hawaiian, and Asian American.
Scientists evaluated each participant's adherence to the MIND diet principles using a food frequency questionnaire administered at the study's commencement and ten years later. According to the lead author of this study, Song-Yi Park, PhD, "The MIND diet includes 10 brain-healthy and 5 brain-unhealthy food groups."
Reduced Dementia Risk for Diverse Populations on the MIND Diet
When the study reached its conclusion, Park and her team discovered that participants with the highest MIND diet scores at the study's onset had a 9% lower risk of developing dementia. That lower-risk rate increased to 13% for participants identifying as white, Latino, or African American.
"Previous studies were mostly conducted in White populations," Park explained. "Our study confirms the protective association in a more diverse population."
Improving MIND Diet Adherence Boosts Dementia Prevention
Scientists also observed that participants who improved their adherence to the MIND diet over 10 years - including those who didn't enthusiastically follow the dietary pattern at first - saw their dementia risk drop by 25%, compared to participants whose MIND diet commitment waned.
"Our study findings confirm that healthy dietary patterns in mid to late life and their improvement over time may prevent Alzheimer's and related dementias," Park said in a press release. "This suggests that it's never too late to adopt a healthy diet to prevent dementia."
Since the burden of dementia is escalating and pharmacological treatments remain limited, Park believes reducing modifiable risk factors to prevent the disease is a public health priority. "Improving diet quality at older ages is still beneficial for preventing dementia," she continued. "We plan to explore individual dietary components that can better capture ethnically tailored healthy dietary patterns and optimal intake levels."
More Research Needed on the MIND Diet
Neurologist Clifford Segil, DO, who wasn't involved in the study, expressed concerns about the purported brain-healthy foods in the MIND diet, as the supporting evidence isn't yet robust enough. "I wish I agreed that leafy green vegetables, berries, nuts, and olive oil were proven brain-healthy foods," Segil said, "as these are definitely healthy for your heart, but less clearly for your brain."
"Modifiable risk factors medicine allow physicians to give advice to patients to prevent diseases and avoid medications," Segil went on to comment. "We have no clearly proven modifiable risk factors in life to prevent the onset of memory loss as we age or dementia at this time."
Giving the MIND Diet a Shot
Monique Richard, MS, RDN, LDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Nutrition-In-Sight, provided some top tips for those considering adopting the MIND diet:
- Consult a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) to better understand whether the MIND diet may or may not align with your specific needs, goals, preferences, and lifestyle.
- Increase your intake of leafy greens, berries, nuts, beans, non-starchy vegetables, whole grains, and cold-water fatty fish while limiting red meat, butter and margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, fried or fast food, and unhealthy fats.
- Be mindful of the types, amounts, and preparation methods of MIND diet components to ensure a balanced intake.
- Consider the impact of the MIND diet on your health markers, such as blood pressure, blood glucose, and serum lipid profile.
- Embrace the MIND diet as part of an overall approach to promoting brain health, alongside mental, physical, and social well-being.
- The MIND diet, a combination of Mediterranean and DASH interventions for neurodegenerative delay, has been linked to a decrease in the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, according to numerous studies.
- The unique dietary pattern, which includes 10 brain-healthy and 5 brain-unhealthy food groups, was introduced by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in 2015.
- A recent study suggested that adhering to the MIND diet may help lower the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease, even for those who start following it later in life, particularly among African-American, Latino, and white participants.
- The benefits of the MIND diet are not solely limited to cognitive health; they also contribute to overall health-and-wellness, fitness-and-exercise, and mental-health.
- Nutrition, weight management, and science are integral parts of the MIND diet, emphasizing the importance of healthy food choices and eating patterns for optimal brain health.
- More research is needed to further understand the supporting evidence behind the brain-healthy foods in the MIND diet, and to explore individual dietary components that can better capture ethnically tailored healthy dietary patterns and optimal intake levels.
