Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, legumes, cereals with moderate fish, and alcohol intake is associated with decreased risk against a variety of conditions, including hypertension, coronary heart disease, dyslipidemia, diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers.
Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center and lead author of the study stated, "We know from previous research that a healthy diet like this is protective for cardiovascular risk factors like cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes. Now this current study shows it may help brain function too."
Mediterranean diet of 712 people monitored
The researchers examined the effect of the diet on the risk of borderline dementia, a precursor, and risk factor for full-blown dementia such as Alzheimer's disease.
For the study, researchers monitored the diets of 712 people in New York, and divided them into three groups based on how closely they were following the Mediterranean diet. None of the participants had a history of stroke.
“We broke the diet adherence into three groups: those who adhered very, very little [to the Mediterranean plan], those who adhered to a moderate degree and those adhering to a high degree,” said Scarmeas.
The participants were tracked for a period of six years, after which they underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI
), to scan areas of brain tissue damage related to silent stroke.
Findings of the study
The investigators noted that in total 238 people exhibited at least one area of brain damage. The results revealed that those adhering to a healthy diet religiously were 36 percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment.
In addition, those who followed the diet moderately were 21 percent less likely to have dementia as opposed to those in the lowest group.
The benefit of a Mediterranean diet was more pronounced in women, who showed a 45 percent lower risk of stroke-related brain damage while in men the reduction was 16 percent.
Additionally, the research found that Mediterranean diet seems to protect against hypertension, linked with these brain problems.
Scarmeas added, “The relationship between this type of brain damage and the Mediterranean diet was comparable with that of high blood pressure. In this study, not eating a Mediterranean-like diet had about the same effect on the brain as having high blood pressure.”
The findings of the study will be presented to the American Academy of Neurology at its annual meeting in April in Toronto. The study was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
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