Greater adherence to MIND diet improves global cognition

Higher adherence to the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet scores from baseline significantly enhances global cognitive function in community-dwelling adults, a study has shown.

Six hundred four community-dwelling adults aged 65‒84 years with no cognitive impairment at baseline were included in a 3-year randomized trial. MIND diet adherence was measured as the change in MIND diet scores from baseline, with higher values indicating greater adherence, and was validated via blood concentrations of antioxidant nutrients, including lutein‒zeaxanthin and β-carotene.

The investigators classified participants into the following categories: no, moderate, or substantial improvement in MIND diet score. They estimated annual changes in global cognition using linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts and slopes.

Five hundred ninety participants (mean age 70.3 years, 65 percent female) were included in the final analysis. Of whom 116 (19.7 percent) showed no improvement, 224 (38.0 percent) had modest improvement, and 250 (42.3 percent) demonstrated substantial improvement in their MIND diet score.

Participants with greater improvement in their MIND diet score (mean absolute increase of 4 points on the 0‒14 scale) displayed a significant annual increase in global cognitive composite scores (β, 0.035, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.006‒0.064), as well as higher plasma lutein‒zeaxanthin (β, 0.088, 95 percent CI, 0.038‒0.137) and β-carotene (β, 0.075, 95 percent CI, 0.001‒0.150) than those with no change in diet scores.

Notably, modest improvement showed no association with significant changes in cognitive function, and the dietary intervention arm did not modify the associations between changes in MIND diet score and cognition (p>0.167 for interaction).

“Participants with greater increases in MIND diet scores from baseline, indicating higher adherence, showed significant improvements in global cognitive function than those whose scores did not increase during the trial,” the investigators said.