MIND Diet Plus Caloric Restriction No Better for Cognition

WEDNESDAY, July 19, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) with mild caloric restriction does not change cognition or brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes compared with a control diet with mild caloric restriction, according to a study published online July 18 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual Alzheimer's Association International Conference, held from July 16 to 20 in Amsterdam.

Lisa L. Barnes, Ph.D., from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago, and colleagues performed a two-site randomized controlled trial involving older adults without cognitive impairment with a family history of dementia, a body mass index greater than 25 kg/m², and a suboptimal diet to examine the cognitive effects of the MIND diet with mild caloric restriction compared with a control diet with mild caloric restriction (301 and 303 participants, respectively). To promote weight loss, all participants received counseling regarding adherence to their assigned diet plus support.

The researchers found that from baseline to year 3, both groups had improvements in global cognition scores, with increases of 0.205 and 0.170 standardized units in the MIND- and control-diet groups, respectively. The two groups had similar changes in white-matter hyperintensities, hippocampal volumes, and total gray- and white-matter volumes on MRI.

"Participants who followed the MIND diet had small improvements in a global measure of cognition that were similar to those who followed a control diet with mild caloric restriction," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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