The MIND Diet

A healthful eating routine can help reduce the risk of a variety of conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers. Research also suggests a pattern of eating that includes an assortment of nutritious foods on a regular basis may be particularly helpful for brain health.

Keeping your brain healthy, especially as you age, can help to reduce the risk of dementia. Dementia is a brain disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, recall memories or do common tasks. There are several forms of dementia, and the symptoms can range from mild to severe. Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common types of dementia, a condition that results in memory loss. As it advances, Alzheimer’s disease can affect a person’s thinking and speaking. Certain risk factors can’t be changed, such as family history and older age. However, improving lifestyle habits — for example, keeping your mind active, staying connected with family and friends, choosing healthful foods and being physically active — may help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Fuel Your MIND

The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, better known as the MIND diet, may help prevent or delay dementia and other declines in brain health.

The MIND diet is a combination of two well-known eating patterns: the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan. These eating patterns have some differences but share a focus on eating whole grains, beans, nuts, vegetables, fruit, lean protein foods and low-fat or fat-free dairy products. The Mediterranean and MIND diets also include wine, if desired. However, the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourage limiting alcoholic beverages and do not recommend that individuals start drinking for any reason.

The MIND diet provides daily and weekly goals for specific foods, including:

Daily

• Vegetables: Two or more servings of vegetables, with at least one serving of leafy green vegetables each day. Leafy green vegetables include broccoli, chard, collards, kale, bok choy and various types of lettuce.
• Whole grains: Three or more servings of whole-grain foods including oats, millet, bulgur, brown rice and other grain-based products that list whole wheat (or some other whole grain) as the first ingredient or second ingredient after water. This does not include refined grains.
• Extra-virgin olive oil: Two tablespoons. This does not include other types of olive or vegetable oils.

Weekly

• Berries: Two to five servings of berries such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries throughout the week. This does not include dried berries.
• Nuts and seeds: Five or more servings of nuts or seeds such as almonds, cashews, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds. This also includes peanuts and nut or seed butters.
• Beans: At least three to four servings per week of varieties such as black, pinto, kidney and garbanzo beans.
• Seafood: One or more serving, with a focus on fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring or sardines.
• Poultry: Two or more servings, with a focus on light meat without skin.

Mindful Eating

While a big focus of the MIND diet is on which foods to eat, there also are foods individuals are encouraged to limit. These include:

• Highly processed foods, such as processed meats and refined grains.
• Saturated fat, from sources including red meat, butter, margarine, full-fat cheese and fried foods.
• Added sugars, which can be found in a variety of foods and drinks, especially desserts, pastries and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Like most changes to improve health, the benefits are higher when following the recommendations closely. But for those who prefer to make changes slowly, research suggests the risk of Alzheimer's disease may be reduced even when following the plan moderately well.

Although research is ongoing for nutrition and brain health, the MIND diet offers a variety of nutrients that are beneficial for overall wellbeing. To learn more about an eating plan that’s right for your lifestyle, taste preferences and medical needs, meet with a registered dietitian nutritionist.