{"id":6839,"date":"2023-05-11T23:49:05","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T23:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drmirkin.com\/?p=6839"},"modified":"2023-05-11T23:49:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T23:49:05","slug":"plant-based-diets-help-to-prevent-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/?p=6839","title":{"rendered":"Plant-Based Diets Help to Prevent Dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"

A review of 14 studies with a total of 224,049 participants found that the MIND diet (“Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay”) is associated with reduced dementia risk for middle-aged and older adults (JAMA Psychiatry<\/em>, May 3, 2023), and with reduced risk for Alzheimer\u2019s disease (Alzheimers Dement<\/em>, Sept 2015;11(9):1007-14).<\/p>\n

The Mediterranean, DASH and MIND diets are all similar plant-based diets.
\n\u2022 The DASH diet helps to lower high blood pressure and high cholesterol by including foods that are rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium, and by restricting foods that are high in sodium, saturated fats and added sugars. See DASH (High-Plant) Diet for Heart Health, Weight Loss and Diabetes Prevention\/Control<\/a>
\n\u2022 The Mediterranean diet emphasizes plant-based whole foods and healthy fats and restricts processed foods, characteristic of the traditional diets in the Mediterranean area (Greece and the southern areas of Italy, Spain and France). You eat mostly vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes,and sources of healthful fats such as olive oil, seafood and nuts.
\n\u2022 The MIND diet is derived from the DASH and Mediterranean diets. It encourages consumption of vegetables, berries, nuts, olive oil, whole grains, fish and beans. The MIND diet includes:
\n\u2022 leafy green vegetables – at least 6 servings a week
\n\u2022 other vegetables – at least 1 serving a day
\n\u2022 berries – at least 2 servings a week
\n\u2022 whole grains- at least 3 servings a day
\n\u2022 fish – 1-2 servings a week
\n\u2022 poultry – 2 servings a week
\n\u2022 beans – 3 servings a week
\n\u2022 nuts – 5 servings per week
\n\u2022 olive oil
\nFoods to limit or avoid on this diet are red meat, sweets, fried foods, cheese, butter and margarine.<\/p>\n

Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)<\/strong>
\nDementia usually starts with inability to remember names, places and faces. This often progresses to unreasonable behavior, loss of reasoning, loss of ability to solve simple problems and normal daily functions. It usually begins in later life. In the early stages, doctors diagnose Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) that often, but not always, progresses eventually to people not being able to take care of themselves. Rates of dementia and mild cognitive impairment rise sharply with aging. Dementia affects three percent of North American adults between 65 and 69, 22 percent of those in ages 85-89, and 35 percent of those in their 90s (JAMA Neurol<\/em>, 2022;79(12):1242-1249).<\/p>\n

More Studies on the Influence of Diet on Dementia<\/strong>
\nThe extensive research showing that plant-based diets help to prevent and treat dementia includes:
\n\u2022 Mediterranean diet helps to slow progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia (Arch Neurol<\/em>, 2009 Feb;66(2):216-25).
\n\u2022 Plant-based diet helps to slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease (Expert Rev Neurother<\/em>, 2011 May;11(5):677-708).
\n\u2022 Diet to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and Mediterranean-DASH help to slow progression of dementia and mild congnitive progression (Adv Nutr<\/em>, 2019 Nov 1;10(6):1040-1065).
\n\u2022 The MIND diet was associated with a marked reduction in cognitive decline during an average of almost 5 years (Alzheimers Dement<\/em>, 2015 Sep;11(9):1015-22).
\n\u2022 DASH- and Mediterranean-like dietary patterns slow cognitive decline in older persons (Neurology<\/em>, 2014 Oct 14;83(16):1410-6).
\n\u2022 MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (Alzheimers Dement<\/em>, 2015 Sep;11(9):1007-14).<\/p>\n

Studies of Plant-Based Diets to Reduce Risk of Other Diseases<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Mediterranean and DASH and MIND Diets Slow Cognitive Decline After Stroke (J Prev Alzheimers Dis<\/em>, 2019;6(4):267-273).
\n\u2022 Plant-based Diets help Prevent Brain Ageing in the Elderly (Curr Nutr Rep<\/em>, 2018 Sep;7(3):139-149).
\n\u2022 MIND diet reduces 12-year incidence of cognitive impairment in an Australian longitudinal cohort study (Alzheimers Dement<\/em>, 2019 Apr;15(4):581-589).
\n\u2022 Plant-based diets associated with reduced risk for atrial fibrillation (Eur J Nutr<\/em>, Apr 29, 2023).
\n\u2022 MIND diet associated with reduced obesity risk (Front Nutr<\/em>, 2023 Apr 11;10:1078961).
\n\u2022 MIND diet associated with reduced risk for high blood pressure (Front Nutr<\/em>, 2023 Mar 14;10:1129667).<\/p>\n

My Recommendations<\/strong>
\nYour lifestyle helps to determine your susceptibility to develop dementia with aging. To reduce your chances of becoming demented:
\n\u2022 avoid sugared drinks including fruit juices
\n\u2022 severely restrict all sugar-added foods and other refined carbohydrates
\n\u2022 restrict fried foods
\n\u2022 avoid red meat (blocks insulin receptors)
\n\u2022 avoid processed meats
\n\u2022 eat a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, beans, seeds, whole unground grains, seeds, nuts and other healthful plant-based foods
\n\u2022 avoid smoking and being around smokers
\n\u2022 avoid alcohol or take no more than one drink a day
\n\u2022 lose weight if overweight
\n\u2022 keep hydroxy vitamin D above 30 ng\/mL
\n\u2022 exercise regularly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A review of 14 studies with a total of 224,049 participants found that the MIND diet (“Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay”) is associated with reduced dementia risk for middle-aged and older adults, and with reduced risk for Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[178,176,1260],"class_list":["post-6839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition","tag-alzheimers-disease","tag-dementia","tag-plant-based"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}