The MIND diet, or Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, is a dietary pattern developed to support brain health and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. It is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets, combining the best of both to create a dietary pattern that focuses specifically on brain health. Many experts regard these diets as two of the healthiest diets. Research has shown that they can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and several other diseases.
Origins and Development of the MIND Diet
Developed by Martha Clare Morris, PhD, a Rush nutritional epidemiologist, and her colleagues, the MIND diet is based on information that has accrued from years’ worth of past research about what foods and nutrients have good, and bad, effects on the functioning of the brain over time. In 2015, Dr. Martha Clare Morris and colleagues at Rush University Medical Center and the Harvard Chan School of Public Health published two papers introducing the MIND diet.
The research team followed a group of older adults for up to 10 years from the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP), a study of residents free of dementia at the time of enrollment. They were recruited from more than 40 retirement communities and senior public housing units in the Chicago area. More than 1,000 participants filled out annual dietary questionnaires for nine years and had two cognitive assessments. A MIND diet score was developed to identify foods and nutrients, along with daily serving sizes, related to protection against dementia and cognitive decline. The results of the study produced fifteen dietary components that were classified as either “brain healthy” or as unhealthy. Participants with the highest MIND diet scores had a significantly slower rate of cognitive decline compared with those with the lowest scores. The purpose of the research was to see if the MIND diet, partially based on the Mediterranean and DASH diets, could directly prevent the onset or slow the progression of dementia. All three diets highlight plant-based foods and limit the intake of animal and high saturated fat foods.
Key Principles of the MIND Diet
The MIND diet emphasizes plant-based, antioxidant-rich foods while limiting saturated fats and added sugars. It highlights ten brain-supportive food groups, including leafy greens, berries, nuts, legumes, whole grains, fish, poultry, and olive oil. These foods provide essential nutrients like vitamin E, folate, polyphenols, and omega-3 fatty acids, all shown to help reduce inflammation, combat oxidative stress, and support communication between brain cells.
The MIND diet includes at least three servings of whole grains, a salad and one other vegetable every day - along with a glass of wine. It also involves snacking most days on nuts and eating beans every other day or so, poultry and berries at least twice a week and fish at least once a week. Berries are the only fruit specifically included in the MIND diet.
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Foods to Emphasize on the MIND Diet
Here is a list of nine foods that the MIND diet encourages:
- Green, leafy vegetables: Aim for six or more servings per week. This includes kale, spinach, cooked greens, and salads.
- All other vegetables: Try to eat another vegetable in addition to the green leafy vegetables at least once per day. It’s best to choose non-starchy vegetables because they provide a lot of nutrients for a low number of calories.
- Berries: Eat berries at least twice per week. Berries such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries all have antioxidant benefits. Fruit intake has been linked with improved brain function, but berries, in particular, are supported by the strongest evidence. Thus, the MIND diet encourages eating berries but does not emphasize consuming fruit in general.
- Nuts: Try to get five or more servings of nuts each week. The creators of the MIND diet don’t specify what kind of nuts to consume, but it is probably best to vary the type of nuts you eat to obtain a variety of nutrients.
- Olive oil: Use olive oil as your main cooking oil.
- Whole grains: Aim for at least three servings daily. Choose whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and 100% whole wheat bread.
- Fish: Eat fish at least once per week. It is best to choose fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, trout, tuna, and mackerel for their high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.
- Beans: Include beans in at least four meals per week. This category includes all beans, lentils, and soybeans.
- Poultry: Try to eat chicken or turkey at least twice per week. Note that fried chicken is not encouraged on the MIND diet.
Foods to Limit on the MIND Diet
The MIND diet recommends limiting the following five foods:
- Butter and margarine: Try to eat less than 1 tablespoon (about 14 grams) daily. Instead, try using olive oil as your primary cooking fat and dipping your bread in olive oil with herbs.
- Cheese: The MIND diet recommends eating cheese less than once per week.
- Red meat: Aim for no more than three servings per week. This category includes all beef, pork, lamb, and products made from these meats.
- Fried food: The MIND diet highly discourages fried food, especially the kind from fast-food restaurants. Limit your consumption to less than once per week.
- Pastries and sweets: This includes most of the processed snack foods and desserts you may think of - ice cream, cookies, brownies, snack cakes, doughnuts, candy, and more. Try to limit these to no more than four times per week.
Researchers encourage limiting your consumption of these foods because they contain saturated fats.
Potential Benefits of the MIND Diet
Early research shows that closely following the MIND diet is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and slower loss of brain function over time.
Researchers found a 53% lower rate of Alzheimer’s disease for those with the highest MIND diet scores (indicating a higher intake of foods on the MIND diet). Even those participants who had moderate MIND diet scores showed a 35% lower rate compared with those with the lowest MIND scores. Several other large cohort studies have shown that participants with higher MIND diet scores, compared with those with the lowest scores, had better cognitive functioning, larger total brain volume, higher memory scores, lower risk of dementia, and slower cognitive decline, even when including participants with Alzheimer’s disease and history of stroke.
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A 2023 study found that middle-aged adults who closely adhered to the MIND diet had faster information processing speeds than those who did not closely follow the diet. A 2022 randomized clinical trial found that those who followed a calorie-restricted MIND diet for three months had higher scores for working memory, verbal recognition memory, and attention compared to the calorie-restricted control group.
Despite the promising results, more research is still needed to gauge the true effectiveness of the MIND diet.
How the MIND Diet May Work
Current research on the MIND diet has not been able to determine exactly how it works. However, scientists think it may work by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.
Oxidative stress occurs when unstable molecules called free radicals accumulate in the body in large amounts. This often causes damage to cells. The brain is especially vulnerable to this type of damage. Inflammation is your body’s natural response to injury and infection. But if it’s not properly regulated, inflammation can also be harmful and contribute to many chronic diseases.
Together, oxidative stress and inflammation can be quite detrimental to your brain. In recent years, they have been the focus of some interventions to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease.
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Following the Mediterranean and DASH diets has been associated with lower levels of oxidative stress and inflammation. Because the MIND diet is a hybrid of these two diets, the foods that make up the MIND diet probably also have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The MIND diet contains foods rich in certain vitamins, carotenoids, and flavonoids that are believed to protect the brain by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.
Practical Tips for Following the MIND Diet
Making meals for the MIND diet doesn’t have to be complicated. Focus your meals on the 10 foods and food groups that are encouraged on the diet, and try to stay away from the 5 foods that the diet recommends limiting.
If you’re unable to consume the target number of servings, don’t quit the MIND diet altogether. Research has shown that following the MIND diet even to a moderate degree is associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive impairment. When you’re following the diet, you can eat more than just these 10 foods. However, the more you stick to the diet, the better your results may be.
The MIND diet is flexible in that it does not include rigid meal plans. However, this also means that people will need to create their own meal plans and recipes based on the foods recommended on the MIND diet. This may be challenging for those who do not cook. Although the diet plan specifies daily and weekly amounts of foods to include and not include, it does not restrict the diet to eating only these foods.
Here’s a 7-day meal plan to get you started:
Monday
- Breakfast: Greek yogurt with raspberries and sliced almonds
- Lunch: Mediterranean salad with olive oil-based dressing, grilled chicken, whole wheat pita
- Dinner: Burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans, fajita vegetables, grilled chicken, salsa, and guacamole
Tuesday
- Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with almond butter, scrambled eggs
- Lunch: Grilled chicken sandwich, blackberries, carrots
- Dinner: Grilled salmon, side salad with olive oil-based dressing, brown rice
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Steel-cut oatmeal with strawberries, hard-boiled eggs
- Lunch: Mexican-style salad with mixed greens, black beans, red onion, corn, grilled chicken, and olive oil-based dressing
- Dinner: Chicken and vegetable stir-fry, brown rice
Thursday
- Breakfast: Greek yogurt with peanut butter and banana
- Lunch: Baked trout, collard greens, black-eyed peas
- Dinner: Whole wheat spaghetti with turkey meatballs and marinara sauce, side salad with olive oil-based dressing
Friday
- Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with avocado, omelet with peppers and onions
- Lunch: Chili made with ground turkey
- Dinner: Greek-seasoned baked chicken, oven-roasted potatoes, side salad, whole wheat dinner roll
Saturday
- Breakfast: Overnight oats with strawberries and almond butter
- Lunch: Fish tacos on whole wheat tortillas, brown rice, coleslaw, and pinto beans
- Dinner: Chicken gyro on whole wheat pita, cucumber and tomato salad
Sunday
- Breakfast: Spinach frittata, sliced apple with peanut butter
- Lunch: Tuna salad sandwich on whole wheat bread, plus carrots and celery with hummus
- Dinner: Curry chicken, brown rice, lentils, and a side salad
Most salad dressings you find at the store are not made primarily with olive oil, but you can easily make your own salad dressing at home. To make a simple balsamic vinaigrette, combine 3 parts extra-virgin olive oil with 1 part balsamic vinegar. Add a little Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper and mix well.
Considerations and Caveats
Research has found that greater poverty and less education are strongly associated with lower MIND diet scores and lower cognitive function.
A 2023 randomized controlled trial followed 604 adults aged 65 and older who at baseline were overweight (BMI greater than 25), ate a suboptimal diet, and did not have cognitive impairment but had a first-degree relative with dementia. The intervention group was taught to follow a MIND diet, and the control group continued to consume their usual diet. Both groups were guided throughout the study by registered dietitians to follow their assigned diet and reduce their intake by 250 calories a day. The authors found that participants in both the MIND and control groups showed improved cognitive performance. Both groups also lost about 11 pounds, but the MIND diet group showed greater improvements in diet quality score. The authors examined changes in the brain using magnetic resonance imaging, but findings did not differ between groups. Nutrition experts commenting on this study noted that both groups lost a similar amount of weight, as intended, but the control group likely improved their diet quality as well (they had been coached to eat their usual foods but were taught goal setting, calorie tracking, and mindful eating techniques), which could have prevented significant changes from being seen between groups. The results of this study showed that the MIND diet does not slow cognitive aging over a 3-year treatment period.
Wine and the MIND Diet
Wine was included as one of the 15 original dietary components in the MIND diet score, in which a moderate amount was found to be associated with cognitive health. However, in subsequent MIND trials it was omitted for “safety” reasons. The effect of alcohol on an individual is complex, so that blanket recommendations about alcohol are not possible. Based on one’s unique personal and family history, alcohol offers each person a different spectrum of benefits and risks. Whether or not to include alcohol is a personal decision that should be discussed with your healthcare provider.