The MIND diet and brain health

Most articles on this subject name a food and a nutrient. But the research is organized around a pattern of eating, measured over years, with specific foods appearing at specific frequencies.

Eat your berries, eat your greens

MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. It combines the Mediterranean and DASH patterns and suggests a number of servings of berries and green leafy vegetables each week. People who followed it most closely developed Alzheimer's disease less often than those who followed it least.1

The MIND diet food list

Ten food groups to include, with the frequencies the published pattern specifies.

Food group Frequency
Green leafy vegetables At least 6 servings a week
Other vegetables At least 1 serving a day
Berries At least 2 servings a week
Nuts At least 5 servings a week
Whole grains At least 3 servings a day
Beans More than 3 meals a week
Fish, not fried At least once a week
Poultry, not fried At least 2 meals a week
Olive oil As the primary cooking oil
Wine One glass a day, optional in the pattern

Five foods MIND limits

  • Red meat, no more than three servings a week
  • Butter and stick margarine, less than one tablespoon a day
  • Cheese, less than once a week
  • Pastries and sweets, no more than four times a week
  • Fried or fast food, less than once a week

Berries and leafy greens are what makes MIND different

Mediterranean and DASH both call for fruits and vegetables in general. MIND is the pattern that names berries and green leafy vegetables specifically and recommends a frequency for each.

In a study of 883 Italian adults, those eating more flavonoids scored better on tests of thinking and memory, and the difference came down to anthocyanins, the pigments that make berries dark.2 A study that followed people for ten years found the same thing.3

Two trials tested berries directly. In 37 adults aged 60 to 75, those given blueberry reacted faster and made fewer repeated errors on memory tests than those given a placebo.5 A smaller study of nine older adults with early memory changes found improvements in word recall after twelve weeks of wild blueberry juice.4

The evidence is based on food, not supplements

A review of 31 studies of antioxidant-rich plant foods reached an interesting conclusion. Giving people isolated plant antioxidants as supplements failed to prevent chronic disease. The same compounds eaten as food are linked to better outcomes. The explanation the authors propose is that plant foods contain thousands of these compounds working together, and that pulling one or two out of the food does not reproduce the effect.6

That is the difference between a capsule holding a single molecule as a supplement, and a meal made of the foods the research measured. It is also why the pattern of eating, rather than any one nutrient, is the thing the evidence is organized around.

What the research shows

Ordered by how strong each kind of study is, beginning with the one that assigned people to eat a certain way rather than watching what they chose.

Study Finding
Mediterranean pattern, assigned 334 adults aged 55 to 80 at high cardiovascular risk were assigned to a Mediterranean diet with olive oil, the same diet with 30 g of mixed nuts daily, or a control diet, and followed for four years. The nut group scored better on memory tests than the control group.7
MIND pattern, followed over time People who followed the MIND pattern most closely developed Alzheimer's disease less often.1
Mediterranean pattern, pooled Nine studies covering 34,168 people were pooled. Those following the Mediterranean pattern most closely were about 20 percent less likely to develop a cognitive disorder.8
Flavonoids In 883 adults, higher flavonoid intake went with better scores on tests of thinking, with anthocyanins accounting for the difference.2
Green tea In 1,003 Japanese adults over 70, the more green tea people drank the less likely they were to show signs of cognitive impairment.9 In 2,194 older Chinese adults, higher tea intake went with lower risk of decline.10
How it might work The proposed routes are blood flow to the brain, inflammation, the connections between neurons, and how well cells produce energy.11

Two of the six rows above measure the Mediterranean pattern rather than MIND. What that pattern is in food terms, and what it does for the heart, is on the Mediterranean diet and heart health page.

Four food groups doing the work

Berries

MIND: 2+ servings a week

The anthocyanins that give berries their color are the compounds that come up most often in this research. Aronia, also called chokeberry, is among the most polyphenol-dense fruits grown in North America and is rarely eaten outside juice and jam.

Green leafy vegetables

MIND: 6+ servings a week

The most demanding frequency in the pattern, and the one most often missed. Kale and spinach carry flavonoids alongside folate, vitamin K, and carotenoids.

Green tea

Not in the MIND list, studied separately

Catechins, mainly one called EGCG. Matcha is the whole leaf ground into powder rather than steeped and thrown away, so the leaf itself gets consumed.

Nuts and seeds

MIND: 5+ servings a week

The food group behind the one assigned-diet trial that showed a memory benefit. Seeds are also where plant omega-3 comes from, as alpha-linolenic acid, with chia among the richest sources, alongside the fiber in the same food.

What's in Field Theory

Field Theory Complete Nutrition Shake is a meal made from 27 whole foods common to the Mediterranean, DASH, and MIND patterns. Per serving:

1,005 mg Polyphenols
1,650 mg Omega-3 ALA
11 g Fiber
26 g Protein

Berries as aronia, wild blueberry, and cranberry. Leafy greens as kale and spinach, with broccoli alongside. Green tea as matcha. Seeds as flax, chia, pumpkin, and sunflower. Turmeric and black pepper for the curcuminoids. The polyphenol figure and its sources are detailed on the polyphenols page.

See the product

References

  1. Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, et al. MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2015;11(9):1007-1014.
  2. Godos J, Caraci F, Castellano S, et al. Association between dietary flavonoids intake and cognitive function in an Italian cohort. Biomolecules. 2020;10(9):1300. doi:10.3390/biom10091300
  3. Letenneur L, Proust-Lima C, Le Gouge A, Dartigues JF, Barberger-Gateau P. Flavonoid intake and cognitive decline over a 10-year period. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2007;165(12):1364-1371. doi:10.1093/aje/kwm036
  4. Krikorian R, Shidler MD, Nash TA, et al. Blueberry supplementation improves memory in older adults. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2010;58(7):3996-4000. doi:10.1021/jf9029332
  5. Miller MG, Hamilton DA, Joseph JA, Shukitt-Hale B. Dietary blueberry improves cognition among older adults in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. European Journal of Nutrition. 2018;57(3):1169-1180.
  6. Baroni L, Sarni AR, Zuliani C. Plant foods rich in antioxidants and human cognition: a systematic review. Antioxidants. 2021;10(5):714.
  7. Valls-Pedret C, Sala-Vila A, Serra-Mir M, et al. Mediterranean diet and age-related cognitive decline: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2015;175(7):1094-1103.
  8. Wu L, Sun D. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and risk of developing cognitive disorders: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Scientific Reports. 2017;7:41317. doi:10.1038/srep41317
  9. Kuriyama S, Hozawa A, Ohmori K, et al. Green tea consumption and cognitive function: a cross-sectional study from the Tsurugaya Project 1. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2006;83(2):355-361.
  10. Ng TP, Feng L, Niti M, Kua EH, Yap KB. Tea consumption and cognitive impairment and decline in older Chinese adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2008;88(1):224-231.
  11. Rendeiro C, Rhodes JS, Spencer JPE. The mechanisms of action of flavonoids in the brain: direct versus indirect effects. Neurochemistry International. 2015;89:126-139.

The full formulation rationale, with all nineteen references, is in the Field Theory Clinician's Guide.