Mediterranean Diet May Help Keep Thinking Power Fresh

New findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine show how the plant-based Mediterranean diet may help improve cognitive function.

As previous research has shown how a Mediterranean diet can lower the risk of dementia, new observational studies also suggest that this diet with antioxidant-rich extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts could help keep aging brains healthy.

The study included a randomized clinical trial of 447 cognitively healthy volunteers (223 women an average of 67 years old) who were at high cardiovascular risk and enrolled in a nutrition intervention.

Of the participants, 155 individuals were assigned to supplement a Mediterranean diet with one liter of extra virgin olive oil per week. Another 147 were assigned to supplement a Mediterranean diet with 30 grams per day of a mix of almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts, while 145 individuals were assigned to follow a low-fat control diet.

Researchers measured cognitive change via a group of neuropsychological tests. Then, after a median of four years of intervention, follow-up tests were available on 334 participants.

Thirty-seven cases of mild impairment were found at the end of the follow-up, with 17 in the Mediterranean diet plus olive oil group; eight in the Mediterranean diet plus nuts group and 12 in the low-fat control group.

"Our results suggest that in an older population a Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil or nuts may counteract age-related cognitive decline. The lack of effective treatments for cognitive decline and dementia points to the need of preventive strategies to delay the onset and/or minimize the effects of these devastating conditions. The present results with the Mediterranean diet are encouraging but further investigation is warranted," the study concluded.