The MIND Diet
Replies
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I am intrigued by this diet, and it really isn't much different than how I have been eating for the past 6 months. For whole grains, I eat oatmeal, quinoa and brown rice. I just lost my mother to complications from Lewey Body Dementia, and have a strong family history of Alzheimers. My children have a grandparent on both sides with dementia. I am willing to commit to this eating style for myself and my family. Especially that 5 oz glass of wine!
What interested me is the finding that one can still make a significant reduction in their risk by following the diet moderately.
I have been experiencing significant weight loss over the past 6 months, due to making wise choices, watching portion size and regular, strenuous excercise.0 -
The research was observational, not randomized or controlled, and therefore isn’t evidence the MIND diet caused a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s. Instead, the research shows there is an association between the two.
I was wondering how they could possibly have done a relatively short-term study of Alzheimer risks.
It's pretty interesting:The study involved 923 participants who didn’t have dementia at the start of the research. Their ages ranged from 58 to 98, with a median age of 81. Participants, who were followed on average for 4.5 years, were questioned annually on how often they ate from among 144 different food items. Subjects whose diet choices adhered closely to the MIND diet had a 53% reduced risk for developing Alzheimer’s. Risk was reduced by 54% with the Mediterranean diet and 39% with the DASH diet.
I'm curious what someone who follows the DASH diet, say, but not the MIND eats. Especially since it goes on to say that moderate adherence to the MIND diet lessened the chance of getting Alzheimers by 35% (poor word choice, I think), but moderate adherence to the other two did not. Presumably moderate adherence to MIND could be DASH (that is, eating fruits and veggies but not particularly greens and berries or some such). I wonder what moderate adherence to Med diet or DASH would be?
In that these things seem to be based on quizzing the participants about how they eat, more precise information on how they draw the lines would be nice (as well as what "moderate adherence" is). It does a better job of describing what they seem to be defining as MIND vs. the other two, however.
Absolute numbers and not just percentages would also be nice.
It also doesn't look at what different components of the various diets may actually make a difference or not (otehr than perhaps greens). For example, whole grains are included in all, but it doesn't seem to test how well someone who otherwise follows the diet but avoids grains would do. (I don't avoid grains, I'm just somewhat skeptical that eating grains is all that important.)0 -
EdinburghJenn wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »EdinburghJenn wrote: »This is an interesting article I read today:
wsj.com/articles/a-diet-might-cut-the-risk-of-developing-alzheimers-1429569168?mod=e2fb
"The MIND diet has 15 dietary components, including 10 “brain-healthy food groups” — green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine — and five unhealthy groups that comprise red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food.
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. Dieters must limit eating the designated unhealthy foods, especially butter (less than 1 tablespoon a day), cheese, and fried or fast food (less than a serving a week for any of the three), to have a real shot at avoiding the devastating effects of Alzheimer's, according to the study."
Although more studies are needed, the current findings are encouraging. From the recommended foods, I definitely need to find a way to incorporate beans into my diet more regularly. Also, I don't drink wine everyday, but I can easily do that as long as it fits within my calorie goal! I also need to eat less butter apparently!
What about you?
I find it interesting that they campared to the Mediterranean Diet because they don't sound much different to me. I guess the amount of nuts is the difference. I have seen other studies where they used a "Mediterranean Diet plus extra nuts" that showed health benefits.
I hope this is correct because it describes the way I eat more closely than any diet I've seen, including the wine.
What they actually did is take components of the Mediterranean Diet and the DASH diet to come up with the MIND diet (at least that's how I read it).
The mediterranean diet is awesome
Sounds like you're very much eating a great diet already. My real problem is the butter (I should use more olive oil instead!).
Actually thinking about it, this MIND diet is very close to Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid (which as a bonus also includes healthy sweets such as dark chocolate - YUM).
drweil.com/drw/u/ART02995/Dr-Weil-Anti-Inflammatory-Food-Pyramid.html
Hmm, I have heard of this diet but not seen the pyramid or read what exactly it entails. It is interesting how similar all these diets developed to solve health problems are.
It is also interesting that they specify Asian mushrooms in this pyramid. What's wrong with other mushrooms? I eat a LOT of mushrooms.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »The research was observational, not randomized or controlled, and therefore isn’t evidence the MIND diet caused a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s. Instead, the research shows there is an association between the two.
I was wondering how they could possibly have done a relatively short-term study of Alzheimer risks.
It's pretty interesting:The study involved 923 participants who didn’t have dementia at the start of the research. Their ages ranged from 58 to 98, with a median age of 81. Participants, who were followed on average for 4.5 years, were questioned annually on how often they ate from among 144 different food items. Subjects whose diet choices adhered closely to the MIND diet had a 53% reduced risk for developing Alzheimer’s. Risk was reduced by 54% with the Mediterranean diet and 39% with the DASH diet.
I'm curious what someone who follows the DASH diet, say, but not the MIND eats. Especially since it goes on to say that moderate adherence to the MIND diet lessened the chance of getting Alzheimers by 35% (poor word choice, I think), but moderate adherence to the other two did not. Presumably moderate adherence to MIND could be DASH (that is, eating fruits and veggies but not particularly greens and berries or some such). I wonder what moderate adherence to Med diet or DASH would be?
In that these things seem to be based on quizzing the participants about how they eat, more precise information on how they draw the lines would be nice (as well as what "moderate adherence" is). It does a better job of describing what they seem to be defining as MIND vs. the other two, however.
Absolute numbers and not just percentages would also be nice.
It also doesn't look at what different components of the various diets may actually make a difference or not (otehr than perhaps greens). For example, whole grains are included in all, but it doesn't seem to test how well someone who otherwise follows the diet but avoids grains would do. (I don't avoid grains, I'm just somewhat skeptical that eating grains is all that important.)
I missed "annually" the first time I read this, as in "questioned annually on how often they ate from among 144 different food items."
I wonder how accurate annual, food recall questionnaires are.
I too think absolute numbers and not just percentages would also be nice.
Say there @ 300 people in each of the three groups. Say in group A, three people get diagnosed with AD and in group B, two people get diagnosed with AD. So the people in group B people could be said to have a 33% reduced risk, yes? I'm asking, not saying.
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Maybe they will have more answers to these questions in their book
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If this was truly a ground-breaking discovery into solving the Alzheimer's puzzle then they would have done more thorough research on WHY that diet *appears* to give the results it does.
If there is some kind of nutritional deficiency at the base of all of this, then surely as good medical researchers they would be pinning down how simple supplements could help.
If they are basing it off elimination because thetans live in cheese and they eat your brain (or some other elimination diet) WHY do they believe that and why are the eliminations so broad? What are the specifics that you need to avoid and why?
There's also the whole compliance thing, 2 years is a long time to be compliant with a diet, who's to say these people were going to get Alzheimers anyway? For those who were already showing signs, what other medications were they placed on to help and could this be accounting for any of the effects etc etc.
There was a "Breakthrough" into Alzheimer's announced last week, apparently they have discovered that the body's immune response kicks into overdrive and starts breaking down arginine in the brain, however they also pointed out that, in mice anyway, just consuming more arginine wouldn't work as the body would still simply break it down and it's the breaking down that would need to be blocked.
Now this was a breakthrough that was announced in the International press, i.e. something of note. This "diet" was not. Call me a cynic, but I won't believe any of it until better, independent studies have been done. Don't get me wrong, I FIRMLY believe that diet CAN help issues (ketosis and epilepsy is a brilliant example), but... yeah.
I suppose at the end of the day, for a family dealing with the horrors of Alzheimer's they will cling to any hope they can find, spending money on such a book if need be. But I, personally, would want to see more research done into why they believe this diet helps.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »The research was observational, not randomized or controlled, and therefore isn’t evidence the MIND diet caused a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s. Instead, the research shows there is an association between the two.
I was wondering how they could possibly have done a relatively short-term study of Alzheimer risks.
It's pretty interesting:The study involved 923 participants who didn’t have dementia at the start of the research. Their ages ranged from 58 to 98, with a median age of 81. Participants, who were followed on average for 4.5 years, were questioned annually on how often they ate from among 144 different food items. Subjects whose diet choices adhered closely to the MIND diet had a 53% reduced risk for developing Alzheimer’s. Risk was reduced by 54% with the Mediterranean diet and 39% with the DASH diet.
I'm curious what someone who follows the DASH diet, say, but not the MIND eats. Especially since it goes on to say that moderate adherence to the MIND diet lessened the chance of getting Alzheimers by 35% (poor word choice, I think), but moderate adherence to the other two did not. Presumably moderate adherence to MIND could be DASH (that is, eating fruits and veggies but not particularly greens and berries or some such). I wonder what moderate adherence to Med diet or DASH would be?
In that these things seem to be based on quizzing the participants about how they eat, more precise information on how they draw the lines would be nice (as well as what "moderate adherence" is). It does a better job of describing what they seem to be defining as MIND vs. the other two, however.
Absolute numbers and not just percentages would also be nice.
It also doesn't look at what different components of the various diets may actually make a difference or not (otehr than perhaps greens). For example, whole grains are included in all, but it doesn't seem to test how well someone who otherwise follows the diet but avoids grains would do. (I don't avoid grains, I'm just somewhat skeptical that eating grains is all that important.)
I missed "annually" the first time I read this, as in "questioned annually on how often they ate from among 144 different food items."
I wonder how accurate annual, food recall questionnaires are.
I too think absolute numbers and not just percentages would also be nice.
Say there @ 300 people in each of the three groups. Say in group A, three people get diagnosed with AD and in group B, two people get diagnosed with AD. So the people in group B people could be said to have a 33% reduced risk, yes? I'm asking, not saying.
My guess is that it's a reduction from the expected value minus variance. Knowing what that value is would be helpful though. Quick google says, someone aged 85 has almost 50% chance to get it, halved for every 5 years younger you are.
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_causes_risk_factors.asp
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Sounds like it's trying to balance omega ratios, as most people eat too many 6s and not enough 3s. Plus, reduce artery blockage with low trans and sat fat, plus the wine, which slightly reduces plaque build up.
But, it's a very complicated way of saying keep your weight in check, moderate blood sugars, increase omega 3s, and reduce sat and trans fat. This is not new information, just largely ignored information.0 -
MonsoonStorm wrote: »If this was truly a ground-breaking discovery into solving the Alzheimer's puzzle then they would have done more thorough research on WHY that diet *appears* to give the results it does.
If there is some kind of nutritional deficiency at the base of all of this, then surely as good medical researchers they would be pinning down how simple supplements could help.
If they are basing it off elimination because thetans live in cheese and they eat your brain (or some other elimination diet) WHY do they believe that and why are the eliminations so broad? What are the specifics that you need to avoid and why?
There's also the whole compliance thing, 2 years is a long time to be compliant with a diet, who's to say these people were going to get Alzheimers anyway? For those who were already showing signs, what other medications were they placed on to help and could this be accounting for any of the effects etc etc.
There was a "Breakthrough" into Alzheimer's announced last week, apparently they have discovered that the body's immune response kicks into overdrive and starts breaking down arginine in the brain, however they also pointed out that, in mice anyway, just consuming more arginine wouldn't work as the body would still simply break it down and it's the breaking down that would need to be blocked.
Now this was a breakthrough that was announced in the International press, i.e. something of note. This "diet" was not. Call me a cynic, but I won't believe any of it until better, independent studies have been done. Don't get me wrong, I FIRMLY believe that diet CAN help issues (ketosis and epilepsy is a brilliant example), but... yeah.
I suppose at the end of the day, for a family dealing with the horrors of Alzheimer's they will cling to any hope they can find, spending money on such a book if need be. But I, personally, would want to see more research done into why they believe this diet helps.
You do realize that this a newly developed diet and preliminary research, right? I'm sure further research will be forthcoming.
You can't look at any single study and expect to have all the answers.0 -
The thing I most wonder about in this diet comparison is what exact criteria they used for the Mediterranean Diet. I've read quite a bit about the MD and as far as I've seen there is no exact criteria. It's just a pyramid with eat more of this, less of this, very little of this. So, I wonder how they judged high vs moderate adherence.0
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hollyrayburn wrote: »MIND your calories and macro/micros.
get it in your MIND that you should exercise.
be MINDful that you can eat a primarily healthy diet, and moderatley indulge in anything
Good advice!0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »MonsoonStorm wrote: »If this was truly a ground-breaking discovery into solviQng the Alzheimer's puzzle then they would have done more thorough research on WHY that diet *appears* to give the results it does.
If there is some kind of nutritional deficiency at the base of all of this, then surely as good medical researchers they would be pinning down how simple supplements could help.
If they are basing it off elimination because thetans live in cheese and they eat your brain (or some other elimination diet) WHY do they believe that and why are the eliminations so broad? What are the specifics that you need to avoid and why?
There's also the whole compliance thing, 2 years is a long time to be compliant with a diet, who's to say these people were going to get Alzheimers anyway? For those who were already showing signs, what other medications were they placed on to help and could this be accounting for any of the effects etc etc.
There was a "Breakthrough" into Alzheimer's announced last week, apparently they have discovered that the body's immune response kicks into overdrive and starts breaking down arginine in the brain, however they also pointed out that, in mice anyway, just consuming more arginine wouldn't work as the body would still simply break it down and it's the breaking down that would need to be blocked.
Now this was a breakthrough that was announced in the International press, i.e. something of note. This "diet" was not. Call me a cynic, but I won't believe any of it until better, independent studies have been done. Don't get me wrong, I FIRMLY believe that diet CAN help issues (ketosis and epilepsy is a brilliant example), but... yeah.
I suppose at the end of the day, for a family dealing with the horrors of Alzheimer's they will cling to any hope they can find, spending money on such a book if need be. But I, personally, would want to see more research done into why they believe this diet helps.
You do realize that this a newly developed diet and preliminary research, right? I'm sure further research will be forthcoming.
You can't look at any single study and expect to have all the answers.
Early research suggests that there is a link between artery blockage and Dementia and related diseases. But, since they can't physically or ethically cause these diseases, it will stay at "linked".0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »MonsoonStorm wrote: »If this was truly a ground-breaking discovery into solviQng the Alzheimer's puzzle then they would have done more thorough research on WHY that diet *appears* to give the results it does.
If there is some kind of nutritional deficiency at the base of all of this, then surely as good medical researchers they would be pinning down how simple supplements could help.
If they are basing it off elimination because thetans live in cheese and they eat your brain (or some other elimination diet) WHY do they believe that and why are the eliminations so broad? What are the specifics that you need to avoid and why?
There's also the whole compliance thing, 2 years is a long time to be compliant with a diet, who's to say these people were going to get Alzheimers anyway? For those who were already showing signs, what other medications were they placed on to help and could this be accounting for any of the effects etc etc.
There was a "Breakthrough" into Alzheimer's announced last week, apparently they have discovered that the body's immune response kicks into overdrive and starts breaking down arginine in the brain, however they also pointed out that, in mice anyway, just consuming more arginine wouldn't work as the body would still simply break it down and it's the breaking down that would need to be blocked.
Now this was a breakthrough that was announced in the International press, i.e. something of note. This "diet" was not. Call me a cynic, but I won't believe any of it until better, independent studies have been done. Don't get me wrong, I FIRMLY believe that diet CAN help issues (ketosis and epilepsy is a brilliant example), but... yeah.
I suppose at the end of the day, for a family dealing with the horrors of Alzheimer's they will cling to any hope they can find, spending money on such a book if need be. But I, personally, would want to see more research done into why they believe this diet helps.
You do realize that this a newly developed diet and preliminary research, right? I'm sure further research will be forthcoming.
You can't look at any single study and expect to have all the answers.
Early research suggests that there is a link between artery blockage and Dementia and related diseases. But, since they can't physically or ethically cause these diseases, it will stay at "linked".
There are few things proven to cause disease over the long term. Linked is often the best we get.0
This discussion has been closed.
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