Your brain may not be the body part you’re thinking of when you consider a new diet, but maybe it should be. We tend to change up our eating habits based on our bodies, but what we eat makes a big difference to brain health, too. And it turns out, the MIND diet stands out as the best when it comes to our brains.
Dietitian Amy Goodson says, “The MIND diet is an absolute win for your brain.” So what is it and more importantly, what can we eat on it? The MIND diet combines the Mediterranean diet, which includes lots of healthy fats, veggies, and whole grains, with the DASH diet, which is loaded with fruits and vegetables and was designed to help lower and control high blood pressure. And the main focus of the MIND diet is to eat foods that keep the brain healthy and limit or avoid foods that don’t.
The eating plan may help with cognitive function and research shows those who “rigorously” followed the MIND diet lowered their risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 53% and those who followed it “moderately” reduced it by 35%. Goodson recommends regularly eating these MIND diet-approved foods to boost brain health:
- Berries
- Green leafy vegetables
- All other vegetables
- Nuts
- Fish
- Olive oil
- Whole grains
- Beans
- Poultry
- Wine, but in moderation, of course
Source:Eat This, Not That
Photo: Getty Images