The Mediterranean diet has been shown to stave off stroke, heart disease, diabetes and premature death. Now a further follow-up of participants in Spain’s Predimed trial suggests that a Mediterranean diet can also help keep aging brains healthy.
Olive Oil or Nuts to Supplement Veggies, Fruit and Fish
In the study, people at high risk of cardiovascular disease were randomly assigned to follow a Mediterranean diet with additional extra virgin olive oil, a Mediterranean diet with extra almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts, or a prudent low-fat diet. A Mediterranean diet is rich in vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fruit and fish, with some wine but very little red meat or milk.
More than 400 older volunteers underwent a battery of cognitive tests at the start of the trial. Four years later, about 300 of them had a second set of cognitive tests.
How Did They Perform?
Those who had been assigned to the Mediterranean diet enriched with olive oil scored significantly better on two of the tests. People in both Mediterranean diet groups improved their scores slightly on most of the tests.
In contrast, the group that had been on a low-fat diet had slipped somewhat in its scores. This is not unusual for aging brains. The researchers concluded,
“In an older population, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil or nuts is associated with improved cognitive function.”
The lead author, Emilio Ros, MD, gave a video interview for JAMA Network.
JAMA Internal Medicine, May 11, 2015
This is not the first time that researchers have found some evidence that a Mediterranean diet could be helpful in maintaining mental capacity as we grow older. We have written about other such studies here and here. We also discussed combining the benefits of a Mediterranean diet with a Zone diet with Dr. Barry Sears.
There are more details on how to follow a Mediterranean diet in our book, The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies.
