Association of plant-rich dietary patterns of mediterranean and MIND with risk of alzheimer disease

Objective

In recent decades, the possible synergistic power of nutrients in the form of dietary patterns has received attention in preventing diseases. This study aimed to investigate the association between plant-rich Mediterranean (MeDi) and MIND [MeDi-DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay] dietary patterns with the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods

Sixty patients with AD and 29 healthy individuals were recruited. The cognitive functioning of the patients was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test. Participants’ food intake was evaluated using the three nonconsecutive days 24-h food recall method, and then MeDi and MIND dietary scores were calculated.

Results

Patients with AD had lower MIND diet scores than healthy subjects (p = 0.06), but the MeDi score did not significantly differ between the two groups. MIND and MeDi scores did not significantly differ between males and females. Each unit increase in MIND diet score was significantly correlated with a 40 % reduced risk of AD, and each unit increase in MeDi score was non-significantly correlated with a 14 % reduced risk of AD. Scores of MIND and MeDi patterns did not remarkably correlate with MMSE total score and cognitive domains.

Conclusion

The findings of this study suggest the promising affirmative effects of the MIND diet on reducing the risk of AD, but the protective effect of the MeDi pattern against the AD risk remains inconclusive.