Mediterranean Diet Brain, Eating a Mediterranean-style diet pops up again and again as a health booster. The latest study to look at its benefits suggests following the diet may delay brain shrinkage as we age.
People who ate a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, legumes, and olive oil, along with small to moderate amounts of alcohol, and who consumed less meat and dairy, had less brain shrinkage than people who did not follow a Mediterranean eating style, according to a study published today in the journal Neurology. The researchers also found that Mediterranean diet followers had a larger brain volume than those who didn't eat this way.
The difference between the two groups added up to about five years of aging, the scientists reported.
Study author Yian Gu, of Columbia University, in New York, said the results are exciting because they raise the possibility that people may potentially be able to prevent brain shrinking and the effects of aging on the brain by following a healthy diet.
"The more you adhere to the Mediterranean diet, the better protection you get for your brain," she told CBS News.
Dishing up more fish and less meat was linked with less brain shrinkage. "Eating at least three to five ounces of fish weekly or eating no more than 3.5 ounces of meat daily may provide considerable protection against loss of brain cells," Gu said in a press statement.
The study included 674 people with an average age of 80 who did not have dementia. They completed questionnaires about their diet over the past year and then had brain scans an average of seven months after answering the diet survey. The participants were divided into two groups based on how closely their dietary habits followed the Mediterranean diet basics.
The people who more closely followed a Mediterranean-like diet had total brain volume that was 13.11 milliliters larger than those who did not follow the Mediterranean diet. Their gray matter volume was 5.0 milliliters larger, and their white matter volume was 6.41 milliliters larger.
People who ate a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, legumes, and olive oil, along with small to moderate amounts of alcohol, and who consumed less meat and dairy, had less brain shrinkage than people who did not follow a Mediterranean eating style, according to a study published today in the journal Neurology. The researchers also found that Mediterranean diet followers had a larger brain volume than those who didn't eat this way.The difference between the two groups added up to about five years of aging, the scientists reported.
Study author Yian Gu, of Columbia University, in New York, said the results are exciting because they raise the possibility that people may potentially be able to prevent brain shrinking and the effects of aging on the brain by following a healthy diet.
"The more you adhere to the Mediterranean diet, the better protection you get for your brain," she told CBS News.
Dishing up more fish and less meat was linked with less brain shrinkage. "Eating at least three to five ounces of fish weekly or eating no more than 3.5 ounces of meat daily may provide considerable protection against loss of brain cells," Gu said in a press statement.
The study included 674 people with an average age of 80 who did not have dementia. They completed questionnaires about their diet over the past year and then had brain scans an average of seven months after answering the diet survey. The participants were divided into two groups based on how closely their dietary habits followed the Mediterranean diet basics.
The people who more closely followed a Mediterranean-like diet had total brain volume that was 13.11 milliliters larger than those who did not follow the Mediterranean diet. Their gray matter volume was 5.0 milliliters larger, and their white matter volume was 6.41 milliliters larger.
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