What Are the Best Foods for Brain Health?
There are plenty of ways to keep your brain sharp as you age, from staying socially engaged to getting enough sleep. Research increasingly shows that what you choose to put on your plate can also help strengthen memory and slow cognitive decline.
Many of the best foods for a healthy brain are featured in the MIND diet, which is “like if the Mediterranean and DASH diets had a baby,” says Liz Weinandy, a registered dietitian and instructor of practice in dietetics and nutrition at the Ohio State University. “It’s taking the best parts of both sides, and both sides are super healthy.”
The MIND diet (short for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) was introduced in 2015 when researchers from Rush University Medical Center and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health published two papers exploring whether this style of eating could slow the onset of dementia. Their findings suggested that a diet which limits saturated fat and emphasizes foods such as vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, fish, berries, lean proteins, and olive oil was associated with slower rates of cognitive decline.
Excerpted from Time
