What is the MIND Diet?
By Diana Sanchez, Staff Writer
Photo by Alex Block on Unsplash
What is the MIND Diet? This was a new diet for me because it’s one I had been unaware of. Luckily for me, improving my health and doing research are quite possibly my two favorite things.
The MIND Diet is, as you might have guessed, a diet that promotes healthy brain functions particularly for those who are genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s and dementia. If you’re thinking that you’re too young to worry about this yet, keep in mind that it is never too early to work on your brain health.
Let’s jump in!
What is the MIND Diet?
The MIND Diet stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay and it is a blend of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet (check out the DASH diet here! The Mediterranean diet is coming soon). Both of these diets on their own have been credited with reducing the risk of diabetes and heart disease, and also lowering blood pressure. All in all, the MIND Diet is composed of perhaps the two healthiest diets you can find today.
How does the MIND Diet work?
The biggest difference between the MIND Diet, the Mediterranean diet, and the DASH diet is that the MIND diet is aimed at promoting brain health and encourages eating fish at least once per week, and encourages berries more so than other fruits. These adjustments appear to be effective as studies have found that following the MIND Diet does reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s for dieters.
So what foods can you eat?
|
Okay All vegetables, especially green, leafy ones Berries Beans Whole grains Nuts Olive oil Fish Poultry Wine (1 glass limit) |
Not Okay Processed foods Sugary snacks Fried foods Butter Margarine Cheese Red meats |
Guidelines
The following are the minimum recommendations - you can have more with more frequency.
| Daily | Three times a week | Twice a week | Once a week |
|
3 servings of whole grains 3 servings of leafy greens and vegetables 1 oz serving nuts
|
1 serving of beans/legumes |
1 serving of berries 1 serving of poultry |
1 serving of fish |
The Bottomline
Regardless of whether you are actively concerned about your brain health or not, the MIND Diet is an extremely healthy eating lifestyle that is sustainable and that you can really benefit from long-term. And, any diet where I don’t have to give up wine is a-okay in my book!
Did you try the MIND Diet? Comment below, I’d love to hear about it!
If you’d like to work on your mindset to help you stick to this diet, check out our blog!
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