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A healthy plant-based diet is linked to a 24% lower risk of noticing your memory and thinking slip, according to a Harvard study of 159,347 people published in JAMA Neurology on February 23.
Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed decades of data from the Nurses' Health Studies and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, comparing six healthy eating patterns with subjective cognitive decline, measured with seven questions about perceived changes in memory and thinking.
All six patterns were linked to lower risk. Comparing high with low adherence, the DASH diet showed the strongest link at 41% lower risk, followed by the healthful plant-based diet index at 24%. Higher vegetable intake and lower red and processed meat intake were among the food groups linked to better cognitive function, the paper reports, and DASH was also linked to slightly better scores on objective telephone tests.
The authors conclude: "Results reveal that healthy diets, exemplified by the DASH diet for blood pressure control and diets with lower hyperinsulinemia and inflammation potentials, were associated with a lower SCD risk and better cognitive function."
DASH and the healthy plant-based index both reward vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts and legumes, so a brain-friendly plate looks a lot like a plant-based one.
It follows a study earlier this month linking healthy eating patterns, including a plant-based diet, to up to three extra years of life.
Good food for the body, good food for the mind.