March is National Nutrition Month and experts agree a diet rich in certain foods, like whole grains and vegetables, not only helps your heart, but your brain as well.
Toni Havala, RD, LDN, a registered dietitian with Endeavor Health Weight Management in Naperville, recommends the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay — more commonly known as the MIND diet — to her patients. The MIND diet combines portions of the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet and the Mediterranean diet.
“A whole pattern of eating can certainly help prevent cognitive decline, but it’s not really one food,” Havala said. “But there are definitely ways that we can eat to help protect our brain.”
As the Mediterranean Diet and DASH diets have been found to help emotional health, researchers wondered if it could also help with cognitive decline, she said. Studies have shown that, in fact, a combination of those diets does help with preventing brain degeneration as well as impacting positive emotional health, she said.
That means a plant-forward diet, particularly plants high in antioxidants like deeply colored greens and berries, are particularly beneficial, she said.
“They really took this diet to a specific point. They tell you what you should eat every day, multiple times a day, then by week and what you should avoid eating,” she said. “It is a very specific program of what to eat on a daily basis.”
The MIND diet recommends:
- Olive oil should be the primary cooking oil.
- Three or more servings of whole grains a day. Examples include oats (steel-cut or old-fashioned), barley, whole wheat, farro, brown rice, bulgur, buckwheat and millet.
- At least one serving of green leafy vegetables a day. That includes kale, swiss chard, beet or collard greens, spinach and arugula.
- At least once serving of other vegetables a day. That could include tomatoes, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, carrots, etc.
- One serving of nuts a day. A serving is one ounce, approximately a quarter-cup, or a small handful.
- A serving of legumes at least four times a week. That includes beans, lentils, edamame, split peas and chickpeas.
- Two or more servings of berries a week.
- At least two servings of (non-fried) chicken or turkey a week.
- At least one serving of (non-fried) fish a week.
The diet also recommends:
- No margarine and no more than one tablespoon of butter daily.
- Less than one serving of fried foods and fast food a week.
- Pastries and sweets – fewer than four servings a week.
- Red meat, pork, lamb – fewer than four servings a week.
- Cheese – one serving of one ounce or less a week.
“A lot of the foods in the ‘avoid’ category are high in saturated fats, which is a solid fat. Anything that clogs our arteries and is not great for our heart is also going to be bad for our brain, vascular-wise,” she said.
“Alcohol – they didn’t list that on the MIND diet to avoid, but every other diet and study has shown that alcohol is something that is not good for your brain. We used to say one drink a week (or for men, two), but now we’re really recommending abstaining from alcohol.”
Havala knows perfection is impossible, so she recommends cutting back and making small changes because they’ll eventually become a part of your routine.
“I think it’s important to realize this is a gold standard and not your typical American diet,” she said. “We tend to eat meat and cheese in excess. So I think any increase in plant food, and any reduction in meat and high-fat dairy like cheese is a positive.”
A way to stick to the MIND diet is by eating a variety of foods, she said.
“I really encourage people to eat a variety of produce with different colors. Those colors are representative of different antioxidants. To cover your nutritional bases, variety is key to optimal health.”
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