A combination of two award-winning diets significantly slowed brain aging in key structures, with closer adherence corresponding to a 2.5-year delay in aging of gray matter. The Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet combines the most brain-healthy components of the Mediterranean diet and the heart-healthy DASH diet, which restricts salt. The MIND method emphasizes foods thought to reduce dementia risk: berries, beans, leafy green vegetables, fish, poultry, whole grains, olive oil, and nuts, while severely limiting saturated fats including cheese, butter, red meat, and fried foods.
A study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry analyzed the diet of over 1,600 adults from an offshoot of the Framingham Heart Study beginning in 1999. Participants with an average age of 60 had no evidence of stroke or dementia at enrollment. Over an average of 12 years, participants completed dietary questionnaires, received regular health checkups, and underwent at least two MRI brain scans. Each three-point increase in adherence to the MIND diet was associated with 20% less shrinkage in gray matter—the brain region containing nerve cells involved in memory, thinking, and decision-making. Additionally, those who more closely followed the diet had slower enlargement of ventricles, the fluid-filled spaces that expand as brain tissue shrinks with age. For every three points of closer adherence, ventricle development declined by 8%, reducing brain age by one year.
Berries and poultry contributed most to the anti-aging impact: berries decreased ventricle enlargement rates while poultry slowed both gray matter decline and ventricle enlargement. Conversely, higher intakes of sweets and fried fast foods were associated with faster brain aging. Higher sweets consumption specifically led to more decay in the hippocampus, the brain region most associated with memory.
The study was observational and cannot prove causality, but researchers emphasize that the overall dietary pattern appears most important rather than any single food. Both the Mediterranean and MIND diets are linked in prior studies to reduced cognitive decline and lower Alzheimer’s disease risk.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://ktvz.com/health/cnn-health/2026/03/17/a-unique-combo-of-two-top-diets-slowed-brain-aging-by-over-2-years/