Researchers detail habits that could prevent cognitive decline

 Guidelines NOT protocols; so ask your competent? doctor for EXACT PROTOCOLS! You do want to blame your doctor for that decline if the protocols are wrong, right?

Researchers detail habits that could prevent cognitive decline

Around 7.2 million Americans are currently estimated to have Alzheimer's disease,and experts such as those at the National Health Institute say that number could grow to 13.8 million by 2060. As researchers say that indicates clinicians will face "major challenges" in coming years, they are urging people to take a closer look into the lifestyle habits that could help prevent cognitive decline.

While deaths from cardiovascular disease have declined since 2000, deaths from Alzheimer's disease have surged by more than 140%," Dr. Charles H. Hennekens, a professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine at the Florida Atlantic University Schmidt College of Medicine, told Science Daily. "At the same time, it is estimated that up to 45% of dementia risk could be attributed to modifiable lifestyle and environmental factors."

Hennekens is one of the co-authors of a commentary in "The American Journal of Medicine" that details some of these, which include: physical inactivity; unhealthy diets; obesity and alcohol consumption. Also included are medical conditions like dyslipidemias, hypertension, diabetes and depression as well as social isolation and intellectual inactivity.

On the flip side, there are "therapeutic lifestyle" changes that could help decrease cognitive decline in elderly patients that have been proven to help those with cardiovascular disease as well as other illnesses, researchers wrote. 

 Related video: How to avoid dementia: 8 easy habits that doctors say protect your memory (Woman's World)

These changes include physical activity, adhering to diets like the Mediterranean or DASH diet, and not smoking. 

"Therapeutic lifestyle changes, if demonstrated to be beneficial, would have major clinical and public health implications in reducing cognitive decline in the US and worldwide," researchers said in the commentary. "This possibility is of even greater importance given the interrelationships of cognitive decline with increasing age as well as the increasing proportion of U.S. and other populations of the elderly."

Researchers highlighted the results of the Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Interventions to Reduce Risk, or POINTER, trial, where 2,111 men and women between 60 and 79 years old who were at high risk for cognitive decline because of risk factors were given either a "high intensity lifestyle intervention" or a self-guided program.

Those in the high intensity lifestyle intervention group had meetings in person, professional guidance and accountability measures, while the ones who were self-guided had educational materials and "general support." Those in the former group, during the POINTER trial, "demonstrated statistically significant and clinically important improvements in global cognition," particularly when it came to planning, attention and problem solving. Another trial, Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER,) had similar results. 

"There are implications for clinical practice, public health, and government policy, as well as further research," researchers wrote. "Clinicians will now be armed with lifestyle-based changes to reduce cognitive decline. In addition, public health practitioners may also add to their programs based on the study designs of POINTER and FINGER to maintain brain health, complementing pharmacologic approaches."

Not only can these findings be beneficial from a health perspective - researchers said they also could lead to cost savings. Early attention to risk factors of dementia could reduce people's medical and caregiving costs, as well as the "expensive costs of the newly developed pharmacologic agents," some of which offer modest benefits but side effects including "loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, headache, fatigue and restlessness," researchers noted.

"While more research is needed, the current totality of evidence supports a clear path forward: invest in lifestyle-based strategies to protect brain health," Hennekens said to Science Daily. "Doing so will not only benefit individuals at risk but also serve as a powerful tool for reducing national and global health care burdens related to cognitive decline."

The post Researchers detail habits that could prevent cognitive decline appeared first on Straight Arrow News.

These 5 Eating Patterns Added Up To 4 Extra Years In A New Study by mindbodygreen

 Because your competent? doctor knew you have 5 lost years of brain cognition due to your stroke, to compensate THESE EXACT DIET PROTOCOLS WERE CREATED! Right?  Oh No; NOTHING!

These 5 Eating Patterns Added Up To 4 Extra Years In A New Study

Are All “Healthy Diets” Equal for Stroke Prevention?

 Impossible to tell since none are objective and have EXACT PROTOCOLS!

Are All “Healthy Diets” Equal for Stroke Prevention?

• Anel Karisik, MD

Castro-Barquero S, Rimm EB, Jovin TG, Martínez-González MA, Salas-Salvadó J, Corella D, Arós F, Serra-Majem L, Fitó M, Pintó X, et al. Adherence to Different Dietary Patterns and Subsequent Risk of Total, Ischemic, and Hemorrhagic Stroke. Stroke. 2026;57:945–956.

Eating healthy is supposed to protect the heart — but do all "heart-healthy" dietary patterns protect equally well against stroke? A new analysis from the PREDIMED trial takes on this question and delivers surprisingly clear answers. Castro-Barquero et al. compared four widely promoted dietary patterns — Mediterranean, DASH, MIND, and the Planetary Health Diet — in over 7,000 high-risk individuals over a median follow-up of 4.3 years. The result: Those participants in the highest quintile of cumulative adherence had approximately 75% lower stroke risk than those in the lowest quintile. For DASH and the Planetary Health Diet, only non-significant trends emerged.

 

The MIND diet combines Mediterranean principles with a focus on brain health — and performs on par with classic Mediterranean eating. One possible explanation is that these dietary patterns share several components, including plant-based foods, olive oil, and nuts. That said, caution is warranted. Because this was a post hoc observational analysis of adherence within a randomized trial, causal inference regarding the dietary scores themselves remains limited. Those with higher dietary adherence were also generally healthier and more physically active; residual confounding cannot be ruled out. Only 135 stroke events were available for analysis, which limits statistical power, particularly for subgroup comparisons. And the cohort consisted of older, high-risk individuals in Spain, which constrains generalizability.

Nevertheless, this study strengthens the case for Mediterranean and MIND dietary patterns in stroke prevention, without the differences between diet scores being over-interpreted. The real message remains simple: Overall dietary quality appears important, but in this cohort, the strongest evidence supported Mediterranean and MIND dietary patterns.

The #1 thing to avoid if you have high blood pressure, according to dietitians

 Really, you don't read research, do you?

You'll want your competent? doctor to explain all these and give you an EXACT PROTOCOL ON SALT! Noting how much salt your brain needs to function properly! If your doctor doesn't know that, how much else doesn't s/he know? And you're being treated for a brain injury by them?

But this:

 

Review finds no proven clinical benefit to strict salt restriction for patients with heart failure

And this:

In many high income countries, approximately 75% of salt in the diet comes from processed foods and meals prepared outside the home.  So, this China study may not have much relevance in your country.

Intake of potassium- and magnesium-enriched salt improves functional outcome after stroke: a randomized, multicenter, double-blind controlled trial January 2018

Low-Salt Diet Ineffective, Study Finds. Disagreement Abounds. June 2011 

The wrong white crystals: not salt but sugar as aetiological in hypertension and cardiometabolic disease December 2014

Why Everything We Know About Salt May Be Wrong May 2017 

Researchers reveal surprising findings on how salt affects blood flow in the brain

November 2021 

You'll want your competent? doctor to explain these and give you an EXACT PROTOCOL ON SALT!

 

 The latest here:

The #1 thing to avoid if you have high blood pressure, according to dietitians

If you have hypertension, a health care professional may have recommended lifestyle changes to bring down your levels. Don’t overlook this very important one.

Reviewed by Dietitian Emily Lachtrupp, M.S., RD

Key Points

• Limit sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams daily by cooking at home and reading food labels.
• Boost potassium intake with fruits, vegetables and dairy to help lower blood pressure.
• The DASH or Mediterranean diet supports heart health and reduces hypertension.

If you know you have high blood pressure, you’re already a step ahead. Although high blood pressure (hypertension) affects nearly half of American adults, it doesn’t cause symptoms at first—so many people don't even know they have it. Your blood pressure is the force of blood pushing through your arteries. Normal blood pressure is below 120/80 mm Hg. The top number, systolic blood pressure, measures pressure when the heart beats. The bottom number, diastolic blood pressure, is the pressure when the heart is at rest between beats.

High blood pressure can lead to several health complications, such as stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, vision loss and more. “If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, lifestyle modification is key. Assess your diet, weight and exercise habits,” says Maria Elena Fraga, RD, CDCES. Read on to learn more about what high blood pressure means, the biggest thing to avoid doing if you have it and proven strategies you can take to improve it. 

Don't Underestimate the Impact of Nutrition

The No. 1 thing to avoid if you have hypertension is underestimating the impact your nutrition habits can have on your blood pressure. Knowing that you can make a big difference in your blood pressure by changing some aspects of your diet is positive and empowering news.

Actionable habits for lowering blood pressure include limiting sodium, eating fruits and vegetables that are rich in potassium, cooking more at home and following blood-pressure-lowering eating plans. “Getting a handle on your blood pressure requires behavior and lifestyle changes, which can take time, effort, consistency and patience,” says Sarah Currie, M.S., RD. With that said, here are the impactful changes you can start making to your diet.

Related video: Two powerful foods that naturally reduce blood pressure according to doctors (Talking With Docs)Cut Back on Sodium

Over time, eating a high-sodium diet can narrow blood vessels and increase blood pressure. “You’d be surprised how many food items contain hidden sources of sodium,” says Fraga. Packaged foods are often packed with sodium, and some of the top culprits are canned soups, frozen meals and deli meat, adds Currie.

The American Heart Association suggests that cutting out 1,000 milligrams per day of sodium can have a beneficial impact on blood pressure. For people with high blood pressure, the AHA recommends consuming no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.

To reduce your sodium intake, try replacing a portion of salt in your recipes with garlic, fresh herbs and spices. Read package labels and restaurant menus before buying or ordering to help make lower-sodium choices. When you’re reading labels, look at the Daily Value percentage for sodium and aim for lower-sodium foods when possible. Foods with a sodium DV of 5% or less per serving are considered a low-sodium foods, while those with 20% DV or more of sodium per serving are considered high-sodium and should be limited.

Eat Potassium-Rich Foods

Potassium counteracts sodium by helping your body excrete it through your urine. (In short, you pee it out.) The mineral also helps relax blood vessel walls, which lowers blood pressure. The AHA recommends consuming 3,500 to 5,000 milligrams of potassium daily to prevent or treat high blood pressure.

Boost your potassium intake by eating more fruits and vegetables. Aim to eat 4½ cups of fruits and vegetables every day. Foods rich in potassium include:

• Lentils
• Prunes
• Bananas
• Kidney beans
• Orange juice
• Cantaloupe
• Squash
• Apricots
• Soybeans
• Raisins
• Potatoes
• Spinach
• Chicken breast
• Low-fat dairy products

Cook More Meals at Home

Restaurant meals are often high in sodium, which can make it difficult to stay within the recommended limits. One study found that the average sodium content in a fast-food meal was about 1,300 milligrams—nearly all of the recommended sodium limit for someone with high blood pressure In addition, another study found that foods considered ultra-processed have 150% more sodium than those considered not ultra-processed. Cooking at home gives you control over all the ingredients. Whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, dried legumes, unsalted nuts and seeds and fresh sources of protein contain little to no sodium. When cooking you can flavor foods with fresh and dried herbs and spices, including basil, oregano, cumin, rosemary, turmeric and more.

This doesn’t mean you can’t eat out—it just takes a little planning. If the restaurant provides nutrition information, check it ahead of time to plan out a meal that’s lower in sodium. Avoid or limit fried foods, which tend to be higher in sodium, says Currie, and ask for sauces and dressings on the side. Opt for baked, broiled, grilled or steamed proteins paired with green and other colorful vegetables. 

Consider the DASH or Mediterranean Style of Eating  

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet was created to intentionally treat high blood pressure. This eating style focuses on eating fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy, lean protein and limited saturated fats, red meat, added sugar and sodium. The DASH diet is rich in important nutrients that help lower blood pressure, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, fiber and protein.

The Mediterranean diet is very similar to the DASH eating plan, as it’s full of fresh fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich beans and whole grains, nuts and seeds. This eating plan also recommends limiting foods that contain higher amounts of saturated fat, such as red meat. One food that’s famously associated with the Mediterranean diet is extra-virgin olive oil, which is rich in polyphenols that can protect the heart.

Strategies to Improve Blood Pressure 

Improving the quality of your diet is one effective way to manage hypertension. Other lifestyle factors that help bring down blood pressure include:

• Get regular physical activity
• Avoid smoking.
• Practice stress management.
• Reach a healthy weight, if weight loss is recommended.
• Get enough sleep. Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night.

If lifestyle factors are not enough to keep your blood pressure in a healthy range, you may need medication. Reach out to a health care provider for guidance.

Our Expert Take

High blood pressure is a common condition affecting many Americans, yet, you can take steps to improve your numbers and prevent hypertension. One of the biggest mistakes people make is not realizing how important nutrition is for managing blood pressure and maintaining a healthy heart.

Small, consistent steps—like reading labels to cut down on sodium, cooking at home more often and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables—can make a big difference. For personalized support and guidance, ask a health care provider about working with a registered dietitian who can create an individualized eating plan and set goals that work for you.

Read the original article on EatingWell

This diet beats out 5 others when it comes to cognitive health, study finds

 

None of them have any objective specifics(NO protocol!) so you can't be sure you're following them properly. In my opinion, pretty much useless other than whitewashing your doctor's incompetence in not knowing anything specific to get you recovered!

You'll have to ask your competent? doctor for the EXACT SPECIFIC VERSION OF THIS! You wouldn't want to do it wrong, would you? No excuses are allowed.

This diet beats out 5 others when it comes to cognitive health, study finds

A lot of healthy diets are considered to be just as good for your brain as they are for your body. But one in particular, which is usually recommended for lowering blood pressure, may be particularly good when it comes to protecting your cognitive function, a recent study suggests.

An international team of researchers looked at data from the two Nurses’ Health Studies, conducted from 1986 to 2017, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, conducted from 1986 to 2012. That means they had data on diet and brain health from almost 160,000 adults, according to the report published in February 2026 in the journal JAMA Neurology.

They found six relatively healthy eating patterns were associated with a lower chance of participants self-reporting symptoms of cognitive decline. But one in particular showed the biggest effect: the DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. In the study, the people who followed the DASH diet most closely had a 41 percent lower risk of experiencing cognitive decline than people who didn’t follow the diet very closely.

This wasn’t completely surprising to the researchers. “The DASH diet’s emphasis on vegetables, nuts and whole grains while limiting sodium and sugar has been linked to lower blood pressure, and hypertension is a recognized risk factor for dementia,” said study author Kjetil Bjornevik, assistant professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “The diet is also rich in antioxidants and other nutrients that may benefit brain health.”

Although not one of the diets compared in this study, there’s an additional brain-healthy diet you might want to consider. A March 2026 study of 1,647 middle-aged and older individuals found that greater adherence to the MIND diet - a combination of the DASH diet and the popular, health-promoting Mediterranean diet - was associated with a slower decline in total gray matter volume in the brain, suggesting the diet might actually help delay structural brain aging.

One of the biggest differences between DASH and MIND is that the latter adds daily and weekly recommendations for certain foods, including vegetables, berries, nuts, seeds, beans and seafood.

Other research suggests the most adherent MIND diet followers may have a 53 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than people who don’t stick to this plan.

What the studies tell us about diet and brain health

While some of the dietary patterns included in the JAMA Neurology study were created for specific reasons - such as to control blood sugar, blood pressure or inflammation - they seem to convey benefits to the brain, too, underscoring the holistic health benefits of nutritious eating patterns.

“This reinforces the idea that sustained, overall diet quality - and the cardiovascular health it supports - may be foundational to preserving brain health over time,” said Jazba Soomro, a vascular and interventional neurologist at Memorial Hermann Mischer Neuroscience Associates in Humble, Texas.

Although the DASH diet was associated with the biggest cognitive benefit, the other eating patterns also had positive effects. Participants who followed those other eating plans were 11 to 35 percent less likely to report cognitive decline than those who didn’t follow the same eating patterns as rigorously, although the study was observational, meaning it can’t prove a causal link between the two.

“What was encouraging was the consistency across different dietary patterns," said Bjornevik, “which suggests that there is not just one right approach and that different dietary strategies can have beneficial effects on cognitive health.”

“What is good for the heart is good for the brain,” Soomro added. “It means less damage to small cerebral blood vessels, which leads to better long-term cognitive reserves.”

Why the DASH diet stands out

As Bjornevik mentioned, DASH focuses on produce, whole grains and lean proteins, while limiting sodium, sugar and saturated fat. It was developed almost 30 years ago by researchers funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. At the time, research showed adopting this style of eating lowered blood pressure and sometimes also cholesterol compared with people who continued eating a more typical American diet. High blood pressure and high cholesterol are both risk factors for heart disease.

Since then, additional benefits of the DASH diet have emerged. For example, it’s linked with improvements in asthma symptoms and a lower likelihood of kidney stones. It’s also been tied to cognitive benefits in smaller studies and more preliminary research, and it frequently ranks highly on lists of the best diets from outlets such as U.S. News & World Report.

“The diet is also associated with lower levels of inflammation, which plays a significant role in cognitive impairment,” said Christopher Weber, senior director of global science initiatives at the Alzheimer’s Association.

More in Health

I’m A Cardiologist — Here’s 1 Food I Always Tell Patients To Eat More Of

HuffPost Life

Amber Glenn Wants to Break the Ice About Periods: 'Crazy That Such a Normal Part of Our Lives Can Be So Shocking' (Exclusive)

People

Infant hospitalized with herpes after circumcision involving direct oral suction

Jerusalem Post

1.1K

The #1 Food That May Be Triggering "Senior Moments" EarlyModern Digest

Ad

In the JAMA Neurology study, the people who stuck closest to this diet had the lowest risk of cognitive decline, particularly if they were following the DASH plan between ages 45 and 54. These participants also scored highest on telephone-based cognitive assessments.

“Although cognitive decline typically manifests late in life, the underlying changes in the brain can begin more than 20 years before any symptoms become noticeable. This means that midlife represents a critical window for modifiable risk factors that influence late-life cognitive health,” Bjornevik said. “Conditions like hypertension and diabetes also tend to develop during this period, and addressing them early through diet may help protect the brain before irreversible damage occurs.”

The DASH diet also calls for lowering sodium and boosting potassium, calcium and magnesium, which can help lower blood pressure. For example, the sodium target on the DASH diet is no more than 2,300 mg daily (about one teaspoon). The potassium target is 4,700 mg daily, which you can get from foods like a baked potato (with the skin), bananas and salmon.

How to change your eating habits to support cognitive health

Bjornevik said you don’t need to completely change your eating habits overnight. “Rather than overhauling your entire diet, focus on gradually shifting toward more vegetables, fish and whole grains while reducing processed meats and sugary beverages,” he said. “Small, sustainable changes over time are more realistic and more likely to stick.”

These small changes can be as simple as snacking on a handful of nuts instead of a processed option like pretzels, Soomro says. If you’re following the DASH plan, you should also aim to limit alcohol (because it raises blood pressure), sugary drinks and foods high in saturated fats. And while it’s primarily a style of eating, DASH suggests exercising for at least 30 minutes most days of the week, too.

Keeping a specific health goal in mind, such as supporting your brain health or lowering your blood pressure, can help you stay motivated to stick with these changes. “Tailoring your food choices to that goal makes the transition easier and more meaningful,” Soomro said.

However you choose to make small adjustments, know you’re doing your future self a favor. “What we put on our plates in our 40s and 50s can meaningfully influence our cognitive health decades later,” Weber said. “These findings are encouraging; however, more research is needed to clarify and understand how and when dietary interventions are most effective.”

Three Major Studies Tie Healthy Midlife Diet to Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline

 

None of them have any objective specifics(NO protocol!) so you can be sure you're following them properly. In my opinion, pretty much useless other than whitewashing your doctor's incompetence in not knowing anything specific to get you recovered!

Three Major Studies Tie Healthy Midlife Diet to Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline

Healthy eating in midlife was associated with better cognitive performance and lower risk of subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in three large prospective studies of US health professionals.

The analysis included participants from three long-running cohorts of US health professionals who were followed for years with repeated dietary assessments and cognitive evaluations. Individuals with the highest adherence to healthy eating patterns, particularly the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, had significantly lower risk of SCD and performed better on objective cognitive testing. 

For example, participants in the 90th percentile of adherence to the DASH diet had a 41% lower risk of reporting SCD during follow up compared with peers in the 10th percentile.

Of note, the DASH diet was consistently associated with a lower risk of SCD even when measured up to 26 years before the SCD assessments and had robust protective associations at various ages, particularly in midlife (45-54 years). 

“These findings support the importance of healthy eating as part of midlife brain-health strategies and motivate pragmatic and implementation research to translate these findings into scalable programs,” investigators, led by Hui Chen, PhD, Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, wrote.

The research was published online February 23 in JAMA Neurology. 

Healthy Diet, Healthy Brain 

Dementia is projected to affect 150 million people worldwide by 2050. While healthy diets are widely believed to benefit brain health, prior evidence has been inconsistent, and few studies have compared multiple dietary patterns within the same population.

The new analysis focused on 159,347 participants in three long-running cohorts. These included the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), NHSII, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The average age at baseline was 44.3 years, and 83% of participants were women. 

The researchers evaluated six established healthy dietary patterns in relation to both SCD — an early indicator of cognitive problems preceding detectable deficits — as well as objectively measured cognitive function.

Diet was assessed every 4 years using validated food frequency questionnaires, and cumulative average scores were calculated for six dietary patterns: the Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010), the DASH diet, the Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index (hPDI), the Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI), and two data-driven patterns reflecting lower hyperinsulinemia (reverse Empirical Dietary Index for Hyperinsulinemia [rEDIH]) and lower inflammatory potential (reverse Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern [rEDIP]).

SCD was measured using self-reported questions about memory and other cognitive changes, while objective cognition in older NHS participants (age 70+ years) was assessed by telephone using validated tests of global cognition, verbal memory, verbal fluency, and working memory.

Across all six healthy dietary patterns, higher adherence was associated with lower risk of global SCD, with the DASH diet showing the strongest magnitude of effect, the researchers found.

For instance, risk ratios for the increasing quintiles of the DASH score were 1.00, 0.91, 0.78, 0.74, and 0.59 in fully adjusted models.

Comparing participants at the 90th vs 10th percentile of adherence, the risk ratio for SCD was 0.59 for DASH; 0.76 for hPDI and rEDIH; 0.80 for PHDI; 0.84 for AHEI-2010; and 0.89 for rEDIP.

A higher DASH diet score in midlife (ages 45-54 years) showed the strongest association with lower risk of SCD, supporting the concept that midlife may represent a critical window for brain health.

Higher scores across most dietary patterns were also associated with better objectively measured global cognition, with the exception of the hPDI and PHDI patterns.

For instance — compared with those at the 10th percentile of the DASH score — on average, participants at the 90th percentile had a 0.05-higher global cognition z score (equivalent to 0.76 years younger in cognitive aging), a 0.04-higher verbal fluency z score (0.87 years younger), and a 0.05-higher working memory z score (1.37 years younger). 

Analyses of individual food groups suggested that higher intake of fish and leafy green, yellow, and other vegetables, as well as moderate wine consumption, was associated with better cognitive outcomes, while red and processed meats, fried potatoes, sweetened beverages, and sweets were linked to worse cognition.

“Our findings generally support the role of a healthy diet, manifested by six dietary patterns, in benefiting cognitive health,” the investigators concluded. 

“Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to reveal modifiers of the diet-cognition association, and large-scale long-term clinical trials are needed to fully reveal the cognitive effects of the healthy diet,” they noted. 

The study had no commercial funding. The authors had no relevant disclosures. 

Six Diets Tied to Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline

 None of them have any objective specifics(NO protocol!) so you can be sure you're following them properly. In my opinion, pretty much useless other than whitewashing your doctor's incompetence in not knowing anything specific to get you recovered!

Six Diets Tied to Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline

One midlife plan showed the best brain health measures later in life

Key Takeaways

• Six dietary patterns were associated with a lower relative risk of subjective cognitive decline.
• The DASH diet had the lowest subjective decline risk and the strongest relationship with objective cognitive function.
• Associations were most pronounced when the DASH diet was followed at ages 45 to 54.

Healthcare professionals who followed six healthy eating patterns in midlife had less risk of long-term cognitive decline and better cognitive function, a large prospective study showed.

Among nearly 160,000 health professionals with a mean age of 44, those who followed these six dietary patterns had a lower relative risk (RR) of subjective cognitive decline, comparing the top and bottom 10% of adherence:

• Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH): RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.57-0.62
• Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index: RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.65-0.85
• Reversed Empirical Dietary Indices for Hyperinsulinemia: RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.73-0.80
• Planetary Health Diet Index: RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.75-0.86
• Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010): RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.80-0.89
• Reversed Empirical Dietary Indices for Inflammatory Pattern: RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.85-0.93

The DASH diet had not only the lowest subjective cognitive decline risk, but the strongest relationship with higher objectively measured global cognition with a mean z score difference of 0.05 (95% CI 0.02-0.09), reported Kjetil Bjornevik, MD, PhD, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and co-authors in JAMA Neurology.

Associations were most pronounced when the DASH diet was followed in midlife, at ages 45 to 54.

Diet is one of several modifiable risk factors that may help reduce dementia risk, but evidence about what type of diet matters most for cognitive health is inconsistent, Bjornevik noted.

"What was encouraging about our findings was the consistency across different types of diet, which suggests that there is not just one right approach and that different dietary strategies may have beneficial effects on cognitive health," Bjornevik told MedPage Today.

"We selected these six patterns to cover a broad range of dietary approaches," he pointed out.

"They include general diet quality indices like the AHEI-2010, the DASH diet which targets blood pressure, plant-based and sustainability-oriented patterns, and data-driven patterns that capture dietary influences on insulin and inflammatory pathways," he said. "This allowed us to compare how different dietary strategies relate to cognitive health within the same populations."

The researchers followed professionals in three ongoing cohorts: the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS), and the NHSII. Earlier findings from the NHS and the HPFS reported that higher intake of red and processed meat was associated with worse cognitive outcomes over 43 years of follow-up.

Research in other cohorts has linked ultraprocessed foods with cognitive decline and has shown that cognitive risks drop when diets include more minimally processed food. Inflammatory foods like saturated fats have been tied to increased dementia risk in the Framingham Heart Offspring cohort.

The MIND diet -- a hybrid of the Mediterranean and the DASH diets -- has been linked with higher brain volumes among U.K. Biobank participants. Most recently, researchers reported that a Mediterranean diet was associated with less dementia risk and slower cognitive decline in people who carried the APOE4 Alzheimer's risk gene.

The DASH dietary plan, which had the best outcomes in the current study, promotes eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils. It recommends limiting foods high in saturated fat, sugary beverages and sweets, and sodium intake.

Bjornevik and colleagues followed 62,412 women in the NHS from 1986-2014; 27,787 men in the HPFS from 1986-2012; and 69,148 women in the NHSII from 1991-2017. Most participants in the study were female (82.6%) and white (96.2%).

Self-reported subjective cognitive decline was assessed with seven questions about perceived cognitive changes in memory, executive function, attention, and visuospatial skills. Cognitive function was objectively measured only in the NHS cohort with telephone-based cognitive tests among nurses ages 70 and older, followed by three rounds of biennial follow-up assessments.

Diet was evaluated with food frequency questionnaires every 4 years. Because early cognitive symptoms can affect eating patterns, the researchers stopped updating diet scores 6 years before subjective cognitive decline assessments and 5 years before objective testing.

Overall, green-leafy, yellow, and other vegetables were significantly associated with better cognition in the study. Fried (but not nonfried) potatoes were tied to a higher risk of subjective cognitive decline and worse objective cognitive performance. Fish intake correlated with better cognitive function, and red meat, processed meat, and eggs were linked with worse cognitive outcomes.

The DASH diet targets blood pressure, the researchers observed. "Although direct evidence for the mediation role of hypertension in diet-cognition pathways remains limited, our findings aligned with prior literature on the cognitive benefits of blood pressure control and cognitive health," they noted.

The study had several limitations, the researchers acknowledged. Subjective cognitive decline may be influenced by individual differences in health awareness or reporting tendencies, they noted. Unmeasured variables also may have influenced results.

Judy George covers neurology and neuroscience news for MedPage Today, writing about brain aging, Alzheimer’s, dementia, MS, rare diseases, epilepsy, autism, headache, stroke, Parkinson’s, ALS, concussion, CTE, sleep, pain, and more. Connect:

Disclosures

This analysis was supported by grants from the Zhejiang University Global Partnership Fund and the Alzheimer's Association.

The Nurses' Health Study (NHS), the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, and the NHSII cohorts were supported by the NIH.

Bjornevik had no disclosures. Co-authors received grants from the NIH.

Primary Source

JAMA Neurology

Source Reference: Chen H, et al "Dietary patterns and indicators of cognitive function" JAMA Neurol 2026; DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2026.0062.