MIND diet associated with reduced incidence

Background—In a previous study, higher concordance to the MIND diet, a hybrid Mediterranean-DASH diet, was associated with slower cognitive decline. In this study we related these three dietary patterns to incident Alzheimer’s disease. Methods—We investigated the diet-AD relations in a prospective study of 923 participants, ages 58 to 98 years, followed on average 4.5 years. Diet was assessed by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Results—In adjusted proportional hazards models, the second (HR=0.65, 95% CI 0.44, 0.98) and highest tertiles (HR=0.47, 95% CI 0.26, 0.76) of MIND diet scores had lower rates of AD versus tertile 1 whereas only the third tertiles of the DASH (HR=0.61, 95% CI 0.38, 0.97) and Mediterranean (HR=0.46, 95% CI 0.26, 0.79) diets were associated with lower AD rates. Conclusion—High adherence to all three diets may reduce AD risk. Moderate adherence to the MIND diet may also decrease AD risk.