Circulating metabolomic profile of the MIND diet and its relation to cognition in middle‐aged and older adults

The Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet has been related to a lower risk of dementia and better cognitive function. This study identified 47 circulating metabolites associated with the alternate MIND diet score (aMIND) in the UK Biobank (45,906 participants, 168 metabolites measured) and Whitehall II (6193 participants, 152 metabolites measured). Unsaturated fatty acids showed the strongest positive associations with the aMIND, and very low-density lipoprotein measures and glycoprotein acetyls showed the strongest inverse associations. We constructed a metabolomic signature score (MIND-MetS) to objectively reflect MIND diet adherence. Both aMIND and MIND-MetS were associated with better cognitive outcomes in participants aged 55 years or older, and the MIND-MetS partially mediated the aMIND-cognition associations. In summary, the rapid and widely accessible nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomic measure could objectively reflect MIND diet adherence. Moreover, our findings offered insights into the intricate connections among diet, metabolism, and cognition.