In Case You Haven't Heard…

As the number of Americans living with dementia continues to rise, diet has emerged as a potential tool for prevention, according to a March 31 Psychiatric News Alert. The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is characterized by a high intake of plant‐based foods and limited red and processed meat, whereas the MIND diet blends the MedDiet with the heart‐healthy Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and emphasizes foods that are beneficial for brain health, such as leafy greens and berries. New long‐term research published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia found that strong adherence to a Mediterranean style diet was associated with a roughly 20% lower risk of dementia, and the related MIND diet was linked to a more modest but still significant risk reduction. The study, which followed more than 130,000 adults for decades, also found that improving diet quality over time was associated with lower dementia risk, even among those with poor dietary habits earlier in life. Those in the highest category of diet adherence had a 40% and a 42% lower risk of self‐reported subjective cognitive decline for the MedDiet and the MIND diet, respectively.