A MEDITERRANEAN-style diet could reduce your risk of dementia, a study shows.
The popular eating regime, followed by celebs like Penelope Cruz and Selena Gomez, slashed the chances of the deadly disease by 17 per cent.
GettyEating a diet favouring foods like vegetables, pulses, nuts and olive oil could reduce your risk of dementia by 17 per cent[/caption]
Chinese researchers tracked dementia rates in more than 242,000 middle-aged and older adults and compared it to how well they stuck to the MIND diet.
The diet follows similar principles to the Mediterranean diet — high levels of olive oil, vegetables, nuts and oily fish — but with a particular emphasis on berries and leafy greens like broccoli.
It was designed to use the best aspects of the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, specifically to reduce the chances of dementia.
Lead researcher Hui Chen, of Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hagzhou, said antioxidants in the foods could help protect the brain.
He said: “Adherence to the MIND diet was prospectively associated with lower dementia risk.
“MIND diet emphasises several food groups associated with brain health, such as green leafy vegetables, olive oil, and berries.
“These food groups may confer protection against brain ageing through their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.”
Dementia affects around 944,000 people in the UK.
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of the condition, is caused by a build-up of proteins called amyloids in the brain.
Experts do not know exactly how this leads to the loss of brain cells, but research is continuing.
Symptoms include memory loss, difficulty concentrating and finding it hard to carry out familiar daily tasks.
Previous research has linked the MIND diet to a lower risk of cognitive decline, which can lead to dementia.
What foods does the MIND diet encourage and say to avoid?
Here are the 10 foods the MIND diet encourages:
Green, leafy vegetables
All other vegetables
Berries
Nuts
Olive oil
Whole grains
Fish
Beans
Poultry
Wine
The MIND diet recommends limiting the following five foods:
Butter and margarine
Cheese
Red meat
Fried food
Pastries and sweets
The latest study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, is one of the first to look specifically at dementia risk, researchers said.
People were given scores based on how well they stuck to the diet, eating its 10 recommended food groups and avoiding the five groups that are warned against.
Health records showed those who stuck most closely to it were significantly less likely to develop the disease than people who were not following it at all.