MIND Diet REGARDS Women and Black People
According to a new study, the MIND diet may provide particular benefits to females over males and to black individuals compared to their white counterparts. The REGARDS study, led by Dr. Russell Sawyer in the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio, stands for REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke. Since 2003, over 30,000 Black and White adult Americans over the age of 45 have been studied in what is commonly referred to as the “stroke belt,” where people have been found to have significantly higher risk for stroke, including southeastern U.S. states such as Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
REGARDS aims to explore why these Southern American and Black Americans have had higher incidence of stroke through researching lifestyle factors such as diet on cognitive outcomes. A priority for researchers is to enroll 50% of the population who identify as female and 50% who identify as Black in order to fully understand the impact of both sex and race differences in stroke and cognition.
The current study evaluated the role of adherence to the MIND diet using food frequency questionnaires in over 14,000 people in the REGARDS cohort on cognition and explored the differences by sex and race over approximately 10 years.
Study Findings:
Consistent with our foundational MIND diet research, higher MIND diet scores were associated with decreased risk of cognitive decline.
When researchers split the investigation to explore the impact of sex and race, it was found that women were slightly less likely compared to men to develop cognitive impairment when adhering to the highest MIND diet scores.
Lowest MIND Diet Scores: 4.5 – 6.0
Middle MIND Diet Scores: 7.0 – 7.5
Highest MIND Diet Scores: 8.5 – 10.0
Additionally, it was found that Black individuals with higher MIND scores had slightly slower rates of cognitive decline compared to Whites with the same scores.
Although the magnitude of these differences found were quite small (about 4%-8%), this investigation does suggest that the MIND diet may impact people of dissimilar sex and race differently. For that reason, more research is needed in this area to fully understand how to tailor public health interventions to address health disparities.
Current MIND Diet Research Exploring Health Disparities:
The U.S. POINTER Study: The largest American investigation to evaluate the impact of lifestyle on cognitive function in older adults at risk for cognitive decline.
The NOURISH Study: Tests the effects of diet on stroke survivors
Find Clinical Trials through TrialMatch
What Does this Mean for My MIND Diet Score?
Many people wonder where their personal MIND score should be to provide the most protective benefits to the brain.
Other research on the MIND diet in stroke survivors suggests a MIND Score between 9.0 – 10.5 may be optimal to slow rate of cognitive decline.
The early research with healthy older adults suggested a score between 8.5-12.5 or higher was optimal and that even a score of 7.0-8.0 was predicted to reduce risk for Alzheimer’s disease by up to 35%. The individuals in the MIND diet clinical trial taught us that following a MIND diet pattern or even a usual diet with weight loss may be a factor in improving cognitive performance in older adults without existing cognitive impairment.
The most recent analyses from the MIND trial that were presented at the 2024 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference determined that those with MIND scores of at least 10.5 had improvement in their cognitive performance.
These analyses reinforced that WE DON’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT! 🎉
It was also found that those who increased scores by at least 3 points – no matter how low their score was when they began - had better cognitive performance.
So, for those just getting started or struggling to bring your score all the way up to 10.5 or even 7.0, small improvements may go a long way!
We recommend beginning by doing this in a few simple steps:
Check Your Current MIND Score. You can do that by taking our MIND Diet Quiz to see where your eating habits stack up compared to the people who have been researched at risk for cognitive decline.
Choose One or Two Areas to Improve. Quickly scan the list of the MIND diet foods (see infographic below) to see where you might be able to make some small changes.
Track it. You can use our MIND Diet Food Tracker to keep a tally of your chosen foods to improve and simply be MINDful of the other foods. You can even tally your score each week to see if you’re improving overall.
Make it Fun! Eating should be enjoyable. Find your favorite foods with fun and delicious recipe ideas amidst our MIND diet Recipe Bank.
Need More Support? Join our Official MIND Diet 6-Week Program: On Demand!
o Watch live recorded sessions on your own schedule at your own pace
o Cooking demos and weekly recipes
o Meal planning tools
o Individualized MIND Diet Score Tracker
o Lifestyle tips to promote healthy weight loss
Join one of our Fall 2024 Workshops
“I loved the program! Even when I couldn't join the sessions live, I enjoyed watching the videos afterwards. I always felt like I left a session with more information that I could think on as I cook, shop or meal plan.”
-OMD Program Participant
