MIND Diet Good For Brain And Body

Looking for a change in diet that boosts your brain and helps your body? A recent review of more than 40 eating plans found that the MIND diet may achieve both.

Learn what is the MIND diet and how it can guard against thinking and memory declines as you age.

How The MIND Diet Ranks

The MIND diet was ranked #3 in Best Diets Overall for 2024 according to an analysis by U.S. News and World Report. The review evaluated more than 40 diets with input from a panel of health experts.

MIND diet was ranked:

• #3 in Best Diets Overall
• #4 in Best Diets for Healthy Eating
• #4 in Best Family-Friendly Diets
• #5 in Best Diets for Bone and Joint Health
• #5 in Best Heart-Healthy Diets
• #5 in Best Diabetes Diets
• #6 in Easiest Diets to Follow
• #7 in Best Plant-Based Diets

(See how U.S. News rank diets for its methodology.)

Get Help On Healthy Eating

From disease-specific nutrition advice to weight loss and diet expertise, Franciscan Health's registered dietitians are here to help.

MIND Diet Details

The MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet takes components of the DASH diet and Mediterranean diet, which focuses on reducing blood pressure. The MIND diet plan focuses on foods that impact brain health and offering heart-healthy benefits such as an emphasis on lower-sodium foods. These include:

• Plenty of leafy-green vegetables and other vegetables such as bell peppers, carrots or zucchini daily
• Enjoying certain fruits like berries at least twice a week, nuts every day, and whole grains three times per day
• Focusing on lean proteins such poultry and fish

10 Types of Foods to Eat in the MIND Diet

With the MIND diet, the emphasis is on eating these types of foods:

• Green leafy vegetables - 6 servings or more per week
• Whole grains - 3 or more servings per day
• Other vegetables - 1 serving per day
• Nuts - 5 servings per week
• Berries - 2 or more servings per week
• Beans or legumes - 3 or more servings per week
• Fish - 1 or more serving per week
• Poultry - 2 or more servings per week
• Wine - up to 1 serving per day
• Olive oil as the main cooking oil

5 Groups of Foods to Avoid in the MIND Diet

Researchers recommend people who are on the MIND diet avoid or limit these foods:

• Sweets - less than 5 servings per week
• Red meat - less than 4 servings per week
• Cheese - less than 1 serving per week
• Fried or fast food - less than 1 serving per week
• Butter or margarine - less than 1 tablespoon per day

Produce Picks in the MIND Diet

Berries and leafy vegetables are emphasized in this diet because of the immense nutritional benefits they hold. Particularly, dietary vitamin E found in nuts, plant oils, seeds and leafy greens, is a very potent antioxidant associate with brain health. B vitamins and vitamin C found in berries and whole grains, both have been found to help neurons cope with aging. Vegetables, berries and nuts are very easy to add to your diet, because they're easily made into a morning smoothie mixed into a salad or a good mid afternoon snack.

Check out these tips for increasing vegetables into your daily meal plan.

While berries and vegetables are the freshest during their growing season, buying frozen produce can result in just as delicious of a meal, often with minimal impact to the health benefits.

Focusing on Fish

The other integral part of this diet is the emphasis on omega-3 fatty acids (DHA, docosahexaenoic acid, in particular), which are readily found in fish.

"The main benefit of DHA, is its ability to reduce cognitive impairment in the brain," Huang said. "It is recommended that you include fish in your diet at least once or twice per week, and limit the amount of red meat that you consume."

Red meats hold high levels of saturated fatty acids, the same ones that are often found in pastries, butter and desserts. High levels of saturated fats increase cholesterol and raise the risk of heart disease and stroke. Reducing your saturated fatty acid intake is not as difficult as it seems. Focus on a healthy, balanced diet and treat pastries and desserts as special food that you enjoy occasionally.

MIND Diet Benefits

One of the key benefits of the MIND diet is its positive effect on the brain and cognitive abilities.

"We now know DHA and Omega-3 are so important to reduce the oxidative stress in your brain and can show to reduce the cognitive decline," said Franciscan Health Registered Dietitian Yu-Han Huang, MS, RD, CD. "And Omega-3, of course, is very important to helping your neurons and synapse proteins in your brain."

MIND Diet For Alzheimer's Prevention

The MIND diet, which aims to prevent Alzheimer's disease with a focus on brain-healthy foods, was developed through a study funded by the National Institute on Aging in 2015.

"This study, in particular, focused on around 40 to 50 years old when they did the study," Huang said. "It's definitely not too late when you are 40, 50, or if you are 60."

MIND Diet For Weight Loss

The MIND diet's focus is on brain and heart health, rather than calorie counting. However, because this diet has a higher emphasis on produce and lean proteins, you may see weight loss if your overall calorie intake has decreased with the change in approach to eating.