WASHINGTON — A diet that focuses on vegetables, berries, fish and olive oil can help stroke victims think, reason and remember, according to findings presented Thursday at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference.
The Mediterranean-DASH intervention for neurodegenerative delay (MIND) diet combines a Mediterranean diet with the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet. It limits red meat, butter, trans-fat margarines, cheese, fried and fast foods, sweets and pastries.
It emphasizes eating nuts, beans, poultry, vegetables, berries, fish, olive oil and whole grains with a moderate consumption of wine.
Researchers following stroke victims for 4.7 years found that those most loyal to the diet had a substantially slower rate of cognitive decline than people who adhered to the diet the least.
“I like to think of the MIND diet as a way to supercharge the nutritional content of what we eat,” said Dr. Laurel J. Cherian, a co-author of the study, in a news release.
“The goal is to emphasize foods that will not only lower our risk of heart attacks and stroke, but make our brains as resilient as possible to cognitive decline,” said Cherian, a vascular neurologist and assistant professor of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
Researchers warn that the study is relatively small, with 106 patients, and that it’s observational, so it can’t be interpreted as cause-and-effect. But they still believe the findings are strong enough to be encouraging.
“This is a preliminary study that will hopefully be confirmed by other studies, including research looking specifically at stroke survivors,” Cherian said.
“For now, I think there is enough information to encourage stroke patients to view food as one of their most powerful tools to optimize their brain health.”
