Abstract
Following a Mediterranean diet high in plant-based foods and fish, low in meat and dairy foods, and with moderate alcohol intake has been shown to promote healthy aging. Therefore, we examined the association between a Mediterranean diet and trajectories of cognitive performance in the InCHIANTI study. Subjects (N = 832) were examined every 2–3 years up to 18 years with an average follow-up period of 10.1 years. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) at every visit. Dietary habits were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire and adherence to Mediterranean diet was computed on a scale of 0-9 and categorized into three groups of low (≤3), medium (4–5), and high (≥6). Those in the highest adherence group (OR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.29–0.79) and medium adherence group (OR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.41–0.99) were less likely to experience cognitive decline. The annual average decline in MMSE scores was 0.4 units, for those in the high and medium adherence group this decline was attenuated by 0.34 units (p < 0.001) and 0.16 units (p = 0.03), respectively. Our findings suggest that adherence to a Mediterranean diet can have long-lasting protective effects on cognitive decline and may be an effective strategy for the prevent or delay dementia.
Highlights
Dementia is a growing public health concern that is characterized by cognitive impairment in multiple domains, leading to a loss of independence
While we found no significant association between Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) and prevalent dementia and cognitive impairment at baseline, there were significant dose-dependent prospective effects of Mediterranean diet score (MDS) on longitudinal change in cognitive function
We report differences in trajectories of Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) by MedDiet adherence group, where higher adherence to MedDiet was associated with slower decline
Summary
Dementia is a growing public health concern that is characterized by cognitive impairment in multiple domains, leading to a loss of independence. The incidence of dementia increases with advanced age, and it is estimated that the number of affected individuals will double every 20 years to an estimated 115.4 million by 2050 [1]. Research suggests that the processes that eventually leads to cognitive decline and dementia begins many years (even decades) before the onset of symptoms [4,5,6]. This suggests that preventative strategies are more likely to be successful if implemented early in the Nutrients 2018, 10, 2007; doi:10.3390/nu10122007 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients
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