NHANES 2011-2014 Reveals Cognition of US Older Adults may Benefit from Better Adaptation to the Mediterranean Diet.

Matthew K Taylor,Jonathan D Mahnken,Debra K Sullivan

doi:10.3390/nu12071929

Matthew K Taylor, Jonathan D Mahnken + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12071929

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Abstract

Although the Mediterranean diet (MedD) has gained interest for potential Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevention, it is unknown how well US older adults follow a MedD. We used two National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles (2011–2014) to conduct our primary aim of reporting population estimates of MedD adherence among older adults (60+ years) in the US (n = 3068). The mean MedD adherence score for US older adults was 5.3 ± 2.1 (maximum possible = 18), indicating that older adults in the US do not adhere to a MedD. There were various differences in MedD scores across demographic characteristics. We also assessed the cross-sectional relationship between MedD adherence and cognitive performance using survey-weighted ordinary least squares regression and binary logistic regression models adjusted for 11 covariates. Compared to the lowest MedD adherence tertile, the highest tertile had a lower odds ratio of low cognitive performance on three of five cognitive measures (p < 0.05 for each). Sensitivity analyses within participants without subjective memory complaints over the past year revealed similar results on the same three cognitive measures. We conclude that MedD interventions are a departure from usual dietary intake of older adults in the US and are a reasonable approach for AD prevention trials.

Highlights

It is well documented that the general US population does not consume a high-quality diet [1,2].In contrast, it is well known that healthy diets are important for mitigation of disease risk across the lifespan
Supporting this proposed approach are a host of cross-sectional and longitudinal data that demonstrate diets that most resemble a Mediterranean diet (MedD) are related to various measures that are interpreted as reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [8]
Recall (n = 2594); Global Cognition (n = 2471). We further examined these relationships with binary logistic regression models to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals for low cognitive performance across tertiles of MedD

Summary

Introduction

It is well documented that the general US population does not consume a high-quality diet [1,2].In contrast, it is well known that healthy diets are important for mitigation of disease risk across the lifespan. The consumption of a Mediterranean diet (MedD), a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish, and olive oil, was adopted by the USDA as a recommended dietary pattern for the 2015–2020 dietary guidelines for Americans [7] and has been proposed as a potential approach to reduce the risk of cognitive decline in older adults. Supporting this proposed approach are a host of cross-sectional and longitudinal data that demonstrate diets that most resemble a MedD are related to various measures that are interpreted as reduced risk for AD [8]. In addition to these observational data, one randomized clinical trial (RCT) of the MedD within a Spanish cohort (PREDIMED) demonstrated

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