Wednesday, July 16, 2014
While the Mediterranean diet may have broad health benefits, its impact on cognitive decline differs among race-specific populations, according to a new study
The team of researchers analyzed an NIH/NIA prospective cohort study conducted over eight years in the United States to measure the effects of adherence to a Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean-style diet has fewer meat products and more plant-based foods and monounsaturated fatty acids from olive and canola oil than a typical American diet. To assess the association between the diet and brain function, the researchers used data of several Modified Mini-Mental State Examinations (3MS) on 2,326 participating older adults (70-79). The 3MS is an extensively used and validated instrument designed to measure several cognitive domains to screen for cognitive impairment and commonly used to screen for dementia. "In a population of initially well-functioning older adults, we found a significant correlation between strong adherence to the Mediterranean diet and a slower rate of cognitive decline among African American, but not white, older adults. Our study is the first to show a possible race-specific association between the Mediterranean diet and cognitive decline."
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Actually, you should read The Big Fat Surprise, by Nina Teicholz, which does an excellent job debunking the entire Med. Diet fad - with quotes from the "inventors" of it - it turns out is was a marketing scam to boost sales of olive oil and really isn't all that meat free (according to what Med people actually eat in real life) and it's not all that good for you, it's not superior to the old way of American eating, before "low fat" and processed carbs tok over.
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