The MIND Diet Review
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By CANDICE GREY ConsumersCompare.org Update: May 21, 2019 |
In a recent study done by the Public Medical group, this diet has been proven to help a person reduce their chance of contracting the horrible memory related disease by 53% for those who follow it to the tee, and around 35% for those who moderately follow it. Around 1,000 patients were studied ages 58-98 years of age for around 5 years while partaking in this hybrid Mediterranean style diet program and found that the diet significantly decreased their risk for AD (Alzheimer’s Disease).
The MIND Diet Facts
What does MIND stand for? It stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet. Whoa! I originally thought this diet just had to do with keeping your “mind” healthy by keeping your brain healthy thus fighting off AD. It truly does go deeper than that. So what foods are allowed on the MIND diet? You will be allowed to eat leafy greens, nuts, berries, vegetables, beans, whole grains, wine, olive oil, poultry, and fish. You will watch your intake of fried foods, fast foods, pastries, sweets, cheese, margarine, and red meat.
You are encouraged to snack on nuts, cook with olive oil, fill up on fish at least once a week, and consume poultry and berries at least twice a week. Stuck on red meat? You can still have it, but you should aim to cut it down to at least 4 servings per week. There are no caloric restrictions on this program, but you will be encouraged to follow the foods that are highlighted above to the best of your ability.
What’s The Word?
This is not your typical diet program you order or purchase in the store and follow. You are not given any recipes, menu plans, guidelines, or many rules outside of what was stated above. This diet is more or less a guide to incorporating healthy foods into your daily diet regime, and nothing more. The original idea of this “diet” was not to lose weight but to stave off dementia and nurse the health of your brain back to its fullest potential. There are many cookbooks that have been created in correlation to the ideas of this diet, and there are some reviews of those books below.
back to menu ↑What Does The MIND Diet Offer?
This diet does not offer much to the participant other than it’s facts, research, and ideas behind why this way of eating will benefit your brain in the long run. The founder of the diet Martha Morris does not expand on her diet with cookbooks or eating programs, and instead leaves it up to other people who wanted more. There are quality cookbooks out there, referenced above which are written by certified nutritionists who really understand the foundation of the MIND diet, so there are options out there today. The program is free of charge, backed by science, and it is long-term user friendly.
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Is The MIND Diet Worth A Try?
I would say that yes, this particular diet would be worth a try and it won’t harm you whatsoever. It is not geared towards weight loss, but you might lose a few pounds in the process of cleaning up your diet. There are positives when following a program like this, because the changes are not severe which means they are easier to follow long term, which will have you on your way to better health. AD, and Dementia are life threatening illnesses that affect the person with the disease as well as their friends and loved ones equally. They are nasty diseases that are ruthless and brutal to those involved, so this diet pulls at my heartstrings for those reasons alone. The ideas and proof that the higher fat diets give the brain a rejuvenated life are real, and worth paying attention to.
