Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMag - Latest Edition - Flipbook - Page 44
Think dietary pattern, not "superfood"
One of the dietary
patterns receiving
considerable attention
for brain health is the
Mediterranean diet. This
pattern is characterised by
plenty of vegetables, fruit,
wholegrains, legumes,
nuts and seeds, olive
oil and 昀椀sh, with more
moderate amounts of
meat, dairy and highly
processed foods.
A systematic review and
meta-analysis found that
greater adherence to
a Mediterranean-style
diet was associated
with better cognitive
outcomes, including some
measures of memory,
and a lower risk of mild
cognitive impairment and
Alzheimer’s disease (Fu
et al., 2022). However, it
is important to remember
that much of the evidence
is observational, meaning
it can demonstrate an
association but cannot
prove that the diet itself
caused the bene昀椀t.
Randomised controlled
trials have also produced
some encouraging
昀椀ndings. A systematic
review of Mediterranean
diet interventions found
improvements in some
measures of global
cognition, working
memory and delayed
recall, although results
were not consistent across
every cognitive domain
(Loughrey et al., 2017).
So rather than looking
for one magical food, a
more realistic approach is
to build a dietary pattern
that regularly provides
a variety of brainsupportive nutrients.
