Mediterranean diet may not protect aging brain

NEW YORK - Reuters

Despite hopes that a Mediterranean-style diet would be as good for the head as it is for the heart, a new study among French men and women found little benefit to aging brains.

The research looked at the participants’ dietary patterns in middle age and measured their cognitive performance at around age 65, but found no connection between Mediterranean eating and mental performance.

“They did as careful of a job as possible to find something, but they didn’t find anything,” said Teresa Fung, a professor of nutrition at Simmons College in Boston who was not involved in the study. It’s been suggested that the “good” fats in the Mediterranean diet might benefit the brain directly, or that low saturated fats and high fiber in the diet could help stave off cognitive decline indirectly by keeping blood vessels healthy.