The US News & World Report has ranked the MIND diet as the easiest diet to follow. The MIND diet also placed in the top five in these categories: best overall diet, best diet for healthy eating, best diet for diabetes, and best heart-healthy diet. Now in its sixth year of ranking diets, the media company orders 35 different diets in a variety of categories using sources such as medical journals and government reports to determine their rankings.

 

The diet was developed by Martha Clare Morris and her colleagues at Rush University Medical Center to combat Alzheimer’s disease. MIND is short for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay and is a combination of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets. The diet encourages consumption of “brain-healthy foods” such as green leafy vegetables, berries, fish, nuts, and beans.

 

A recent study shows that participants who strictly follow the diet have a 53% lower risk of Alzheimer’s. Even those who only moderately followed the diets guidelines still show a 35% lower risk of the disease. In addition to slowing cognitive decline, the MIND diet can also reduce the risk of a number of other health problems including high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes.

 

Source: Morris MC, Tangney C, Wang Y, et al. MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, 2015 Sept; 11(9): 1007-1014.

2016 Mind Diet