Published : 04 Oct 2026, 03:15 PM
Updated : 04 Oct 2026, 03:15 PM
What you eat may shape how your brain ages, not just your waistline or heart health.
A major long-term study has found that people who closely follow the MIND diet show slower brain ageing, equal to about 2.5 fewer years of decline.
The study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, was led by a team from Zhejiang University School of Medicine, The Times of India reports.
It followed 1,647 middle-aged and older adults from the Framingham Heart Study, a decades-old project originally designed to study heart disease.
The MIND diet, short for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, blends the Mediterranean and DASH eating patterns.
It emphasises greens, berries, nuts and fish, and limits fried foods, sweets and red meat.
Over about 12 years, participants filled out detailed food questionnaires, had regular health checkups and underwent multiple brain MRI scans.
Tracking actual changes in brain structure gave a clearer picture of long-term brain ageing than a one-off comparison would, the Indian newspaper said.
Those who stuck closely to the diet lost less grey matter, the brain tissue responsible for memory, thinking and decision-making.
Every three-point rise in adherence meant about 20 percent less grey matter loss a year, equivalent to 2.5 years of delayed brain ageing.
Closer adherence was also linked to a change in the brain's ventricles, a known sign of ageing, worth one more year of delayed ageing on that measure alone.
Not every food behaved as expected. Whole grains, usually praised in nutrition research, showed less favourable associations with brain ageing.
The researchers say the definition of “grain” foods when the study began decades ago may not match today's standards, so the finding is not proof that whole grains harm the brain.
Higher intake of sweets and fried fast food was linked to faster brain ageing, reinforcing the idea that the overall dietary pattern matters most, not a single food group.
The authors cautioned that this was an observational study, which shows an association rather than proof that diet alone slows brain ageing.
Outside experts point to possible reverse causality, since people with healthier brains may be more likely to eat well.
Still, the researchers consider the diet-to-brain-health pathway highly plausible, given how the pattern held over such a long follow-up.
The research does not promise anyone 2.5 extra years of brain sharpness, the Indian newspaper says, but it adds long-term evidence to a growing body of research linking diet to brain health.
