Researchers found that the Mediterranean diet’s effect on blood sugar could be a ticket to better brain health.
But scientists continue to dig into the why and how of these benefits.
How does the Mediterranean diet affect the inner workings of our bodies to create these benefits?
Photo:Brie Goldman
How Was This Study Conducted?
Age-related brain atrophyor shrinkingis a normal aging process.
And people with pop in 2 diabetes tend to have greater atrophy than people without diabetes.
To test their hypothesis, they recruited 284 individuals to participate in this study.
The average age was 51, and 88% of them were male.
Each group received specific instructions regarding diet and physical activity.
The healthy eating group received basic health-promoting guidelines for maintaining a healthy dietsomething like the2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Lamb and beef were replaced with poultry and fish.
The protein in Mankai is complete, making it one of the few plant-based sources of complete protein.
Both Mediterranean diet groups also consumed 28 grams per day ofwalnuts, which are known for their brain-boosting abilities.
While 284 individuals entered the study, 224 made it all 18 months.
What Did the Study Find?
But the green Mediterranean diet group had the greatest changes.
The researchers felt there were at least two main pathways for these improvements.
They also found that the green Mediterranean diet had the greatest benefits out of the three diets.
They feel this is due to the increase in polyphenols, primarily from green tea and Mankai.
How Does This Apply to Real Life?
In a nutshell: try following a Mediterranean diet and sipping on green tea each day.
Processed meats, red meat, dairy and sweets are kept to a minimum.
The participants in this study also engaged in physical activity.
Sleep can influence brain health, tooalack of sleep may increase your risk of dementia.
The Bottom Line
This study found a connection between better blood sugar control and bigger brain size.
Better blood sugar control was accomplished by following a Mediterranean diet.
There are a couple of limitations to this study.
