Mediterranean, DASH, and MIND Dietary Patterns and Cognitive Function: The 2-Year Longitudinal Changes in an Older Spanish Cohort

Nishi, Stephanie; Babio, Nancy; Gómez-Martínez, Carlos; Martínez-González, Miguel-Ángel; Ros, Emilio; Corella, Dolores; Castañer, Olga; Alfredo Martínez, J.; Alonso-Gómez, Ángel M; Warnberg, Julia; Vioque, Jesús; Romaguera, Dora; López Miranda, José; Estruch, Ramón; J Tinahones, Francisco; Lapetra, José; Serra-Majem, J. Luís; Bueno-Cavanillas, Aurora; Tur, Josep A.; Sánchez, Vicente Martín; Pintó, Xavier; Delgado-Rodríguez, Miguel; Matía-Martín, Pilar; Vidal, Josep; Vázquez, Clotilde; Daimiel, Lidia; Razquin, Cristina; Coltell, Oscar; Becerra-Tomás, Nerea; De La Torre Fornell, Rafael; Abete, Itziar; Sorto-Sanchez, Carolina; Barón López, Francisco Javier; Signes-Pastor, Antonio José; Konieczna, Jadwiga; Garcia-Rios, Antonio; Casas, Rosa; Gomez-Perez, Ana Maria; Santos-Lozano, Jose Manuel; García-Arellano, Ana; Guillem-Saiz, Patricia; Ni, Jiaqi; Soria-Florido, Maria Trinidad; Zulet, M. Ángeles; Vaquero-Luna, Jessica; Toledo, Estefanía; Fitó, Montserrat; Salas-Salvadó, Jordi

doi:10.32920/26540959.v1

Mediterranean, DASH, and MIND Dietary Patterns and Cognitive Function: The 2-Year Longitudinal Changes in an Older Spanish Cohort

journal contribution

posted on 2024-08-13, 20:06 authored by Stephanie NishiStephanie Nishi, Nancy Babio, Carlos Gómez-Martínez, Miguel-Ángel Martínez-González, Emilio Ros, Dolores Corella, Olga Castañer, J. Alfredo Martínez, Ángel M Alonso-Gómez, Julia Warnberg, Jesús Vioque, Dora Romaguera, José López Miranda, Ramón Estruch, Francisco J Tinahones, José Lapetra, J. Luís Serra-Majem, Aurora Bueno-Cavanillas, Josep A. Tur, Vicente Martín Sánchez, Xavier Pintó, Miguel Delgado-Rodríguez, Pilar Matía-Martín, Josep Vidal, Clotilde Vázquez, Lidia Daimiel, Cristina Razquin, Oscar Coltell, Nerea Becerra-Tomás, Rafael De La Torre Fornell, Itziar Abete, Carolina Sorto-Sanchez, Francisco Javier Barón LópezFrancisco Javier Barón López, Antonio José Signes-Pastor, Jadwiga Konieczna, Antonio Garcia-Rios, Rosa Casas, Ana Maria Gomez-Perez, Jose Manuel Santos-Lozano, Ana García-Arellano, Patricia Guillem-Saiz, Jiaqi Ni, Maria Trinidad Soria-Florido, M. Ángeles Zulet, Jessica Vaquero-Luna, Estefanía Toledo, Montserrat Fitó, Jordi Salas-Salvadó

Background and Aims: Plant-forward dietary patterns have been associated with cardiometabolic health benefits, which, in turn, have been related to cognitive performance with inconsistent findings. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between baseline adherence to three a priori dietary patterns (Mediterranean, DASH, and MIND diets) with 2-year changes in cognitive performance in older adults with overweight or obesity and high cardiovascular disease risk.

Methods: A prospective cohort analysis was conducted within the PREDIMED-Plus trial, involving 6,647 men and women aged 55–75 years with overweight or obesity and metabolic syndrome. Using a validated, semiquantitative 143-item food frequency questionnaire completed at baseline, the dietary pattern adherence scores were calculated. An extensive neuropsychological test battery was administered at baseline and 2-year follow-up. Multivariable-adjusted linear regression models were used to assess associations between 2-year changes in cognitive function z-scores across tertiles of baseline adherence to the a priori dietary patterns.

Results: Adherence to the Mediterranean diet at baseline was associated with 2-year changes in the general cognitive screening Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, β: 0.070; 95% CI: 0.014, 0.175, P-trend = 0.011), and two executive function-related assessments: the Trail Making Tests Part A (TMT-A, β: −0.054; 95% CI: −0.110, − 0.002, P-trend = 0.047) and Part B (TMT-B, β: −0.079; 95% CI: −0.134, −0.024, P-trend = 0.004). Adherence to the MIND diet was associated with the backward recall Digit Span Test assessment of working memory (DST-B, β: 0.058; 95% CI: 0.002, 0.114, P-trend = 0.045). However, higher adherence to the DASH dietary pattern was not associated with better cognitive function over a period of 2 years.

Conclusion: In older Spanish individuals with overweight or obesity and at high cardiovascular disease risk, higher baseline adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern may be associated with better cognitive performance than lower adherence over a period of 2 years.