How the Mediterranean Diet May Protect Against Dementia

Amid recent heated discussions over whether Americans should be eating less beef, a May 2021 study finds that the vegetable- and fish-heavy Mediterranean diet may help protect the brain against dementia.

The Mediterranean eating plan, which has been studied for its health benefits since the 1950s, is light on red meat and dairy products and heavy on vegetables, fruits, beans, grains, nuts and fish. In the study, published in the journal Neurology, eating this way was linked to higher scores on memory tests, less brain shrinkage and less buildup of two proteins associated with dementia.

Researchers analyzed data from 512 older adults participating in a long-term German study of cognitive impairment and dementia.

All subjects completed questionnaires about the food they had eaten the previous months. They also took memory and thinking tests and had scans to measure brain volume. A group of 226 agreed to have samples of their cerebrospinal fluid analyzed for two Alzheimer’s-related biomarkers.

Researchers found that those who most closely followed a Mediterranean type of diet, especially those who included whole grains, performed better on memory tests than those who didn’t follow the regimen as closely.

Closely following the diet was also linked to a higher volume of the hippocampus. The hippocampus is an area of the brain that is considered the control center of memory. It shrinks early and severely in Alzheimer's disease, study coauthor Tommaso Ballarini explained in a statement.

The study comes at a time when the environmental effects of beef consumption have been a hot issue in the news.

The popular online recipe site Epicurious announced that after quietly not publishing any new beef recipes for more than a year, the editors were making the change permanent. Readers will still be able to find past beef dishes on the site, but no more will be added, the publication announced in April.

The editors called the decision “not anti-beef but rather pro-planet,” labeling beef “one of the world’s worst climate offenders,” because of the high amount of greenhouse gas emissions linked to raising cattle. In reaction, some accused the site of “canceling beef,” and others worried that the decision might negatively affect small-scale beef producers.

Environmental and social concerns were also on the mind of Daniel Humm. The chef of Manhattan’s acclaimed fine-dining restaurant Eleven Madison Park, known for dishes like butter-poached lobster that helped it earn three Michelin stars, announced that after being closed for 15 months, he reopened with a revamped plant-based menu based on “vegetables, both from the earth and the sea, as well as fruits, legumes, fungi, grains and more” enriched with plant-based butters and creams.

In a note on the restaurant’s website, Humm said that after spending a year with his staff helping feed the city’s hungry while Eleven Madison Park was closed, he wanted to reexamine the eatery’s role in serving both the city and the planet. “It was becoming clearer that the current food system is simply not sustainable, in so many ways,” he said.

Although Americans may still love their burgers, overall beef consumption in the United States has slumped since a peak in the 1970s, with slight increases and decreases over the years, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Chicken consumption, on the other hand, has been steadily growing. Since 2014, the majority of meat that Americans eat is chicken. More recently, sales of plant-based burgers, like Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger, have boomed.

To be clear, the Mediterranean diet doesn’t ban beef; it just encourages eating only small amounts and only occasionally.

The plan emphasizes choosing meals with more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, olive oil and fish — all of which have been linked in studies to lower risks of cancer, heart disease and diabetes, as well as to better brain health as we age.

Here are three delicious recipes from Staying Sharp to help you work Mediterranean-style meals into your daily diet.

• This zucchini frittata — Italian-style flat omelet that’s simple to prepare — combines an egg-and-cheese mixture with a generous amount of vegetables and fresh herbs.  Perfect for breakfast, lunch or a light supper. Click here for the recipe and a short video on how to make it.
• A Mediterranean wrap is an easy, portable way to combine cooked chicken tenders (or leftover roast chicken) with couscous, fresh herbs, crunchy cucumber and fresh tomato. Roll it up in a green spinach tortilla wrap and you have lunch in hand. Click here for the recipe and a helpful video.
• This popular low-carb recipe for zucchini noodles with avocado pesto and shrimp can also be made with whole wheat pasta, so you can get your dose of whole grains. Using avocado to make a creamy, nondairy pesto provides heart-healthy unsaturated oil, the pistachios are rich in antioxidants, and the shrimp provides omega-3 fish oils. Click here for the recipe and video.