Diet is probably one of the most treated themes when it comes to health-and-optimization.

So many diets and dietary advice are flying around that I’m often confused myself.

Working in a longevity-focused start-up for my 9-to-5 has shown me first-hand just how hard it is to make sense of it all.

Keto, fasting, low-fat / high-fat, ultra-processed-foods - it’s quite a mouthful.

However, I’m sure we all agree that diet is important for our overall health and performance.

And many of you have indicated that you would like to learn more about diet and mental energy.

So that’s the theme of June.

This week we will start with a really interesting study showing how diet might have direct effect at our cognitive abilities. 

Today’s insights is mainly drawn from the scientific article: 

“Effect of MIND diet intervention on cognitive performance and brain structure in healthy obese women: a randomized controlled trail”

Today's newsletter

• The study in a nutshell:

• Takeaways:

• What they did:

• What the authors found out:

• What can we learn from this study?

The study in a nutshell:

Today’s study is a randomized controlled trial, which is generally considered as the strongest type of scientific studies.

The study tested whether the MIND diet - a brain-focused diet - can improve cognition and brain structure in obese women aged 40-60.

Over 3 months, participants followed either a calorie-restricted MIND diet or a standard calorie-restricted diet.

Women on the MIND diet showed greater gains in memory, attention, and processing speed. Brain scans revealed structural benefits, including increased surface area in the inferior frontal gyrus.

Takeaways:

🍽️ Diet may influence your cognition  

Just three months of following the MIND diet led to noticeable improvements in memory, attention, and processing speed.

🧠 Diet changes might alter brain structure

MRI scans showed that participants on the MIND diet increased the surface area in the inferior frontal gyrus, which is a region linked to decision-making and self-control.

🍕 Not all calorie-restricted diets are equal

Both groups reduced calories and lost weight, but only the MIND diet group experienced superior cognitive and structural brain outcomes.

🔬 Lowering homocysteine through diet might reduce cognitive risk

The MIND diet significantly reduced levels of homocysteine, which is a blood marker associated with cognitive decline and dementia. This suggests a potential mechanism for its protective effects.

What they did:

Tests:

Both baseline and follow up testing consisted of a comprehensive test battery:

Neuropsychological battery: a series of tests covering memory, attention, processing speed and executive function. 

Anthropometry: body-weight, body-fat percentage and body-mass index were recorded. 

Blood biomarkers: fasting venous samples were analyzed for brain-related markers: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), amyloid-beta and homocysteine. 

Structural MRI: high-resolution scans were obtained to detect changes in brain regions linked to cognition, with particular attention to the inferior frontal gyrus and the cerebellum. 

What the authors found out:

Dietary changes:

Participants in the MIND diet group significantly increased their intake of green leafy vegetables, berries, whole grains, fish, and olive oil, while reducing red meat, butter, sweets, and fried foods.

The control group made smaller, less consistent changes.

Cognitive Performance:

The MIND diet group showed greater improvements in working memory, verbal memory, attention, and processing speed compared to the control group.

Neuronal Biomarkers:

Homocysteine levels decreased significantly more in the MIND group. BDNF and amyloid-beta showed downward trends but without statistical significance.

Brain Structure:

MRI analysis revealed a significant increase in the surface area of the inferior frontal gyrus in the MIND diet group, a brain region associated with decision-making and self-control.

Both groups showed reductions in cerebellar gray and white matter, but the effect was more pronounced in the MIND group.

What can we learn from this study?

Today’s study shows that pairing the MIND diet with calorie restriction can give obese, middle-aged women measurable boosts in both cognitive performance and brain structure.

Compared with dieting alone, the MIND group showed much bigger gains in memory, attention, and processing speed.

When one’s memory and focus is better and the brain processes information faster its reasonable to assume that you’re simply not using as much mental energy on each task, thereby improving ones overall mental energy.

Mutch like if one gets in better shape, then running a 5 K at a given pace uses less of one’s overall capacity for running, which means you’ve still got energy in the tank to keep going.

The observed increase in the surface area of the inferior frontal gyrus is particularly interesting. While it seems unbelievable to me, in essence, this suggests that specific dietary components may enhance brain plasticity in regions tied to executive function, which is important for our mental energy.

As both groups lost weight, one might assume that these positive results simply reflects the overall health improvements that come as a result of calorie restriction in obese individuals.
 
However, the researchers tracked what each group actually ate. And it can be seen that participants in the MIND diet group significantly increased their intake of green leafy vegetables, berries, whole grains, fish, and olive oil, while reducing red meat, butter, sweets, and fried foods.

This groups larger cognitive gains might therefore suggest that the diet’s unique nutritional profile, which is rich in antioxidants, healthy fats, and anti-inflammatory compounds is driving or strengthening these cognitive benefits.

I find these results extremely fascinating.

We’ve always known that diet matters for general health, but seeing such a direct impact on cognition is really interesting.

It is however important to note that this is just one study.

To draw firm conclusions from any one study would be a mistake, Moreover this study had a relatively short intervention period, small number of participants and subjective reporting of food intake which are all just some possible factors that might limit the credibility of the findings.

However, its is still as randomized controlled trail, and the findings point in a very interesting direction.

One that I’m looking forward to bring you more insights on.

_{Disclaimer: The above is mainly based on the article “Effect of MIND diet intervention on cognitive performance and brain structure in healthy obese women: a randomized controlled trail” by Golnaz Arjmand, Mojtaba Abbas-Zadeh & Mohammad Hassan Eftekhari and aims to provide key takeaways and a condensed overview of its content. While the essence is drawn from the original article, some parts have been simplified or rephrased to enhance understanding. Please note that we at, OptiMindInsights or any other potential writers or contributors to our summaries, do not accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of this summary. The information provided should not be considered a substitute for personal research or professional advice. Readers are encouraged to consult the original article for detailed insights and references. The summary does not include references, but they can typically be found within the original publication. Always exercise due diligence and consider your unique circumstances before applying any information in your personal or professional life. We refer to the creative commons for reproducibility rights.}