Cognitive performance in relation to MIND and MEPA III dietary pattern accordance of NHANES participants

There is growing evidence that Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) and Mediterranean-like diets are associated with better cognitive performance.

In this cross-sectional sample from two NHANES cycles (2011-2014), scores for the MIND dietary pattern (maximum score = 14) and for the Mediterranean Eating Pattern for Americans (MEPA) III (maximum score = 22) were calculated based on the reported foods consumed on two nonconsecutive 24-h dietary recalls. Only adults with two completed recalls and cognitive testing were studied (n = 2598). Cognitive assessments included the word learning and recall components from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), Animal Fluency test (AFT) and Digit Symbol Substitution Test.

The ages of participants were (mean ± SD) 69.2 ± 0.3 years, with almost equal proportions of men and women. MIND score was 5.0 ± 0.0, and MEPA III score was 8.6 ± 2.1. Positive associations between continuous MIND scores and education-dependent standardised cognitive scores for each test and global cognition were observed, unadjusted or adjusted for covariates; no such associations were observed for MEPA III. Compared to adults in the lowest MIND tertile, those in the highest were less likely to exhibit low cognitive performance on the AFT [0.45 (0.29-0.69)], CERAD Delayed Recall [0.52 (0.32-0.83)] and global cognition [0.50 (0.27-0.94)]. Similar observations were noted with MEPA III with AFT [0.58 (0.43-0.79)] and CERAD Delayed Recall [0.66 (0.46-0.94)].

Older Americans were generally non-accordant to MIND and MEPA III patterns. However, those who reported greater MIND or MEPA III diet accordance exhibited better cognitive performance.