The Mind Diet: Meal Planning to Fuel the Brain
The MIND diet is associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline and a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
What is The Mind Diet?
The MIND diet stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. It combines two diets proven to improve overall health – the so-called “DASH” diet and the “Mediterranean” diet – and focusing on the foods that improve brain health to lower the risk of mental decline.
Foods such as vegetables, whole grains, berries, nuts, fish, and beans are essential components of both diets, while red meats, butter and margarine, cheeses, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food are avoided or used sparingly. The combination appears to be effective, as scientific studies have shown the MIND diet to be associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline and a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
To help busy caregivers get started benefiting from the MIND Diet, we asked our NAN Expert, Pat DeAngelis, RN and Nutritionist to design a 3-day menu plan using the recommended foods from both diets.
Bon Appetite!
Note: Before you make any change in your or your loved one’s diet, please check with your healthcare provider. Food types and portion sizes may need to be adjusted for calorie intake and blood sugar control.
MIND Diet for Maximum Brain Health
Daily:
Three servings of whole grains
Salad daily, such as a leafy green salad
One non-starchy vegetable daily
Nuts and Seeds
Red wine, one glass daily (or substitute grape juice with fiber).
Three times a week: Beans or legumes
Twice a Week:
Poultry
Berries
Eggs
Once a week:
Fish
Foods to Limit (but you don’t have to omit if you enjoy, just limit!)
3 times a week: Dairy products such as plain yogurt and low-fat soft cheese.
2 times a week: Red meat 3 to 5-ounce servings
2 times a week: Starchy vegetables
Foods to Avoid (but you don’t have to omit if you enjoy, just eat very occasionally!)
Fried and fast food
Pastries
Processed and ultra-processed foods including lunch and smoked meats.
Hard cheese
White flour processed products.
MIND Diet friendly condiments.
Small amounts of honey or pure maple syrup for sweetener
Plant based soft spread with olive, sunflower, or avocado oil for butter
Nut butter’s (almond or Hazelnut) in place of peanut butter
Non- fat dried milk powder or a nut milk for dairy milk replacement
Corn soft or hard taco shell
·Nut or Vanilla bean extracts.
Sample Meals:
Day One:
Breakfast:
Oatmeal with ¼ cup walnuts, Pecans, sliced Almonds
Old Fashion or Quick cook oatmeal, (avoid Instant oatmeal)
½ cup Berries (blueberries or strawberries or blackberries)
Lunch:
Hummus with whole grain crackers or small whole grain pita bread (round)
Vegetable Soup with celery sticks
Dinner:
Green leafy vegetable salad with sunflower or flax seeds (1/4 cup)
Non-starchy vegetables (½ cup) cooked or sauteed in Olive Oi
Brown rice or wild rice (½ cup)
Fish (3 to 5 ounces) with nut or seed crust
Red Wine (4-5 ounces) or Grape juice with fiber (4 ounces) as desired
Day Two:
Breakfast:
Granola
Plain or vanilla Yogurt Low fat (4 ounces)
¼ cup fresh or thawed berries
Lunch:
Thin sliced chicken breast sandwich on one slice 100% whole grain bread with Lettuce, tomato, cucumber (thin slice)
Celery sticks with nut butter
V/8 or tomato juice (low sodium) 4 ounces
Dinner:
Green leafy vegetable salad
Three bean salad (canned, drained)
Spaghetti Squash (plant based spread)
100% Whole Grain bread
Red wine (4-5 ounces) or grape juice with fiber (4 ounces) as desired
Day Three:
Breakfast:
Eggs
1 slice Whole-Grain Toast
Any combination of berries.
Lunch:
½ of large green, red, or yellow pepper steamed and stuffed with quick-cook couscous.
4 ounces low sodium V/8 or Tomato juice
Whole grain crackers or rice cake with Tahini (sesame seed spread)
Dinner:
Green leafy salad with 3-5 ounces grilled Salmon and any desired salad vegetables such as; tomato, cucumber, green pepper.
Corn on Cob with (plant-based spread)
Soft corn tortilla wrap with nut butter, served warm.
Red Wine 4-5 ounces or grape juice with fiber 4 ounces as desired.
This content was made possible through the contributions of Pat DeAngelis, RN
