Reduce Your Risk For Alzheimer’s With The MIND Diet

The MIND diet is a marriage of ideas from two Heart healthy meal plans the DASH (for hypertension) and the Mediterranean diet (reduce heart disease risks). The term MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.

MIND Diet

Whether you are at risk for Alzheimer’s disease or just want to be on the cautious side. This is an easy to follow heart and brain healthy diet that can reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s by up to 53% they say. Even if you do not follow it to the letter you can still benefit from this diet.

Here are the main points for the (brain healthy) MIND diet:

• Fresh or cooked green leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, and other salad greens): 6 or more servings a week (a serving: 1 cup raw, ½ cup cooked)
• Non leafy vegetables: (potatoes, corn, cauliflower) one or more serving a day
• Nuts: (such as almonds, walnuts, cashews) 5 servings a week (a serving: 1 ounce, example: 24 almonds, 18 medium cashews, 8 medium Brazil nuts, 12 macadamia nuts, 35 peanuts, 15 pecan halves and 14 English walnut halves)
• Fresh or frozen berries: Two or more servings a week
(a serving: 1 cup raw, ½ cup cooked/processed), blueberries and strawberries are favored.
• Beans: such as black, pinto, chick peas, 3 servings or more a week (a serving: ½ cup cooked)
• Whole grains: bread, pasta, brown rice, 3 or more servings a day
• Fish (for omega-3 content) Once a week, prefer baked or steamed • Skinless Chicken or turkey: (3-5 oz. serving) 2 times a week
• Extra virgin olive oil: should be your main cooking /salad oil.
• Red Wine: (Antioxidants and Resveratrol) ONE glass a day, example: 5 fl oz of table wine

In Addition, doing the following things may also help to reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

•    Keep well hydrated with plenty of fluids
•    Practice portion control
•    Maintain a healthy weight
•    Find time for regular exercise
•    Get adequate sleep
•    Include stress reduction activities