A Super Speedy Review: The MIND Diet

Ready for a quick dive into the connection between diet and cognitive health? In this Doctor Journal Club Podcast episode, Dr. Joshua Goldenberg swiftly unpacks the Mind Diet Trial for dementia, a major study from 2023. Discover why a Mediterranean and Dash-inspired diet in high-risk elderly adults didn't show significant cognitive differences. Dr. Goldenberg's rapid analysis gives you a speedy overview of Alzheimer's prevention. Plus, catch tips on evaluating medical literature and a glimpse into our EBM Boot Camp for clinicians. Get set for a fast-paced journey into medical research and eye-opening insights!

Learn more and become a member at www.DrJournalClub.com

Check out our complete offerings of NANCEAC-approved Continuing Education Courses.

Episode Transcript

Introducer (00:02):
Welcome to the Dr Journal Club podcast, the show
that goes under the hood ofevidence-based integrative
medicine.
We review recent researcharticles, interview
evidence-based medicine thoughtleaders and discuss the
challenges and opportunities ofintegrating evidence-based and
integrative medicine.
Continue your learning afterthe show at www.

(00:23):
drjournalclub.
com.

Dr. Joshua Goldenberg (00:31):
Please bear in mind that this is for
educational and entertainmentpurposes only.
Talk to your doctor beforemaking any medical decisions,
changes, etc.
Everything we're talking aboutthat's to teach you guys stuff
and have fun.
We are not your doctors.
Also, we would love to answeryour specific questions on
drjournalclub.
com.
You can post questions andcomments for specific videos,

(00:55):
but go ahead and email usdirectly at josh at
drjournalclub.
com.
That's josh at drjournalclub.
com.
Send us your listener questionsand we will discuss it on our
pod.
Hello and welcome to anothersuper speedy summary.
This is your host, Dr.
Joshua Goldenberg.
Today we're going to talk aboutthe MIND diet trial for

(01:18):
dementia.
So this was a study that cameout in the New England Journal
of Medicine in 2023.
Of course, Alzheimer's is likethe worst and we really don't
have much in terms of treatmentor prevention at all.
At least it's any good and soanything we could do would be

(01:39):
helpful.
Now we have all theseobservational studies and some
suggestive data that diet may beassociated.
Right that people that have aquote-unquote better diet or a
more Mediterranean-like diet ora DASH-like diet, which is the
diet originally developed forhypertension they may have
improved cognition compared tothose that don't follow these

(02:02):
types of diets.
So what happened was with theMIND diet, they designed a diet
that's primarily based aroundthe Mediterranean diet and the
DASH diet with a few otherthings that have been found in
the literature to perhaps beprotective against cognitive
decline etc and they package ittogether in a diet and so then

(02:24):
they have this massiverandomized control trial over
many years.
Over 600 patients wererandomized or participants were
randomized.
They were looking at elderlyadults, so over 65.
They had to have a suboptimaldiet and have to be overweight
so that a diet would be usefulto them and to have a family
history of dementia.

(02:44):
They themselves did not havecognitive issues nor dementia,
but they were at higher riskbecause of family history.
So that was the population.
So we're looking at preventionin this type of population and
they gave them the MIND dietplus mild caloric restriction
over a three-year period,compared to similar strength of
intervention for the same amountof caloric restriction over

(03:07):
three years.
And they looked at cognitionscores as well as MRIs between
groups and what they found wasthat the MIND diet trial
improved in their cognition by0.2 standardized cognition units
and the control group increasedas well by somewhat similar.
The difference was essentiallyminuscule.

(03:28):
The confidence interval thereand the p-value being over 0.05
tells you, of course, thatdifference is not statistically
significant and I would highlydoubt it would be clinically
significant as well.
They also looked at MRIs, whichwere also similar between two
groups.
So guidance for this largerandomized controlled trial,
very well conducted guidance fora sort of Alzheimer's

(03:51):
prevention specific diet thisMIND diet did not seem to lead
to difference in cognition orMRI brain imaging, at least over
a three-year period, whenfollowing this diet, compared to
following a similarrecommendation schedule for

(04:11):
general caloric restriction.
Dr.
Adam Zadowski goes into greatdetail in the basic and in-depth
level of this video, so goahead and check those out.
If you have any questions, ofcourse, reach out to us.
We'll see you next time.
If you enjoy this podcast,chances are that one of your

(04:33):
colleagues and friends probablywould as well.
Please do us a favor and letthem know about the podcast.
And if you have a little bit ofextra time, even just a few
seconds, if you could rate usand review us on Apple podcast
or any other distributor.
It would be greatly appreciated.
It would mean a lot to us andhelp get the word out to other
people that would really enjoyyou.
content.
Thankhis is Josh.

(04:53):
You know we talked about somereally interesting stuff today.
I think one of the things we'regoing to do that's relevant.
There is a course we have on DrJournal Club called the EBM
Boot Camp.
That's really meant forclinicians to sort of help them
understand how to criticallyevaluate the literature, etc,
etc.
Some of the things that we'vebeen talking about today.
Go ahead and check out the shownotes link.
We're going to link to itdirectly.

(05:14):
I think it might be of interest.
Don't forget to follow us onsocial and interact with us on
social media at DrJournalClubDrJournalClub on Twitter, we're
on Facebook, we're on LinkedIn,et cetera, et cetera.
So please reach out to us.
We always love to talk to ourfans and our listeners.
If you have any specificquestions you'd like to ask us
about research, evidence, beinga clinician, et cetera, don't

(05:37):
hesitate to ask.
And then, of course, if youhave any topics that you'd like
us to cover on the pod, pleaselet us know as well us to cover

(06:10):
on the pod.