Mediterranean Diet: A Key to Boosting Memory and Brain Health

Boost memory and cognition with the Mediterranean diet that emphasizes plants, whole grains, and healthy fats.

Highlights:

The Mediterranean diet improves memory and cognitive flexibility by altering gut microbiota
Rich in plants, whole grains, and olive oil, it supports brain and physical health
Encouraging this diet early may have long-term cognitive benefits for kids and teens

The importance of the relationship between diet and the well-being of the human body and mind has been revealed. Of many diets, the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes plants, whole grains, and healthy fats, has been proven to have positive impacts on both mental and physical health. This diet may improve memory and learning, especially in young rats, by modifying the composition of gut microbiota, as other recent research has indicated ().

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‘Did You Know?
The Mediterranean diet improves memory by enhancing gut microbiota! #brainhealth #medindia’

Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet

Physical Health

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a healthy diet can protect against malnutrition and reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases such as:

Diabetes
Heart disease
Stroke
Cancer

The consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and unsaturated fats like olive oil fulfills the WHO recommended portion size while avoiding additional sugars, salt, and processed foods.

The World Health Organization (WHO) supports this type of diet for overall health benefits, emphasizing the inclusion of:

Fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains
Not more than 5% of the total energy intake from free sugars
Less than 30% of total energy intake of unsaturated fats, mostly from fish and vegetable oils
Not more than 5 grams of salt daily

Brain Health

The Mediterranean diet is also associated with better functioning of the brain. Research suggests it might help lower the probability of developing particular sorts of dementia and enhance cognition in the young.

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Mediterranean Diet vs. Western Diet: Impact on Gut Microbiota and Cognitive Function

A 20-week-long experiment analyzed the impact of a Mediterranean diet to a Western diet on young rats. Key differences included:

Macronutrient composition: Low-fat Mediterranean diet (43% fat sources mainly olive oil) versus high saturated fat Western diet (35% fat sources largely butter).
Fiber content: A Mediterranean diet consumed 63.4 g protein/kg while on a Western diet the subjects consumed 27.9 g protein/kg.

Energy consumption, weight, and changes in gut microbial populations were also measured. Behavioral tests were used to assess the individual's cognitive abilities.

Gut Microbiota Changes: In the Mediterranean diet group, there was an overall significant change in microbiota profile with rise in some beneficial forms (e.g., Candidatus saccharimonas) and fall in other types (e.g., Bifidobacterium).
Cognitive Improvements: Rats fed on the Mediterranean diet also showed enhanced cognitive flexibility, spatial reference memory, and working memory.

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Gut-Brain Interaction:

These studies found that the gut-brain axis is a bidirectional pathway and is involved in cognition, learning, and memory. The findings suggest that through the microbiota – brain axis, diet may affect cognition by altering other biological processes such as immunity.

Despite the study involving rats, it proved the hypothesis stating that the changes in intake of diet affect cognition through alteration in gut microbiota. Studies on observational research in human beings also show a positive correlation between diet quality and mental performance in children and adolescents.

There are a lot of health benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet and one of them is a boost in cognitive ability. This diet may help early intervention for people and may promote brain health and cognition in later years. Following the Mediterranean diet should be considered a preventative measure to improve overall people’s quality of life irrespective of the role of this diet on cognition.

Reference:

Comparison between two divergent diets, Mediterranean and Western, on gut microbiota and cognitive function in young sprague dawley rats - (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/29933935.2024.2439490)

Source-Medindia

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