How can dietary strategies be tailored to support mental health and cognitive function?

Introduction

The relationship between diet and mental health, including cognitive function, has garnered significant attention in recent years. Various dietary strategies have been explored to understand their potential in supporting cognitive health and mitigating age-related cognitive decline.

Key Insights

Healthy Dietary Patterns:
- Adherence to diets like the Mediterranean (MeDi), DASH, and MIND diets is associated with the preservation of brain structure and function, and slower cognitive decline .
- Healthy food consumption, in general, improves cognitive function, although the quality of studies varies .
Specific Nutrients and Food Groups:
- Higher intakes of fish and unprocessed red meat are linked to better general cognitive ability.
- Polyphenols and combinations of nutrients show strong evidence of cognitive benefits, while the evidence for PUFAs, vitamin D, specific proteins, and amino acids is mixed .
- Adequate intake of carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins (especially folate, vitamins C and E, and beta-carotenes), and minerals (iron and zinc) is associated with better cognitive function in the elderly.
Mechanisms of Action:
- Nutrients can influence cognitive processes and emotions through their effects on neuronal function and synaptic plasticity.
- Gut hormones and brain-derived neurotrophic factors, which respond to food intake, play roles in cognitive ability.
Dietary Interventions:
- Interventions with major dietary components can enhance cognition, particularly in areas like global cognition, executive function, and processing speed.
- Personalized dietary interventions are emerging as a strategy to delay cognitive decline among healthy seniors.
Nutritional Susceptibility:
- The impact of diet on cognitive function can vary based on individual traits, nutritional history, and neuroendocrine status.
- Chronic effects of dieting and meal composition (e.g., carbohydrate-rich vs. protein-rich meals) can influence mental performance and affect.

Conclusion

Dietary strategies that emphasize healthy eating patterns, such as the Mediterranean, DASH, and MIND diets, along with the intake of specific nutrients like polyphenols, fish, and unprocessed red meat, show promise in supporting cognitive function and mental health. The mechanisms through which these diets exert their effects include improvements in neuronal function and synaptic plasticity. Personalized dietary interventions and further research are needed to refine these strategies and maximize their benefits for cognitive health.

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How can dietary strategies be tailored to support mental health and cognitive function?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

The Role of Nutrition in Cognitive Function and Brain Ageing in the Elderly

Adherence to a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean, DASH, or MIND, is associated with preservation of brain structure and function and slower cognitive decline in the elderly.

Effects of Nutrition on Cognitive Function in Adults with or without Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials

Dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet, and healthy food consumption can improve cognitive function in adults, with mixed results for dietary supplements.

Diet and general cognitive ability in the UK Biobank dataset

Higher intakes of fish and unprocessed red meat may improve general cognitive ability, while diet quality, vegetable intake, high and low fiber and milk intake may negatively affect it.

Brain foods: the effects of nutrients on brain function

Dietary factors, including gut hormones and neurotrophic factors, influence brain health and mental function, offering insights into promoting mental fitness through dietary manipulation.

Role of Dietary Protein and Thiamine Intakes on Cognitive Function in Healthy Older People: A Systematic Review

Higher protein and thiamine intakes are weakly associated with better cognitive function in healthy older adults, with more evidence supporting overall nutritional status.

The Effect of Healthy Diet on Cognitive Performance Among Healthy Seniors – A Mini Review

A healthy diet positively impacts cognitive performance in healthy seniors, with specific dietary patterns and nutrients potentially enhancing specific cognitive domains.

Dietary intake and cognitive function in a group of elderly people.

A diet with less fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol, and more carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals may improve cognitive function in the elderly.

Interventions involving a major dietary component improve cognitive function in cognitively healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Diverse interventions with a major dietary component can improve nonmemory cognitive functions in cognitively healthy adults, but not delayed memory.

Nutritional influences on cognitive function: mechanisms of susceptibility

Dieting and nutrient composition can impair cognitive function, with protein-rich diets linked to decreased positive and increased negative affect, and cognitive vulnerability increasing with age.

Fruit polyphenolics and brain aging: nutritional interventions targeting age-related neuronal and behavioral deficits.

Increasing dietary intake of fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants can help delay and reverse age-related declines in brain function and cognitive performance in rats.

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