MIND, Mediterranean Diets May Delay Parkinson Onset

The Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet—a nutritional approach associated with the prevention of Alzheimer disease and cognitive decline—and the Mediterranean diet may be associated with later onset of Parkinson disease (PD), a new study indicates.

According to the authors of the study, these findings suggest that nutrition may be a key avenue in helping delay the onset of PD.

“It drives home the connection between the gut and the brain for this disease,” said Brett Finlay, PhD, professor in the departments of biochemistry and molecular biology and of microbiology and immunology at the University of British Columbia, in a press release. “It also shows it’s not just one disease that healthy eating can affect, but several of these cognitive diseases.”

The authors arrived at their conclusion after evaluating Food Frequency Questionnaires completed by 167 participants with PD, as well as 119 controls. They scored the questionnaires for adherence to the MIND diet and 2 types of the Mediterranean diet.

Food Frequency Questionnaires from 167 participants with PD and 119 controls were scored for MIND and 2 versions of Mediterranean diet adherence. The authors compared scores based on sex and disease. Univariate and multivariate linear models were used to compare adherence to a PD diet with age at onset.

In the study, women had followed the MIND diet more closely than men, and disease status did not appear to affect diet scores. The results of the study indicated that later age of PD onset was most strongly associated with adherence to the MIND diet among women, with differences of up to 17.4 years observed between high and low dietary tertiles. The findings also revealed a significant association between adherence to the Greek Mediterranean diet and later onset of PD onset in all models.

Among men, only Greek Mediterranean diet adherence remained associated with later PD onset in all models, with differences of up to 8.4 years observed.

“If we understand the sex differences between the MIND diet and Mediterranean diet then we might better understand the sex differences that drive Parkinson’s disease in the first place,” said lead study author Avril Metcalfe-Roach, PhD(c), with the University of British Columbia’s Michael Smith Laboratories, in a press release.

—Christina Vogt

References:

1. Metcalfe-Roach A, Yu AC, Golz E, et al. MIND and Mediterranean diets associated with later onset of Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord. Published online January 6, 2021. doi:10.1002/mds.28464
2. MIND and Mediterranean diets associated with later onset of Parkinson’s disease. News release. The University of British Columbia; January 13, 2021. Accessed January 14, 2021. https://news.ubc.ca/2021/01/13/mind-and-mediterranean-diets-associated-with-later-onset-of-parkinsons-disease/