Food List and Sample Menu

The MIND diet can be delicious and satisfying, but there’s no question that it requires patience, effort, and careful meal planning to ensure you’re consuming the right amounts of food servings according to the diet’s guidelines.

To stay committed to the diet’s targets, come up with an accountability system and plan out all your meals for the week — breakfast, lunch, and dinner. More labor-intensive meals can be partially prepared ahead of time — precut and store vegetables in containers in your refrigerator, cut up fruit for smoothies and freeze them in portions, and precook your rice and beans.

To help save time, you can buy canned beans instead of dried beans without burning a hole in your wallet. Buy no-salt-added canned beans, or rinse them in a colander under running cool water to remove some of the sodium. Frozen fruit without added sugar, such as berries, may be less expensive than fresh fruit while still providing the same nutrients and tasting great in smoothies and baked goods (like whole-grain muffins).

But as you get older — especially if you develop cognitive difficulties — it may be more difficult to follow the MIND diet, or any dietary plan for that matter.

One study on the MIND diet looked at dietary data from more than 8,000 people covering an average of over 15 years, and found a link between high adherence to the MIND diet and a decreased risk of dementia. But this link weakened in the later years of the study period — after seven years in one group of participants.

The Takeaway

The MIND diet is designed to slow cognitive decline and reduce the risk for dementia, and some studies show that it may be effective — especially in North American populations. Following this diet can require careful meal planning, to make sure you’re getting enough servings of beneficial foods throughout the week and limiting unhealthy items. Preparing certain foods ahead of time, and refrigerating or freezing them, can make it easier to follow the MIND diet.