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As there is currently no cure for dementia, there is an urgent need for preventive strategies. The current review provides an overview of the existing evidence examining the associations of the Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diets and their dietary components with cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease (AD). A systematic search was conducted within Ovid Medline for studies published up to 27 March 2019 and reference lists from existing reviews and select articles were examined to supplement the electronic search results. In total, 56 articles were included. Higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with better cognitive scores in 9 of 12 cross-sectional studies, 17 of 25 longitudinal studies, and 1 of 3 trials. Higher adherence to the DASH diet was associated with better cognitive function in 1 cross-sectional study, 2 of 5 longitudinal studies, and 1 trial. Higher adherence to the MIND diet was associated with better cognitive scores in 1 cross-sectional study and 2 of 3 longitudinal studies. Evidence on the association of these dietary patterns with dementia in general was limited. However, higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of AD in 1 case-control study and 6 of 8 longitudinal studies. Moreover, higher adherence to the DASH or MIND diets was associated with a lower AD risk in 1 longitudinal study. With respect to the components of these dietary patterns, olive oil may be associated with less cognitive decline. In conclusion, current scientific evidence suggests that higher adherence to the Mediterranean, DASH, or MIND diets is associated with less cognitive decline and a lower risk of AD, where the strongest associations are observed for the MIND diet.

These results are the first to show that intake of EPA+DHA for 26 wk can alter the gene expression profiles of PBMCs to a more antiinflammatory and antiatherogenic status. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00124852.

Nutrition is an important modifiable risk factor that plays a role in the strategy to prevent or delay the onset of dementia. Research on nutritional effects has until now mainly focused on the role of individual nutrients and bioactive components. However, the evidence for combined effects, such as multinutrient approaches, or a healthy dietary pattern, such as the Mediterranean diet, is growing. These approaches incorporate the complexity of the diet and possible interaction and synergy between nutrients. Over the past few years, dietary patterns have increasingly been investigated to better understand the link between diet, cognitive decline, and dementia. In this systematic review we provide an overview of the literature on human studies up to May 2014 that examined the role of dietary patterns (derived both a priori as well as a posteriori) in relation to cognitive decline or dementia. The results suggest that better adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with less cognitive decline, dementia, or Alzheimer disease, as shown by 4 of 6 cross-sectional studies, 6 of 12 longitudinal studies, 1 trial, and 3 meta-analyses. Other healthy dietary patterns, derived both a priori (e.g., Healthy Diet Indicator, Healthy Eating Index, and Program National Nutrition Santé guideline score) and a posteriori (e.g., factor analysis, cluster analysis, and reduced rank regression), were shown to be associated with reduced cognitive decline and/or a reduced risk of dementia as shown by all 6 cross-sectional studies and 6 of 8 longitudinal studies. More conclusive evidence is needed to reach more targeted and detailed guidelines to prevent or postpone cognitive decline.