Four years ago I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Diet, vitamin supplementation, exercise, stress reduction and cognitive activity (also known as a brain-healthy lifestyle) have all been shown to significantly improve outcomes in MS – great news, right?! So why is it so hard to keep doing what is right? As a clinical psychologist I’ve spent years working with people who are finding it difficult to make changes in their lives, despite knowing that ultimately there will be benefits. Below are some of things I have learned along the way and that have helped me navigate a new path towards a brain healthy lifestyle.
Have compassion for where you are at
Our health behaviours depend upon many factors, including what attitudes and ideas about health were laid down in our early life experience. I grew up in a low socioeconomic status inner-city household in the 1990s – I never owned a bike, never saw or heard of anyone “going for a run” and diet was only discussed as a thing you “went on” if you wanted to be thinner (usually before Christmas, so you could eat and drink with abandon during the festive season). Crucially, my family was time-poor, working long hours to make ends meet; active relaxation and ‘self-care’ was not on the agenda.
Unsurprisingly then, I have spent the majority of my adult life replicating what my early-life taught me – working hard, eating for convenience (rather than health) and neglecting balance. It’s easy to be judgemental and regretful about not having made smarter health choices in the past and label ourselves as lazy, reckless or not capable. However, research shows us that self-criticism reduces motivation and leaves us feeling worse, whereas showing ourselves compassion and understanding is much more likely to free us to make changes. Whatever health and lifestyle choices you made so far, you were doing your best with the information and resources you had at the time. If your inner voice is harsh and critical, remind them that you have done your best and will continue to do so – that’s all any of us can.
Expect changes to be challenging
Long term behaviour change is difficult to achieve and involves a series of small steps and crucially, ‘failures’. What sets apart people who successfully implement long term change is not an innate ability to stick perfectly to a plan, but the ability to pick oneself up and get back on track when the plan has not…gone to plan! Failing to stick to a healthy lifestyle plan does not mean you are “not capable”, “can’t do it” or “just not into a healthy lifestyle”- it simply means you are a human, not a robot. Try to see all setbacks as an opportunity to learn by asking yourself why it didn’t go to plan and what you can do differently to achieve your goal.
Set good goals
Good goal setting is the bedrock of many psychological interventions and research shows that it works. My top tips for good goals are
1) Set positive goals about what you want more of (I want to learn one new health recipe) rather than what you want less of (I want to stop eating junk food)
2) Set achievable short term goals that will bring quick benefits, such as sticking to a good sleep routine and regular bedtime for a week – this will set you on the right path and increase your confidence that those longer term and less visible benefits are also achievable
3) Link your goals to your values – list all the reasons why your goals are important to you – including those beyond your own health. When I stopped eating dairy for health reasons I found it really helpful to learn about the ethical and environmental benefits of doing so – whilst these were not my primary motivations, they have become increasingly important to me and serve as further important reasons to stick to my plan.
Find your support team
It is hard to make change and it can be hard for those around us – my family still object to vegan, oil free meals 4 years down the road. Finding positive reinforcement for the healthy lifestyle you want to adopt can help you stay committed in the face of doubt and objection (whether that be from people around you or inside your own head!). Instagram is a wonderful way to connect with inspiring people who just really LOVE living a healthy lifestyle, sharing tips/recipes/exercises/mindfulness practices/motivation, as are Facebook groups and internet forums. You may also find local groups, like beginners running clubs and yoga classes.
Set yourself up for success
Compassion, goals and encouragement aside – good old practical planning and problem solving will go a long way in facilitating behavioural change. Strategies that I have found useful include –
● Planning ahead for the week what I will eat and when I will exercise
● Batch cooking and freezing meals
● Cooking simple meals on busy days
● Using a slow cooker and an air fryer for ease and speed
● Planning exercise for the time of the day when I have most energy
● Setting reminders in my phone to take supplements
● Setting a bedtime reminder in my phone for 30 minutes before I want to be in bed
● Leaving my phone out of the bedroom and my book next to my bed (I read a chapter a night for cognitive stimulation and relaxation)
I hope these tips can help you incorporate changes you want to make!
With thanks to Dr Nicky Hartigan for this article. Dr Nicky is a Clinical Psychologist and Director at HelloSelf, and has recently joined Food for the Brain’s Board of Trustees.
Far from being distant organs, the gut and brain communicate through a complex network of neural, hormonal and immune pathways and messengers, called the “gut-brain axis”. The integrity of our digestive system directly impacts the information our brain receives, and the quality of the building blocks of the brain tissue itself.
Our mood can also be impacted by poor vagal tone. The vagus nerve connects our digestive system to our brain and is the major nerve in our ‘rest and digest’ nervous system. With busy and stressful lifestyles regularly triggering our ‘fight or flight’ response, this vagus nerve may not be functioning well, which can contribute to depression and indigestion.
Much of the immune system is housed in our gut, making sense when much of our environmental risk exposure enters the body through our food. Our gut, therefore, needs to be in good shape for our immune system to be working well.
Maintaining Balance
Our blood sugar levels also impact our mood. Our brain is an energy hungry organ, using 25% of our total energy stores and preferring glucose to carbohydrates to keep it going. If our blood glucose levels are unstable, say from a high carbohydrate diet, this can be stressful for the brain to cope with and can cause mood swings or feeling ‘hangry’.
Blood sugar swings can also make us feel fatigued and have a detrimental impact on an important protein, BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) essential for the survival and growth of brain cells. BDNF helps our brain cells communicate and promotes the calming neurotransmitter GABA, levels of which may be low in anxiety sufferers. It also supports how our body makes energy, and therefore if levels of BDNF are low, we are more likely to feel fatigued, listless and at risk of experiencing mental ill health.
Top Tip
Keeping our gut healthy with a Mediterranean style diet, abundant in fibre-rich fruit and vegetables, oily Omega-3 rich fish, and wholegrains enriched with B-vitamins, translates into increased brain health, in turn improving our mood and mental health.
With thanks to Julie Pichler at Vagus Wellbeing for this article.Julie is a registered Nutritional Therapist and delivers our Workplace Wellbeing programme, offering educational and empowering webinars. Julie’s specialism is the gut-brain connection and how food impacts our mood and brain health.
Find out more about our webinars here and how they can support your employees’ mental wellbeing.
A sample of 2,034 individuals (age >55) in Singapore were studied to explore the link between fish consumption and depression. The study was conducted as part of the Singapore Longitudinal Aging Studies (SLAS) project and results were adjusted for all other possible factors such as smoking, exercise, diabetes etc.
Individuals consuming fish three times per week were observed to report lower depressive symptoms, compared with those who did not consume fish.
Wu D., Feng L., Gao Q., Li J.L., Rajendran K.S., Wong J.C., Kua E.H., Ng T.P. Association between fish intake and depressive symptoms among community-living older Chinese adults in Singapore: A cross-sectional study. J. Nutr. Health Aging. 2016;20:404–407.exercise, diabetes etc
This study looked at the correlation between nutritional status of older adults and health. Correlation was observed between quality of nutritional status and depressive symptoms. Elderly individuals who perceived that they had poorer health, were also observed to be at higher risk of depression.
Jung, S. E., Bishop, A. J., Kim, M., Hermann, J., Kim, G., & Lawrence, J. (2017). Nutritional Status of Rural Older Adults Is Linked to Physical and Emotional Health. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 117(6)
MIND Diet vs Mediterranean Diet: Which Is Better for Brain Health?
If you search for the “best diet for brain health,” you’ll almost always come across the same two names: the Mediterranean diet and the MIND diet. In this article, we’ll explore the MIND Diet vs Mediterranean Diet debate to see how the two really compare. But after a decade of advances in nutritional neuroscience, perhaps that’s no longer the most useful question to ask.
When it comes to diets backed by the strongest evidence for brain or overall health, two consistently stand out: the Mediterranean diet and the MIND diet. Both have genuine scientific credibility. The Mediterranean diet has decades of research behind it, originally focused on cardiovascular health before later demonstrating important cognitive benefits, including a landmark trial showing improved cognitive performance in those following it [1]. The MIND diet was developed later, specifically to reduce cognitive decline by combining elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets. One of the first large studies, involving almost 1,000 older adults, found that greater adherence was associated with significantly slower cognitive decline [2].
Both are excellent dietary patterns and are backed by a good and growing body of scientific evidence. If you are already eating this way, you are doing something positive for your brain.
But here is the question we can forget to ask.
What if the real opportunity is not choosing between these diets, but building on them?
This is not another article arguing that one diet is superior to the other. The more interesting question is whether either reflects everything we now know about protecting brain health and preventing dementia.
Neither diet was designed around the full body of evidence we have today. They were developed using the best available science at the time, and our understanding of dementia has advanced considerably since then. That does not make either diet wrong. It simply means they have provided an excellent foundation rather than the finished picture.
This is what we are interested in. Rather than forcing people into a specific dietary silo, we want to build on the various dietary strategies with newer evidence from nutritional neuroscience, biomarker research, and lifestyle medicine that has emerged over the past decade.
Before comparing the Mediterranean and MIND diets, it’s worth recognising that they have far more in common than they have differences. A comprehensive review published in 2019 found evidence supporting the Mediterranean, DASH, and MIND diets for better cognitive health [8], reflecting their shared emphasis on vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and minimally processed foods.
Mediterranean Diet vs MIND Diet: A Detailed Comparison
Mediterranean diet
MIND diet
Where it came from
A traditional dietary pattern associated with countries bordering the Mediterranean
A dietary pattern developed specifically for brain health by combining elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets
Main focus
Overall health, particularly cardiovascular health and healthy ageing
Reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia
Foods emphasised
Vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, nuts, olive oil and fish
Leafy green vegetables, other vegetables, berries, nuts, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry and olive oil
Foods limited
Red and processed meat, refined foods, added sugar and highly processed foods
Butter, cheese, red meat, fried foods, pastries and sweets
How prescriptive it is
Broad principles, with flexibility around quantities and frequency
More specific weekly targets for particular foods, especially leafy green vegetables and berries
Evidence base
Decades of research, strongest for cardiovascular health, with growing evidence for cognitive benefits
Strong observational evidence for brain health, with fewer intervention trials
Although the DASH diet is often included in these comparisons, it largely serves as one of the foundations of the MIND diet rather than a separate competitor. For that reason, the real comparison today is usually between the broader Mediterranean dietary pattern and the more brain-focused MIND diet.
Does the MIND Diet or Mediterranean Diet Offer Greater Brain Protection?
Based on the evidence, probably not.
One of the largest clinical trials to test the MIND diet followed participants for three years, comparing it with another healthy, calorie-reduced diet [4]. Both groups improved, but neither clearly outperformed the other. Rather than suggesting one dietary pattern is superior, the study reminds us that there are many ways to eat well and that healthy diets can have far more in common than they have differences.
The Mediterranean and MIND diets remain two of the best-researched dietary patterns for healthy ageing and brain health. Both are associated with better cognitive outcomes than a typical Western diet, and both provide an excellent foundation for most people.
The real opportunity in the MIND Diet vs Mediterranean Diet debate lies not in choosing between them, but in building on their shared strengths using what we have learned over the last decade.
Two people can follow exactly the same diet and have very different omega-3 levels, homocysteine levels, blood sugar control, and ultimately, different risks of cognitive decline.
Today, we can go beyond general dietary advice. Instead of simply recommending fish, we can assess omega-3 status. Instead of assuming a diet rich in leafy greens provides enough B vitamins, we can measure homocysteine. Instead of relying on diet alone to judge metabolic health, we can monitor HbA1c to identify early insulin resistance. The future of brain health is not choosing between dietary patterns. It is combining healthy eating with objective measures of what your brain actually needs.
A healthy diet does not guarantee optimal nutrition
Both the Mediterranean and MIND diets encourage leafy green vegetables, and with good reason. They are rich in folate, one of the B vitamins needed to help regulate homocysteine, a naturally occurring compound that becomes one of the clearest modifiable risk factors for brain shrinkage and cognitive decline when levels are elevated.
However, following these diets does not guarantee healthy homocysteine levels. Age, genetics, digestion, certain medications, and nutrient absorption all influence homocysteine, meaning two people eating the same diet can have very different results.
This highlights an important principle. Eating whole, unprocessed foods is an excellent and essential starting point, but it cannot tell you whether your nutritional status is optimal. In a randomised controlled trial, B vitamin supplementation slowed brain atrophy in people with elevated homocysteine [5], demonstrating that identifying and correcting nutritional deficiencies can make a measurable difference.
The story becomes even more interesting when we look at omega-3. Research suggests these nutrients work together rather than independently. In one study, B vitamins only slowed brain atrophy in people who already had adequate omega-3 status [6]. Another found the reverse: omega-3 supplementation only improved cognitive outcomes in people with low homocysteine, suggesting adequate B vitamin status is necessary for the brain to fully benefit from omega-3 [7] (read more overview of the interaction between omega-3, B vitamins, and brain health). Elevated homocysteine, which often reflects inadequate functional B vitamin status, is itself an established risk factor for cognitive decline.
The message is not that either diet is lacking. Rather, it is that nutrients interact in complex ways that no dietary pattern alone can predict. You cannot accurately know whether your omega-3 status or homocysteine levels are optimal simply by looking at what’s on your plate.
This is why you need a more personalised approach. Alongside encouraging healthy dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean or MIND diet, or even ketogenic or low-carb diets, we also believe in measuring key biomarkers, including homocysteine and omega-3 status, through the DRIfT® test. By combining dietary advice with specific biomarkers, or through tools like the Cognitive Function Test, it becomes possible to understand what your brain actually needs, rather than relying on assumptions.
Blood sugar matters too
Another thing to reflect on is that neither the Mediterranean nor the MIND diet was designed around blood sugar control as its primary goal. Compared with a typical Western diet, both are a major improvement. Their emphasis on vegetables, legumes, healthy fats, and minimally processed foods naturally supports steadier blood sugar than diets high in refined carbohydrates and ultra-processed foods.
However, neither diet asks an important question: how much carbohydrate is right for you?
Carbohydrate tolerance varies considerably between individuals. Someone who exercises regularly and is metabolically healthy may thrive on a Mediterranean-style pattern. Someone with insulin resistance or pre-diabetes may benefit from a lower-carbohydrate approach, even if the carbohydrates they eat come from healthy sources. Reflecting this, some clinicians are now using lower-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets therapeutically for selected neurological and mental health conditions.
The point is not that everyone should follow a lower-carbohydrate diet. It is that good metabolic health is consistently associated with better cognitive health, and no single dietary pattern is right for everyone. Healthy eating provides the foundation, but measuring markers such as HbA1c allows dietary advice to become far more personalised and useful for prevention.
Why diet alone is not enough for brain health?
Food is one of the most powerful tools we have to support brain health, but it is only one part of the picture.
Research consistently shows that regular physical activity, restorative sleep, social connection, and cognitive stimulation all influence the risk of cognitive decline. No dietary pattern can account for these factors on its own. This is why our COGNITION framework brings together the evidence across multiple areas of brain health, recognising that it is the combination of nutrition, lifestyle, and key health markers, rather than any single intervention, that has the greatest influence on long-term cognitive resilience.
Rather than searching for the single “best” diet, we believe it is more helpful to combine evidence-based nutrition with an understanding of your own biomarkers and lifestyle. This allows recommendations to be tailored to the individual, rather than the dietary label.
MIND diet vs Mediterranean diet: the question that matters more than which diet is best
Instead of asking whether the Mediterranean or MIND diet is better, perhaps the more useful question is:
How many proven brain health habits are part of your routine?
You might eat a Mediterranean diet yet still have elevated homocysteine, low omega-3 status, raised HbA1c, or poor sleep, all of which can influence long-term brain health. Diet is one important lever, but it is not the whole system.
To help people understand their own brain health more completely, we developed the Cognitive Function Test™ alongside the DRIfT® at-home blood test. Together, they assess key biomarkers, lifestyle, and established risk factors, helping identify where the greatest opportunities for improvement lie. They are not diagnostic tools, but they can provide a far clearer picture of your brain health than diet alone ever could.
The Mediterranean and MIND diets remain among the best-researched dietary patterns for healthy ageing and cognitive health. Both also share many principles with the DASH diet, reinforcing that healthy dietary patterns have far more in common than they have differences. But protecting your brain is about more than blindly following a dietary pattern, or worse, getting locked into dietary dogma. It is about understanding your own biology, identifying the risk factors you can change, and taking action before problems develop.
The future of brain health is not choosing the “perfect” diet. It is combining the best of nutritional science with personalised testing and evidence-based lifestyle changes, giving every person the opportunity to understand what their brain needs to stay healthy for decades to come.
Ready to understand your own brain health?
Healthy eating is a great place to start, but understanding your own risk factors allows you to make more informed decisions.
Barnes LL, Dhana K, Liu X, Carey VJ, Ventrelle J, Johnson K, Hollings CS, Bishop L, Laranjo N, Stubbs BJ, Reilly X, Agarwal P, Zhang S, Grodstein F, Tangney CC, Holland TM, Aggarwal NT, Arfanakis K, Morris MC, Sacks FM. Trial of the MIND Diet for Prevention of Cognitive Decline in Older Persons. New England Journal of Medicine. 2023;389:602-611. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2302368
This article is intended for general information only and does not constitute medical advice. It is not a substitute for consultation with a qualified healthcare professional, and anyone with concerns about their cognitive health should seek individual guidance.
The evidence for the relationship between alcohol, coffee and tea and cognitive deficits/benefits has been confounding to date. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the current evidence available in terms of the dose–response relationship between alcohol, coffee or tea consumption and cognitive deficits. Interestingly, it concluded that, based on the studies and data reviewed, whilst excessive consumption of alcohol is known to have adverse health effects, light consumption of alcohol (<11 g/day) and of coffee (<2.8 cups/day) are associated with reduced risk of cognitive deficits. It also concludes that the cognitive benefits of green tea consumption increase with its daily consumption.
Alcohol, coffee and tea intake and the risk of cognitive deficits: a dose-response meta-analysis. Ran, L.S., Liu, W.H., Fang, Y.Y. et al. (2021) Epidemiology & Psychiatric Sciences. 30(e13).
The study investigated B Vitamins and prevention of cognitive decline. Elevation of homocysteine (Hcy) levels is well-established as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia, yet controversy exists regarding whether B-vitamin-mediated reduction of homocysteine levels can benefit cognitive function.
The review concludes that “the evidence from this meta-analysis suggests that B vitamin supplementation was associated with a reduced rate of cognitive decline, especially in populations who received early intervention and long-term intervention. Pooled results suggest that folate in sufficiency, which already emerged in populations at the MCI stage, is a risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline, and higher intake of folate is associated with a decreased risk of incident dementia in non-dementia aged population. Considering demographic trends in many countries with rapidly aging populations and widespread insufficiency in dietary intake of B vitamins, the findings support the view that public health measures to improve B vitamin status should be targeted at people at risk of cognitive impairment, which would lower the health and societal burdens of dementia”.
Wang, Z., Zhu, W., Xing, Y., et al (2021) B vitamins and prevention of cognitive decline and incident dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Nutrition Reviews
