来源：《今日心理学》
原文刊登日期：2022年5月10日
The MIND Diet, a branch of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) diets, was designed to preserve cognition and decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in older men and women. While all three are considered top overall diets, MIND, which stands for Mediterranean–DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, is a plant-based diet that regularly includes foods in your diet that are known to promote brain health. These foods include whole grains, leafy greens and other vegetables, blueberries and other berries, nuts, dried beans, fish and olive oil.
MIND饮食法是地中海饮食法和DASH饮食法的一个分支，旨在保护老年人的认知能力，降低患阿尔茨海默病的风险。虽然这三种饮食都被认为是最佳的整体饮食，但MIND(地中海-DASH神经退行性延迟干预疗法的缩写)是一种植物性饮食，通常在你的饮食中包括一些众所周知的促进大脑健康的食物。这些食物包括全谷物、绿叶蔬菜和其他蔬菜、蓝莓和其他浆果、坚果、干豆、鱼和橄榄油。
Scientists have long known that there is a link between age-related decline in production of the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone and the risk of developing cognitive disorders, such as memory disturbances and problems performing daily life activities. They know that moderate-to-intense exercise improves brain systems at a cellular level, protecting against brain diseases, promoting cell recovery after injury, and decreasing symptoms of depression and memory disorders. Since its development in 2015, researchers have shown that the MIND diet helps regulate normal brain cell function and protect brain tissue from inflammation. This protection comes, in great part, from the array of phytochemicals found in fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices.
科学家们早就知道，与年龄相关的雌激素和睾酮分泌下降与认知障碍(如记忆障碍和日常生活活动障碍)的风险之间存在联系。他们知道，中等强度到高强度的运动可以在细胞水平上改善大脑系统，预防大脑疾病，促进细胞损伤后的恢复，减少抑郁和记忆障碍的症状。自2015年MIND饮食被开发以来，研究人员已经表明其有助于调节正常的脑细胞功能，并保护脑组织免受炎症。这种保护在很大程度上来自于水果、蔬菜、草药和香料中发现的一系列植物化学物质。
Now, researchers at Cairo University have shown that the combination of the MIND eating style and thrice-weekly aerobic exercise can substitute for the diminishing level of sex hormones that leads to cognitive difficulties in postmenopausal women. Their study, which included 60 postmenopausal women ages 60 to 75, compared the results of an experimental group that followed the MIND diet plan and exercised at moderate intensity three times a week and a control group that did not exercise but simply followed the MIND diet.
现在，开罗大学的研究人员发现，MIND饮食方式和每周三次的有氧运动相结合，可以补偿导致绝经后女性认知困难的性激素水平下降。他们的研究包括60名年龄在60岁至75岁的绝经后妇女，比较了一个实验组和一个对照组的结果，实验组遵循MIND饮食计划，每周进行三次中等强度的锻炼，而对照组不锻炼，只是遵循MIND饮食。
A poststudy assessment of both groups after 12 weeks found no significant differences in levels of sex hormones between the experimental and control groups. Interestingly, however, more highly significant positive changes in cognitive functions were displayed in the experimental group than in the control group, indicating that the combination of aerobic exercise and a calorie-controlled MIND diet plan improves cognition in spite of the loss of sex hormones in postmenopausal women.
12周后对两组进行的研究后评估发现，实验组和对照组之间的性激素水平没有显著差异。然而，有趣的是，与对照组相比，实验组在认知功能方面表现出更为显著的积极变化，这表明有氧运动和控制热量的MIND饮食计划相结合可以改善认知能力，尽管绝经后女性的性激素有所下降。