Mediterranean diet is associated with reduced brain shrinkage in older people, study finds

A Mediterranean-style diet may be associated with losing fewer brain cells from ageing, a study in the journal Neurology has found.1

The study, carried out by researchers at Columbia University in New York, USA, looked at 674 people with an average age of 80 who did not have dementia and who were included in an ongoing study of ageing and dementia (the Washington Heights-Inwood Community Aging Project; WHICAP).

The participants completed questionnaires about their diet over the past year and then had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans an …