A diet linked with 2.5 years of slower brain ageing: what the MRI scans actually show

A study in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, published at the start of October 2026, used MRI brain scans from 1,647 middle-aged and older adults in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort. The scans were taken between 1999 and 2019, and the participants were followed for about 12 years on average.

The MIND diet combines ideas from the Mediterranean and DASH diets. It emphasises leafy greens, berries, nuts, whole grains, fish and poultry, and limits sweets and fried or fast food. The study scored how closely each person followed it.

Each three-point rise in MIND score was linked with slower grey-matter loss of 0.279 cm³ a year. The study describes the difference as equivalent to about 2.5 years of delayed brain ageing. Berries and poultry were linked with healthier brain changes, while sweets were linked with faster enlargement of the brain's fluid-filled ventricles and greater shrinkage of the hippocampus, a memory region.

This is an observational study. It shows an association between diet and brain changes, not proof that a diet slows brain ageing. Brain health also depends on blood pressure, physical activity, sleep and other factors that the study can only partly account for.