Summary: Older adults who followed a Mediterranean-style diet in this large cohort study had a 23% lower risk of developing dementia compared with those who did not adhere to this dietary pattern.
Source: University of Newcastle
New research indicates that a traditional Mediterranean-style eating pattern—emphasizing seafood, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and healthy fats—may lower the risk of dementia by nearly a quarter.
Researchers at Newcastle University analysed dietary and genetic data from a large UK population and found that people whose diets closely resembled a Mediterranean pattern experienced up to a 23% lower risk of developing dementia than those eating a more typical Western diet.
Published in BMC Medicine, this study is among the largest to assess diet and dementia risk to date, addressing limitations of earlier research that relied on smaller samples and fewer dementia cases.
Study focus and design
The team examined data from 60,298 participants in the UK Biobank who completed a dietary assessment. Researchers scored each participant’s adherence to core Mediterranean diet components and followed them for an average of nearly a decade, during which 882 participants were diagnosed with dementia.
In addition to diet, the study accounted for genetic susceptibility to dementia by calculating each participant’s polygenic risk score—a combined measure of multiple genetic variants associated with dementia risk.
The study was led by Dr Oliver Shannon, Lecturer in Human Nutrition and Ageing, with Professor Emma Stevenson and joint senior author Professor David Llewellyn. The research team included collaborators from the Universities of Edinburgh, East Anglia and Exeter, and was conducted as part of the Medical Research Council-funded NuBrain consortium.
Dr Shannon commented that dementia affects millions worldwide and that prevention strategies are urgently needed. He noted that these findings suggest dietary change—specifically shifting toward a Mediterranean-style diet—could be a practical approach to reducing dementia risk.
Importantly, the authors found little evidence of a strong interaction between genetic risk and diet: the protective association with a Mediterranean-style diet appeared to be present regardless of an individual’s polygenic risk. This suggests that even people with higher genetic predisposition may benefit from improving dietary patterns.
While this overall pattern was consistent in several analyses, the authors acknowledge that not every analytic approach produced identical results. They call for additional research to more precisely define how diet and genetic factors interact in relation to dementia risk.
Professor John Mathers, Professor of Human Nutrition at Newcastle University, emphasized that the study supports public health messages promoting Mediterranean-style eating for brain health, highlighting that dietary improvements could reduce dementia risk even among those with elevated genetic risk.
Limitations and implications
The researchers caution that the analysis was restricted to participants who self-identified as White British or Irish, because the available genetic reference data was based on European ancestry. As such, findings may not generalize across diverse ethnic groups, and further studies in varied populations are necessary.
Based on their results, the authors suggest that promoting a Mediterranean pattern—characterised by a high intake of plant-based foods, healthy fats, seafood, whole grains and nuts—could be an important component of future dementia prevention strategies.
Dr Janice Ranson of the University of Exeter, joint lead author, noted that the protective association between Mediterranean-style eating and lower dementia risk was observed regardless of genetic predisposition, reinforcing the potential value of targeted dietary advice and public health initiatives that encourage specific brain-healthy foods and nutrients.
About this diet and dementia research news
Author: Ivan Lazarov
Source: University of Newcastle
Contact: Ivan Lazarov – University of Newcastle
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Open access.
“Mediterranean diet adherence is associated with lower dementia risk, independent of genetic predisposition: findings from the UK Biobank prospective cohort study” by Oliver Shannon et al. BMC Medicine
Abstract
Mediterranean diet adherence is associated with lower dementia risk, independent of genetic predisposition: findings from the UK Biobank prospective cohort study
Background
Identifying effective strategies to prevent dementia is a major public health priority given the growing social and economic burden of the condition. A Mediterranean-style diet (MedDiet)—characterised by high consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish and healthy fats—has been proposed to lower dementia risk. Previous evidence has been mixed and often limited by small sample sizes and few dementia cases. Few studies have assessed how diet and genetic risk combine to influence dementia incidence.
Methods
This prospective study used Cox proportional hazards models to examine associations between MedDiet adherence and incident all-cause dementia in 60,298 UK Biobank participants, followed on average for 9.1 years. Diet adherence was assessed using two scores—the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) and a Pyramid-based score (PYRAMID). The analysis also tested for interaction between diet adherence and polygenic risk for dementia.
Results
Higher adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet was associated with lower dementia risk. For the MEDAS continuous score, the hazard ratio was 0.77 (95% CI 0.65–0.91) comparing higher versus lower adherence. For the PYRAMID score, the hazard ratio was 0.86 (95% CI 0.73–1.02) for the highest versus lowest tertiles. There was no strong evidence of interaction between diet adherence and polygenic risk of dementia, suggesting the diet–dementia association was largely independent of genetic predisposition.
Conclusions
Greater adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet was linked to a lower risk of developing dementia, independent of genetic risk. These findings underline the potential importance of dietary strategies in dementia prevention and support further research to refine dietary recommendations for brain health across diverse populations.