What if the food on your plate could influence how quickly your brain ages? A new study suggests it can.
Researchers from Ben-Gurion University, Harvard and Leipzig University tracked nearly 300 adults over 18 months and found that those who followed a “green-Mediterranean” diet showed signs of slower brain aging. This diet is a plant-rich variation of the traditional Mediterranean pattern, with added polyphenol-rich foods like green tea, walnuts and Mankai, an aquatic plant also known as duckweed.
Brain MRI scans revealed that participants who stuck to this diet had less age-related shrinkage in brain tissue compared with those on a standard healthy diet. Blood tests provided further clues: people with older-looking brains had higher levels of certain proteins linked to inflammation and Alzheimer’s risk. Those proteins, including one called Galectin-9, dropped significantly among participants on the green-Mediterranean plan.
“This research represents an advance in the field of nutri-omics — the integration of nutrition science with omics technologies such as proteomics — and opens new pathways for developing targeted dietary strategies to slow the progression of neurological diseases,” said study leader Iris Shai, a professor at Ben-Gurion University and adjunct professor at Harvard.
The results, published in Clinical Nutrition, build on earlier findings from the same DIRECT PLUS trial, which showed that both traditional and green-Mediterranean diets cut brain atrophy in half within 18 months. The new analysis helps explain how diet might work, pointing to changes in circulating proteins that could serve as early warning signs of accelerated brain aging.
The researchers caution that while more studies are needed, the findings suggest diet could one day be paired with simple blood tests to track brain health and guide prevention strategies.
The DIRECT PLUS trial was supported by the German Research Foundation, the Israel Ministry of Health, the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology, and the California Walnuts Commission.