If you’re at all concerned about healthy eating (and healthy aging) or have been a long-time agebuzz subscriber, then you’ll know what a “Mediterranean Diet” is and what health benefits you may derive from eating according to the elements of this “diet.” In fact, the Mediterranean Diet is not a strict and scripted dietary plan but rather an approach to eating that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and healthy fats such as olive oil, along with proteins that include fish, poultry, and the occasional serving of red meat and red wine. Nothing is forbidden with this approach but in essence, its goal is to steer you toward a healthier lifestyle and healthier approach to eating. For a good overview of this diet, its favored foods, and meal planning options, start your shopping list and click here. And for a personal description of what eating according to this approach entails, grab your Tupperware and read here. 

What may be less familiar to you, but is equally if not more healthy, is the “green” Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes plant-based proteins instead of meats and includes the addition of green tea and foods rich in polyphenols such as walnuts, almonds, and mankai duckweed. For those not in the know, polyphenols are compounds found in plants that appear to have both anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties and have now been studied in connection to their reduction of risk for brain shrinking and brain aging. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at the effects of the green Mediterranean diet on blood sugar regulation and found that daily consumption of the green Mediterranean diet, including polyphenol-rich foods, may lead to the slowing down of age-related brain changes.  A healthy diet, such as the classic Mediterranean diet, coupled with the polyphenol-rich foods included in the green Mediterranean diet, appears to counteract the normal age-related neurodegeneration that naturally shrinks your brain, is associated with cognitive decline, and can be accelerated by such causes as Type 2 Diabetes and inflammation. For more on this study, look here.

Another earlier study, once again looking at the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet in connection to cognitive decline, used biomarkers from blood tests to follow 850 French citizens (ages 65 and older) over a decade, to track the benefits of a plant-based Mediterranean diet. It similarly found that those who adhered to such a diet were less likely to experience cognitive decline as they aged. And one additional study of dietary polyphenols and their anti-aging properties, recently published in Nutrients, came down on the side of the value of polyphenols for their anti-aging and brain-boosting properties.

So if you had any doubts about the value of following a Mediterranean diet, and perhaps even adding in more plant-based nutrients along with some cups of green tea, you now have strong evidence that such a diet will not only promote healthier aging but will slow down the brain atrophy that may lead to cognitive decline. For some creative ways to incorporate green and classic Mediterranean cooking into your kitchen, take a look at these recommended cookbooks from the Culinary Institute of America and the Plant-Forward Kitchen.