The month of November is dedicated to Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness to heighten awareness of the 6.2 million Americans living with the condition. The MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) Diet is comprised of foods that are known to promote brain and heart health. Emerging research indicates that dietary patterns can play a preventative or destructive role in the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias. In addition to physical activity, smoking cessation, stress levels, and socialization, nutrition and diet are another part of the puzzle when it comes to any prevention of cognitive decline.
The MIND Diet can initially be misleading because of the word ‘diet’. Rather than restricting foods, the MIND Diet is a dietary pattern promoting foods that benefit brain health. It encourages consumption of foods like leafy greens, fish, nuts, and plant oils and limits foods such as red meat, fried foods, and added sugars. This allows flexibility for the individual to follow cultural and traditional eating patterns while still incorporating MIND Diet health promoting principles.
In recognition of Alzheimer’s Awareness Month this November, FIMC agency Open Hand plays an important role in prevention of not only Alzheimer’s Disease, but cognitive decline in general. Open Hand’s medically tailored meals follow MIND Diet guidelines and registered dietitian nutritionists are instrumental in teaching MIND Diet principles to groups most susceptible to cognitive decline in metro Atlanta and across the state.
One such group are older adults, particularly those living in rural Georgia. This group often face barriers in receiving access to consistent and supportive nutrition information. To combat this, Open Hand launched the pilot project GRITS (Georgians Receiving Insightful Telenutrition Seminars), a virtual program created and delivered by an Open Hand RDN specifically targeting this population.
The GRITS project yielded positive results, with an increase in nutrition knowledge, support for virtual nutrition programming, trying new things, and socialization – all of which are helpful in prevention of cognitive decline. Topics supported general health and wellness principles of interest to the participants, but one popular topic requested by participants was Brain Health and the MIND Diet. In this lesson, participants were eager to learn which foods were important for overall cognition and easy ways these foods can be prepared.
Open Hand is also proud to partner with Tools for Life, Georgia’s state assistive technology program, to refer clients as needed for adaptive eating tools and other daily living instruments that can boost nutrition with those needing extra assistance. Learn more about your state assistive technology affiliate lending library here.
The work doesn’t stop here – the Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Aging Services was awarded grant funding from the Administration for Community Living to build a state-wide collaboration of organizations working on prevention and treatment of dementia. Open Hand will partner with the State and the collaborative to provide virtual education, recipes, and cooking demonstrations on specific MIND Diet principles and its impact on cognitive decline. Findings from this project will be released in 2026.
Need fun, evidence-based recommendations for your clients or community on the MIND Diet or other nutrition topics? In an ongoing effort to improve access, Open Hand’s on-demand nutrition video library is available online to any client population.