Want better cognitive health? A fascinating new Harvard study says this 1 change matters most

Tell me: Do things like this ever happen to you?

• You have clarity of purpose. You know what you need. You walk into another room to get it. Then, distraction hits, and you forget entirely what prompted you.
• Or else, you search the house for your car keys or your glasses, or your wallet. A good 10 minutes later, you realize they’ve been with you the whole time.
• You sit down to write an article about an intriguing study having to do with memory—if only you could remember what it was.

Yes, these are highly personal anecdotes. But like all the best stories, I hope they’re simply the unique expression of universal truths.

Perhaps second only to the fear of death itself, the one thing I’ve heard business leaders admit that they fear most is the idea of losing their memory.

And that’s why I’ve latched on with gusto to a recent study out of Harvard University, among other institutions, that suggests a simple, straightforward way to improve cognitive health.

A Mediterranean-style diet

Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, researchers from Mass General Brigham, the Broad Institute of MIT, and yes, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, say that making a simple dietary change can “influence key metabolic pathways that protect memory and cognitive function.”

The strategy: Make a conscious change to switch to a Mediterranean-style diet.

More on the nose, according to a summary:

“People following a more Mediterranean-style diet had a lower risk of developing dementia and showed slower cognitive decline.”

They’re not the first to tout the benefits of this diet; heck, I’ve written about other studies here before.

But this team analyzed data from two studies, including a total of 5,705 men and women from two longitudinal studies: the Nurses’ Health Study, followed by the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.

And, by studying three factors: “long-term dietary patterns,” “participant’s inherited risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” and the incidence of “new cases of dementia,” they were able to make some striking conclusions.

‘Help reduce the risk’

According to the study’s first author, Yuxi Liu, PhD, a research fellow in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, and a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Chan School and Broad:

“These findings suggest that dietary strategies, specifically the Mediterranean diet, could help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and stave off dementia by broadly influencing key metabolic pathways.”

Before I forget (ironic, right?) we should ensure that we’ve established what a Mediterranean-style diet actually entails. It includes a few factors:

• First, the primary fat source is olive oil, as opposed to higher saturated fats that are sometimes seen in Western diets.
• Second, whole grains. Lots of them. Plus, vegetables and fruits—probably four servings per day.
• Third, lean proteins. Think fish, chicken, turkey, and eggs.
• Fourth: Very limited red meat intake.
• Finally, lots of fiber from a variety of plant sources.

My favorite kind of study

Honestly, this makes it fall into the category of “frankly quite pleasurable things I might do anyway, even without the study.”

Which therefore makes it my favorite kind of study.

Short version? Do something I’d normally do almost without prompting, and get an unexpected benefit? I’m on board with that.

Barely even need a reminder.

—Bill Murphy Jr.

This article originally appeared on Fast Company‘s sister publication, Inc.

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