DEMENTIA DEFENSE

Mediterranean Diet Insights That Everyone Should Know

By Carol Harrison, RD

AS CANADA’S POPULATION AGES, MORE PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO STAY PHYSICALLY HEALTHY AND KEEP THEIR MINDS SHARP FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.

One popular approach is the Mediterranean diet, thanks to its heart-healthy benefits and potential to reduce the risk of dementia. As a fitness professional, you can help your clients better understand and adopt this nutritious diet.

Here are three things you can share.

The Brain Requires Over 40 Nutrients Daily

Your clients know the body needs a wide variety of nutrients to function optimally, but they might not know that the brain’s nutrient needs are just as high. As the body’s command centre, the brain needs a lot of energy as well—it uses about 20% to 25% of the body’s total energy each day.

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes vegetables, fruit, legumes, olive oil, nuts and seeds, seafood, and whole grains, and it also includes meats, eggs, and dairy. Each of these food categories provides a unique set of nutrients, making it easier to reach the 40-plus nutrients required daily.

What makes this diet ideal for supporting brain health and reducing the risk of dementia is the fact that it is nutrient rich.

How Canadian and Mediterranean Diets Differ

We do not live in the Mediterranean, but we can follow the same dietary principles, eating food grown and raised in Canada. Rather than recommending one “ideal” way of eating, you may find it helpful to offer your clients these three guiding principles:

• Eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods including plant and animalsourced foods

• Include sources of the omega-3 fats EPA, DPA and DHA such as salmon, trout, and sardines

• Minimize nutrient-poor highly processed foods

The key difference between Canadian and Mediterranean diets is that Canadians eat too few vegetables and intact whole grains, and too little olive oil, fish, and seafood (omega-3 fats). And contrary to widespread belief, red meat intakes are similar. A 2022 global review published by The Lancet Planetary Health found that people in Mediterranean countries and Canada eat a comparable amount of unprocessed red meat. This challenges the belief that Canadians need to cut back on meat to gain the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Lastly, one of the biggest differences is that Canadians consume too many ultra-processed foods such as sweetened beverages, fried foods, and baked goods. Research has shown that these make up 46% of the calories in the Canadian diet—so there is plenty of room for improvement!

Eat brain-healthy foods more often. While nutritious dietary patterns matter most, several foods stand out as particularly beneficial for maintaining brain health. These include:

• fatty fish and mollusks

• olive oil

• nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds)

• eggs

• beef and lamb

• intact whole grains (barley, farro, quinoa, wheat berries)

• leafy green vegetables

• berries

• coffee and tea (green, black, white, oolong)

• legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas)

Boost-Your-Brain Meal Ideas

Your clients are looking for easy meal ideas to put all this into practice. Use these three principles and the food list above to suggest tasty meal ideas like these:

• Breakfast: Overnight oats with berries, nuts, and seeds, served with a green tea latte

• Lunch: Mediterranean nourish bowl with leftover protein (beef, seafood, beans), quinoa tabbouleh, grated carrot, and a dollop of creamy hummus

• Dinner: Easy sheet-pan dinner with salmon, sliced bell peppers, green beans, and lentils, served with a spinach salad topped with pumpkin seeds

For more delicious ideas, check out the cookbooks Pure Prairie Eating Plan: Fresh food, practical menus and a healthy lifestyle by Dr. Catherine Chan and Dr. Rhonda Bell and The Smart Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: 101 Brain-Healthy Recipes to Protect Your Mind and Boost Your Mood by registered dietitians Serena Ball and Deanna Segreve-Daly.

Note: This is not medical advice. Always follow the advice of your doctor.

Carol Harrison is a registered dietician who loves her daily workouts! She has a food nutrition communications company in Toronto. For more recipes, healthy hacks, or article suggestions, connect with Carol @CarolHarrison.RD