Nourish the Mind: An Umbrella Review of Nutrients Supporting Brain Health Across the Lifespan

Nutrition Meets Neuroscience

Mapping Nutrition for a Healthier Brain

Cognitive decline has become more a more prominent health concern in the US and globally, in part due to increased life expectancy. As a result, efforts to mitigate decline through research findings, product development, and education have garnered increasing attention. Diet is one modifiable risk factor – but the specific elements of diet that can support optimized brain health remain elusive with mixed research findings.

For example, the COSMOS trial resulted in improved global cognition with multi-vitamin provision for 2 years compared to placebo. In another significant trial assigning the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet or control diet with caloric restriction for 3 years there was no difference in global cognition across the two groups (both improved). At the same time, we know that specific nutrients have fundamental roles in brain structure and function, and many of these roles are mentioned in the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) reports. The brain is the most metabolically active organ, precisely controlling physiological functions. As proposed by D. Benton in 2012, defining optimal nutrition from the point of brain health may be a critical consideration.

The Cognitive Health Committee explores how dietary patterns, foods, nutrients and bioactive food components support optimization and maintenance of cognitive performance and mood- and emotion-related outcomes. See recent publications and upcoming events to learn more about the committee’s work.

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There are many gaps in understanding how to construct a diet to support optimal brain health across the lifespan, but it is possible that optimal nutrient or bioactive intakes for brain health fall outside of currently established DRIs or other recommended intake levels. In addition, much of the available research focus on individuals ages 65 and over, and newer evidence suggests that the optimal window for intervention may occur earlier in life.

This project is the first step in moving toward improved guidance for intake of nutrients or bioactive food components to support brain health across the lifespan. A review of systematic reviews will be conducted to: 1) establish the landscape of compounds that have been substantially investigated with respect to cognitive or brain health at various life stages, 2) understand how cognitive or brain health have been conceptualized and measured in this research, and 3) facilitate identification of target compound(s) for additional work on quantification of recommended intakes.

Project Investigators

Berivan Ece, PhD
Northwestern University

Open Science

Aligned with IAFNS’ commitment to open science practices, this project has been added to the IAFNS Collection on the Open Science Framework. Note: this link redirects you to an external website.