The name stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay — though what matters more than the acronym is what it actually involves: plenty of green vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, berries, poultry and fish, with olive oil as the main cooking fat, and limited amounts of red meat, butter, cheese, fried food and sweets.It combines the most brain-friendly elements of two well-studied eating patterns: the traditional Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, which was originally developed to lower blood pressure.A recent analysis from the long-running Framingham heart study examined the diets of adults aged 60 and over and assessed how these dietary patterns were associated with brain scan data collected later in the study.Those who followed the MIND diet most closely tended to have more grey matter — the tissue associated with memory and decision-making — and showed less overall loss of brain volume over time.Both findings point in the same direction: that this way of eating may help keep the brain in better shape as we get older.This is not the first study to suggest a link between diet and dementia risk The evidence on whole grains and brain health remains mixed, and this is one area where more research is needed.It is also worth noting who, in the Framingham study, was most likely to follow the MIND diet