This Type Of Diet Is Linked To Brain Shrinkage, Study Shows
The foods we eat can influence inflammation throughout the body. Some foods are calming while some foods fuel the fire. But it's not just about individual foods. Rather, it's the quality of your overall diet. An inflammatory diet can have profound impacts on your health, including your brain.
How so? Well, according to an investigation of the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort, a pro-inflammatory diet can result in smaller brain volume1. Yikes. Here's what that means and how you can protect your brain.
Researchers compared diet quality with brain scans
For the study, researchers analyzed data from 1,897 adults (average age 62).
Participants completed food frequency questionnaires over multiple study visits, allowing researchers to estimate their usual eating habits over roughly seven years. They then assigned each participant a Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) score, a tool that estimates how inflammatory someone's overall diet is. Higher scores indicate a more pro-inflammatory diet, while lower scores reflect a more anti-inflammatory eating pattern.
The researchers also examined participants' brain MRI scans and looked at several markers of brain aging and cerebrovascular health (including total brain volume, gray matter volume, and signs of small vessel disease).
People with more inflammatory diets had smaller brain volumes
After accounting for factors like age, sex, education, smoking, physical activity, and other health conditions, researchers found that participants with higher DII scores tended to have smaller total brain volume.
They also had:
- Smaller total gray matter volume
- Larger lateral ventricles, a structural brain change commonly associated with age-related brain atrophy
The researchers did not find meaningful associations between dietary inflammatory potential and several other brain measures, including hippocampal volume, white matter hyperintensities, or cerebral microbleeds.
Although some degree of brain volume loss is a normal part of aging, accelerated shrinkage has been linked to cognitive decline and a greater risk of dementia. These changes indicate early signs of brain aging (and not necessarily immediate memory concerns).
But because this was a cross-sectional study, researchers can't determine whether diet directly influenced brain structure or whether other factors contributed to the association.
What makes a diet more (or less) inflammatory?
The DII looks at the overall combination of foods and nutrients someone eats. Generally speaking, diets that score as more inflammatory tend to include more:
- Ultra-processed foods
- Refined grains
- Sugary beverages
- Processed meats
- Foods high in saturated and trans fats
On the flip side, previous research has shown that Mediterranean-style eating patterns—rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, and fish—are associated with lower levels of inflammatory markers in the body.
What about brain health supplements?
The takeaway
Inflammation can damage blood vessels, increase oxidative stress, and affect communication between brain cells. Over time, these changes may contribute to the gradual loss of brain tissue and increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.
Many of the same eating habits linked to lower inflammation also support heart health, metabolic health, and healthy aging more broadly. Filling your plate with minimally processed, fiber-rich foods and including healthy fats like olive oil and omega-3-rich fish is a good place to start.