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A randomised controlled intervention trial evaluating the efficacy of a Mediterranean dietary pattern on cognitive function and psychological wellbeing in healthy older adults: the MedLey study
The MedLey study (2015) aims to be the first randomized controlled trial to validate the efficacy of a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) approach in safely reducing the onset of age-related cognitive decline and promoting optimal cognitive performance among a sample of healthy older adults (≥65 years and above). The 166 participants recruited were aged 65 and over, from Adelaide in South Australia, and were randomly allocated to either the control diet (maintenance of regular lifestyle and diet) for six months, or the experimental group, which involved an intervention dietary pattern based from the traditional Cretan MedDiet, involving vegetables, fruits, olive oil, legumes, fish, whole grain cereals, nuts and seeds and low consumption of processed foods, dairy products, red meat and vegetable oils, for six months. The primary outcomes of the study were the differences in age-related cognitive performance in quantitative forms (speed of processing, memory, attention, executive functions, visual spatial and visuomotor ability), while the secondary outcomes included changes in biomarkers of inflammation, oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, glucose, insulin, blood flow velocity, as well as measures of psychological well-being such as stress, sleep, anxiety, depression. The assessments were to be done at baseline, and repeated every 3 months. Knight et al. (2015) believed this would be one of the first randomized clinical trials to prove the cause-effect relationship between the MedDiet and age-related cognitive function in a healthy older adult population. [NPIDs: aging, elderly, cognitive decline, neurodegenerative disorders, dementia, cognition, Mediterranean diet, cognition, vegetables, fruits, olive oil, legumes, memory, attention, executive function, visual spatial, visuomotor ability, inflammation, oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, glucose, insulin, blood flow velocity, well-being, stress, sleep, anxiety, depression]
Year: 2015
