Food choices may protect your brain from aging

Two people can be the same age but have very different brains. One might be sharp and focused, while the other is forgetful and foggy. That’s not just about luck or genetics. It turns out, diet may be a powerful factor in how fast your brain ages. And now, researchers have hard evidence to back that up.

A new study shows that what you eat doesn’t just affect your waistline or your heart – it may be quietly shaping your brain’s future.

Brain aging and diet choices

Most people assume the brain gets older at the same pace as the rest of the body. But that’s not how it works.

The “brain age gap” is the difference between your actual age and how old your brain looks on an MRI. If your brain seems older than your age, that’s a warning sign. It’s been linked to memory problems, cognitive decline, and diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Conditions such as high blood sugar, chronic inflammation, and high blood pressure can speed up this brain aging process. But this study wanted to find out if a long-term change in diet could slow it down – or even reverse it.

Connecting diet to brain health

The DIRECT PLUS trial tracked nearly 300 adults for 18 months. Participants were divided into three diet groups. Each person had detailed brain scans at the start and end of the trial.

The researchers also looked at around 90 different proteins in the blood to see how those might relate to brain aging.

This was no quick study. It’s one of the longest and most thorough brain MRI and diet trials ever conducted.

Only after the researchers analyzed brain age before and after the diet – and compared it to blood protein changes – did patterns begin to show.

A powerful shift in blood proteins

The research team, including scientists from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Harvard University, and the University of Leipzig, found something striking. People whose brains were aging faster than expected had very specific changes in their blood proteins. And two of these proteins stood out – Galectin-9 and Decorin.

Levels of both proteins dropped in participants who followed a special version of the Mediterranean diet, known as the green-MED diet. This version includes more polyphenols (natural plant compounds) from things like green tea, walnuts, and an aquatic plant called Mankai.

There’s reason to believe these proteins are not just bystanders – they may be directly involved in the brain aging process.

Changing the brain’s biology

Galectin-9 is part of a family of proteins found in brain immune cells. When it connects to another protein called Tim-3, it can spark the type of inflammation that is common in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. High Galectin-9 levels have been seen in people with early signs of memory decline.

Decorin is a structural protein that lives outside cells. It shows up in higher amounts in spinal fluid early in Alzheimer’s. While the body needs Decorin, too much may signal that something is going wrong in brain structure or function.

The fact that these two proteins responded to the green-MED diet suggests something big: changing your diet might actually change your brain’s biology.

Tracking brain health

Dafna Pachter, a PhD student and the study’s first author, noted that this kind of research is leading toward a possible future tool.

“In this study, we are taking a small step toward a new possibility – a simple, accessible, and affordable blood test that could, in the future, provide an indication of brain status by analyzing omics layers in the blood,” said Pachter.

Diagnosing brain aging often happens too late – after someone starts showing symptoms. A blood test could catch earlier signals and provide more time for action.

Diet may matter more than we thought

Dr. Anat Yaskolka-Meir, co-first author of the research paper, noted that studying the circulating proteins in blood allows us to observe, in a real-life setting, how the brain’s aging processes are influenced by lifestyle and dietary changes.

“This approach gives us a dynamic window into brain health, helping to reveal biological changes long before symptoms may appear,” said Dr. Yasolka-Meir.

“By mapping these protein signatures, we gain powerful new insight into how interventions, such as diet, may help preserve cognitive function as we age.”

Diet strategies to slow brain aging

Professor Iris Shai emphasized that the research represents an advance in the field of nutri-omics – the integration of nutrition science with omics technologies such as proteomics.

According to Professor Shai, the study opens new pathways for developing targeted dietary strategies to slow the progression of neurological diseases.

It’s not just about vitamins or calories anymore. Scientists are now looking at how specific molecules in food interact with thousands of biological markers. That’s where the future of brain health may lie.

The full study was published in the journal Clinical Nutrition.

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