This special diet can slow brain aging reveals Harvard’s study

The Green Mediterranean diet can protect against brain aging by reducing protein markers linked to cognitive decline.

The adoption of a green-mediterranean diet, which integrates green tea and the MANKAI aquatic plant, has been linked to slower brain aging, according to recent research.

The study, published in the journal Clinical nutritionwas led by scientists from Ben Gurion University, Harvard Th Chan School of Public Health and the University of Leipzig.

Investigate the diet and the age of the brain

Neurological disorders such as light cognitive disorders and Alzheimer’s Diseases are often associated with an increased brain difference, which means that the brain appears biologically older than the real age of a person. To explore if the diet could influence this process, the researchers examined the data of nearly 300 participants in the Direct Test Plus, one of the longest long -term studies on food and brain health.

Over a period of 18 months, the participants followed one of the three regimes: a standard healthy diet; A traditional Mediterranean diet limited in calories, which limited simple carbohydrates, emphasized vegetables and replaced red meat with poultry and fish; or the Green Mediterranean regime, which included all of the preceding with green tea and mankai.

When the researchers measured the levels of protein in the blood of the participants, they found that higher levels of certain proteins were associated with accelerated brain aging. In addition, they found that these protein levels decreased in the participants who followed the Green-Mediterranean diet. The researchers have hypothesized that the protective effect of the diet could be the result of the anti-inflammatory molecules contained in green tea and Mankai.

A dynamic vision of brain health

“The study of circulating proteins in the blood allows us to observe, in a real framework, how the brain aging processes are influenced by lifestyle and diet changes,” Aat Meir, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Chan School, who co-directed the study. “This approach gives us a dynamic window on brain health, helping to reveal biological changes long before the symptoms could appear.

Reference: “Galectine-9 serum and decoration in relation to brain aging and the Green Mediterranean diet: a secondary analysis of the more randomized trial” by Dafna Pachter, Anat Yaskolka Meir, Alon Kaplan, Gal Tsaban, Hila Zelicha, Ehud Rinot Beyer, Veronica Witte, Nora Klöting, Berend Isermann, Berend Isermann, Berend Isermann Uta Ceglarek, Tammy Riklin Raviv, Matthias Blüher, Michael Stumvoll, Dong D. Wang, Frank B. Hu and Iris Shai, August 23, 2025, Clinical nutrition.
DOI: 10.1016 / J.clnu.2025.08.021

This study was supported by the German project of project Research Foundation (DFG) 2099333838 (SFB 1052; B11) (at I Shai); the grant from the Israeli Ministry of Health 87472511 (at I Shai); The Israeli Ministry of Sciences and Technology undergoes 3-13604 (at I Shai); and California Walnut Commission (at I Shai).

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