Brain Food Week • 21–25 September
Everyday Food Choices, A Healthier Future
Harris Farm Markets has partnered with Professor Kaarin Anstey and the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute to explore the role everyday food choices can play in brain health and dementia prevention.
Brain Food Week runs from 21–25 September alongside Dementia Action Week.
The campaign centres on the MIND Diet and the role everyday food choices can play in brain health and dementia prevention.
Together with Professor Kaarin Anstey and the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute, we’re sharing research on dementia risk reduction and showing how familiar foods can be incorporated into everyday eating.
Understanding Dementia
What is dementia?
Dementia is a group of disorders that affect the brain, causing changes in memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to carry out everyday activities.
It is not a normal part of ageing. Many people live long, healthy lives without developing it.
Why everyday choices matter
There are more than 14 known modifiable risk factors for dementia. Several overlap with heart health, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol in midlife, diabetes and obesity.
Up to 45% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed through lifestyle changes, including diet.
Many people still think there is little they can do to change their risk of developing dementia, but we now know there are a number of factors throughout life that can make a difference, including diet.Professor Kaarin Anstey • UNSW Ageing Futures Institute
Meet Professor Kaarin Anstey
Scientia Professor and Institute Director
A global authority on cognitive ageing and dementia risk
Professor Kaarin Anstey is a Scientia Professor and Director of the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute. She is a global authority on cognitive ageing and dementia risk.
Her research has helped shape much of the evidence around modifiable dementia risk factors, including the role diet plays in maintaining brain health across the lifespan.
She developed CogDRisk, a free online dementia risk assessment tool.
Importantly, reducing dementia risk isn't something we should only start thinking about in old age. The choices we make in our 30s, 40s and 50s can help support our brain health later in life.Professor Kaarin Anstey • UNSW Ageing Futures Institute
What Is the MIND Diet?
The MIND Diet combines key features of the Mediterranean and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, diets into an eating pattern designed specifically to support brain health.
It focuses on an overall healthy dietary pattern rather than any single food.
Meet the Brain Food Box
A box inspired by the MIND Diet, bringing together everyday foods that make it easier to care for your brain health.
There's no single food that will prevent dementia. What we want people to understand is that the everyday choices we make about what we eat, together with other lifestyle changes, can contribute to keeping our brains healthier as we age.Professor Kaarin Anstey • UNSW Ageing Futures Institute
Aim to Eat More Of
The MIND Diet includes foods from these key groups:
Green leafy vegetables
Spinach, kale, rocket and other leafy greens.
Other vegetables
Colourful vegetables such as beetroot, cabbage and cauliflower.
Berries
Especially blueberries and strawberries.
Nuts
Almonds, walnuts and other unsalted nuts.
Beans and legumes
Beans, lentils and chickpeas.
Whole grains
Oats, brown rice and quinoa.
Fish and poultry
Oily fish such as salmon and sardines, plus chicken and turkey.
Olive oil
Use it as your primary cooking and finishing oil.
When it comes to diet, evidence points to an overall healthy dietary pattern with plenty of vegetables, leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, legumes and berries, as well as fish and healthy fats such as olive oil. The Brain Box brings some of these foods together to show how easily people can incorporate brain-healthy choices into their everyday diet.Professor Kaarin Anstey • UNSW Ageing Futures Institute
Turning Research Into Everyday Action
Think about the overall pattern
There is no single food that will prevent dementia. Everyday food choices, together with other lifestyle changes, can contribute to keeping our brains healthier as we age.
Bring the research into everyday life
The Brain Box brings together vegetables, leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, legumes, berries, fish and olive oil to show how these foods can be incorporated into an everyday diet.
Research into dementia prevention can have the greatest impact when people can actually use it in their everyday lives. Putting this information alongside the foods people are already buying is a simple way to start a much bigger conversation about what we can all do to protect our brain health throughout life.Professor Kaarin Anstey • UNSW Ageing Futures Institute
Working Together for Brain Food Week
The UNSW Ageing Futures Institute is delighted to partner with Harris Farm Markets to help raise awareness of the important role that healthy eating plays in dementia risk reduction. Together, we can show that simple, everyday food choices can be part of a healthier future for our brains.Professor Kaarin Anstey • UNSW Ageing Futures Institute
Explore Foods From the MIND Diet
Shop vegetables, leafy greens, berries, nuts, legumes, whole grains, fish, poultry and olive oil in our Brain Food Week collection.
This article provides general information about food and brain health. It is not medical advice. Please speak with a qualified health professional about your individual circumstances.
