A lot of healthy diets are considered to be just as good for your brain as they are for your body. But one in particular, which is usually recommended for lowering blood pressure, may be particularly good when it comes to protecting your cognitive function, a recent study suggests.
An international team of researchers looked at data from the two Nurses’ Health Studies, conducted from 1986 to 2017, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, conducted from 1986 to 2012. That means they had data on diet and brain health from almost 160,000 adults, according to the report published in February 2026 in the journal JAMA Neurology.
They found six relatively healthy eating patterns were associated with a lower chance of participants self-reporting symptoms of cognitive decline. But one in particular showed the biggest effect: the DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. In the study, the people who followed the DASH diet most closely had a 41 percent lower risk of experiencing cognitive decline than people who didn’t follow the diet very closely.
This wasn’t completely surprising to the researchers. “The DASH diet’s emphasis on vegetables, nuts and whole grains while limiting sodium and sugar has been linked to lower blood pressure, and hypertension is a recognized risk factor for dementia,” said study author Kjetil Bjornevik, assistant professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “The diet is also rich in antioxidants and other nutrients that may benefit brain health.”
Although not one of the diets compared in this study, there’s an additional brain-healthy diet you might want to consider. A March 2026 study of 1,647 middle-aged and older individuals found that greater adherence to the MIND diet — a combination of the DASH diet and the popular, health-promoting Mediterranean diet — was associated with a slower decline in total gray matter volume in the brain, suggesting the diet might actually help delay structural brain aging.
One of the biggest differences between DASH and MIND is that the latter adds daily and weekly recommendations for certain foods, including vegetables, berries, nuts, seeds, beans and seafood.
Other research suggests the most adherent MIND diet followers may have a 53 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than people who don’t stick to this plan.
What the studies tell us about diet and brain health
While some of the dietary patterns included in the JAMA Neurology study were created for specific reasons — such as to control blood sugar, blood pressure or inflammation — they seem to convey benefits to the brain, too, underscoring the holistic health benefits of nutritious eating patterns.
“This reinforces the idea that sustained, overall diet quality — and the cardiovascular health it supports — may be foundational to preserving brain health over time,” said Jazba Soomro, a vascular and interventional neurologist at Memorial Hermann Mischer Neuroscience Associates in Humble, Texas.
Although the DASH diet was associated with the biggest cognitive benefit, the other eating patterns also had positive effects. Participants who followed those other eating plans were 11 to 35 percent less likely to report cognitive decline than those who didn’t follow the same eating patterns as rigorously, although the study was observational, meaning it can’t prove a causal link between the two.
“What was encouraging was the consistency across different dietary patterns,” said Bjornevik, “which suggests that there is not just one right approach and that different dietary strategies can have beneficial effects on cognitive health.”
“What is good for the heart is good for the brain,” Soomro added. “It means less damage to small cerebral blood vessels, which leads to better long-term cognitive reserves.”
Why the DASH diet stands out
As Bjornevik mentioned, DASH focuses on produce, whole grains and lean proteins, while limiting sodium, sugar and saturated fat. It was developed almost 30 years ago by researchers funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. At the time, research showed adopting this style of eating lowered blood pressure and sometimes also cholesterol compared with people who continued eating a more typical American diet. High blood pressure and high cholesterol are both risk factors for heart disease.
Since then, additional benefits of the DASH diet have emerged. For example, it’s linked with improvements in asthma symptoms and a lower likelihood of kidney stones. It’s also been tied to cognitive benefits in smaller studies and more preliminary research, and it frequently ranks highly on lists of the best diets from outlets such as U.S. News & World Report.
“The diet is also associated with lower levels of inflammation, which plays a significant role in cognitive impairment,” said Christopher Weber, senior director of global science initiatives at the Alzheimer’s Association.
In the JAMA Neurology study, the people who stuck closest to this diet had the lowest risk of cognitive decline, particularly if they were following the DASH plan between ages 45 and 54. These participants also scored highest on telephone-based cognitive assessments.
“Although cognitive decline typically manifests late in life, the underlying changes in the brain can begin more than 20 years before any symptoms become noticeable. This means that midlife represents a critical window for modifiable risk factors that influence late-life cognitive health,” Bjornevik said. “Conditions like hypertension and diabetes also tend to develop during this period, and addressing them early through diet may help protect the brain before irreversible damage occurs.”
The DASH diet also calls for lowering sodium and boosting potassium, calcium and magnesium, which can help lower blood pressure. For example, the sodium target on the DASH diet is no more than 2,300 mg daily (about one teaspoon). The potassium target is 4,700 mg daily, which you can get from foods like a baked potato (with the skin), bananas and salmon.
How to change your eating habits to support cognitive health
Bjornevik said you don’t need to completely change your eating habits overnight. “Rather than overhauling your entire diet, focus on gradually shifting toward more vegetables, fish and whole grains while reducing processed meats and sugary beverages,” he said. “Small, sustainable changes over time are more realistic and more likely to stick.”
These small changes can be as simple as snacking on a handful of nuts instead of a processed option like pretzels, Soomro says. If you’re following the DASH plan, you should also aim to limit alcohol(because it raises blood pressure), sugary drinks and foods high in saturated fats. And while it’s primarily a style of eating, DASH suggests exercising for at least 30 minutes most days of the week, too.
Keeping a specific health goal in mind, such as supporting your brain health or lowering your blood pressure, can help you stay motivated to stick with these changes. “Tailoring your food choices to that goal makes the transition easier and more meaningful,” Soomro said.
However you choose to make small adjustments, know you’re doing your future self a favor. “What we put on our plates in our 40s and 50s can meaningfully influence our cognitive health decades later,” Weber said. “These findings are encouraging; however, more research is needed to clarify and understand how and when dietary interventions are most effective.”
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