Abstract
The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet aims to reduce dementia and the decline in brain health that often occurs as people get older. Loss of muscle strength (sarcopenia) is a geriatric syndrome that has associated with the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. The current study aimed to investigate the association between adherence to MIND diet and decrease the risk of age-associated poor muscle strength. This cross-sectional study was performed using data from Ravansar's non-communicable diseases (RaNCD) cohort study on 3181 adults (48.5% men) aged 35–65 years. The dietary intake of the studied participants was assessed by the use of a 114-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) developed by RaNCD cohort study. The MIND diet and the major dietary patterns were computed based on their dietary intake and three dietary patterns were identified including plant-based diet, high protein diet, and unhealthy diet. Hand grip strength (HGS) was measured using a hand-held hydraulic handgrip dynamometer and poor HGS was defined as HGS less than 32.8 and 20.5 kg in men and women, respectively. We found that greater adherence to MIND diet was associated with lower risk of poor HGS (OR: 0.65; CI 95%: 0.51-0.83). Furthermore, participants who were in third tertiles of plant- based and high protein diet were more likely 37% and 33% lower risk of poor HGS (OR: 0.63; CI 95%: 0.5-0.79), (OR: 0.67; CI 95%: 0.54-0.84), respectively. On the other hand, greater following to unhealthy diet was related to higher risk of poor HGS (OR: 1.39; CI 95%: 1.11-1.74). Overall, our findings provide that adhere to plant- based and high protein diet, as well as MIND diet had protective effects on age related poor HGS, while adherence to unhealthy diet can developed age related poor HGS.