Diet, Pace of Biological Aging, and Risk of Dementia in the Framingham Heart Study

Objective: People who eat healthier diets are less likely to develop dementia, but the biological mechanism of this protection is not well understood. We tested the hypothesis that healthy diet protects against dementia because it slows the pace of biological aging.

Methods: We analyzed Framingham Offspring Cohort data. We included participants ≥60 years-old, free of dementia and having dietary, epigenetic, and follow-up data. We assessed healthy diet as long-term adherence to the Mediterranean-Dash Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet (MIND, over 4 visits spanning 1991-2008). We measured the pace of aging from blood DNA methylation data collected in 2005-2008 using the DunedinPACE epigenetic clock. Incident dementia and mortality were defined using study records compiled from 2005 to 2008 visit through 2018.

Results: Of n = 1,644 included participants (mean age 69.6, 54% female), n = 140 developed dementia and n = 471 died over 14 years of follow-up. Greater MIND score was associated with slower DunedinPACE and reduced risks for dementia and mortality. Slower DunedinPACE was associated with reduced risks for dementia and mortality. In mediation analysis, slower DunedinPACE accounted for 27% of the diet-dementia association and 57% of the diet-mortality association.

Interpretation: Findings suggest that slower pace of aging mediates part of the relationship of healthy diet with reduced dementia risk. Monitoring pace of aging may inform dementia prevention. However, a large fraction of the diet-dementia association remains unexplained and may reflect direct connections between diet and brain aging that do not overlap other organ systems. Investigation of brain-specific mechanisms in well-designed mediation studies is warranted. ANN NEUROL 2024;95:1069-1079.