Association Between MIND Diet Adherence and Mortality: Insights from Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Cohorts

Background/Objectives To date, evidence regarding the protective roles of the Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is scarce. This study aims to estimate the impact of adhering to the MIND diet on the mortality in patients with and without T2DM. Subjects/Methods In this cohort study, 6887 participants (1021 patients with T2DM) from the NHANES dataset were analyzed. The exposure is the MIND diet adherence. The primary outcomes are all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) deaths. Results We documented 1087 all-cause deaths consisting of 377 CV deaths during the follow-up (median time of 10 years). Among participants with T2DM, those with a high MIND score (> 8.0, range of MIND score: 4.5–13) had a significantly lower risk of all-cause death (hazard ratio [HR] 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59, 0.96, P = 0.021) and CV death (HR 0.50, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.87, P = 0.014) compared to those with a low MIND score (≤ 8.0). In participants without T2DM, a high MIND score was associated with a significant decrease in the risk of all-cause death (HR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.70, 0.99, P < 0.001), but the association with CV death risk was not statistically significant. Conclusion This study uncovered significant associations between the MIND diet and decreased risk of all-cause and CV death in patients with T2DM. The findings highlight the potential benefits of following the MIND diet in managing and enhancing the outcomes of individuals with T2DM.