Associations between cognitive performance and Mediterranean dietary pattern in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus has been associated with impaired cognitive performance, particularly in verbal memory. Mediterranean diets (MedD) may lead to improvements in overall and single cognitive functions. We hypothesised that adherence to MedD associates with better performance in verbal memory in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Thus, we performed a cross-sectional analysis including patients with recently diagnosed type 1 (n=75) or type 2 diabetes (n=118), metabolically healthy individuals (n=41) and individuals with type 1 (n=44) or type 2 diabetes (n=62) of at least five years after diagnosis. Participants underwent comprehensive metabolic phenotyping and cognitive testing. Adherence to the Modified Mediterranean diet scale (MMDS) was computed from a food frequency questionnaire. Among patients with type 2 diabetes with a known diabetes duration ≥5 years, closer adherence to the MMDS was associated with higher score in verbal memory after adjustment for potential confounders (P=0.043). Adherence to the MMDS did not relate to verbal memory in recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes (P=0.275), recently diagnosed or longer-standing type 1 diabetes (P=0.215 and P=0.626, respectively) or metabolically healthy individuals (P=0.666). In conclusion, closer adherence to MedD may exert beneficial effects on cognitive performance in the course of type 2 diabetes.

Theresa Kössler, Katharina S. Weber, Wolfgang Wölwer, Annika Hoyer, Klaus Strassburger, Volker Burkart, Julia Szendroedi, Michael Roden, Karsten Müssig