Researchers studying diet and brain health have increasingly converged on a specific eating pattern known as the MIND diet, an approach developed by Rush University Medical Center and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health that combines elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets specifically to target brain function and slow cognitive decline. A landmark study from Rush University found that people who most closely followed the eating pattern reduced their risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 53%, while even moderate adherence was associated with a 35% reduction, according to research on the diet.

Sandra Darling, a preventive medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, said the diet’s foundation in clinical research is what sets it apart from many other popular eating trends. “The MIND diet is one that I focus on because it has been shown in research studies to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” Darling said.

The diet centers on 10 food groups researchers have identified as offering the strongest evidence for supporting brain health, generally by helping reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, both of which are closely linked to cognitive decline. Here are 10 of those foods.

1. Leafy green vegetables. Spinach, kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, arugula and romaine lettuce top the MIND diet’s recommendations, with researchers generally suggesting at least six servings per week. These vegetables deliver folate, vitamin K, lutein and beta-carotene, nutrients linked to slower cognitive decline in multiple studies.

2. Berries. Among all fruits studied, berries carry the strongest evidence specifically tied to brain health benefits, which is why the MIND diet emphasizes berries specifically rather than fruit consumption more broadly. Blueberries in particular have drawn significant research attention for their concentration of protective plant compounds called flavonoids.

3. Fatty fish. Salmon, tuna and mackerel contain some of the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids found in food, including a specific form called docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, which researchers believe may be especially protective for brain health. A 2023 systematic review found that higher dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids was linked to a lower risk of dementia and cognitive decline, with DHA showing some of the strongest protective associations.

4. Nuts. Walnuts, along with seeds such as ground flax, chia and pumpkin seeds, are recommended at least five times per week under the MIND diet’s guidelines. These foods provide healthy fats, fiber and vitamin E, a nutrient researchers have studied for its potential antioxidant effects on brain tissue.

5. Beans and legumes. Beans, lentils and other legumes provide plant-based protein and fiber while offering an alternative to red meat, which the MIND diet recommends limiting. These foods also contribute folate and other B vitamins associated with cognitive function.

6. Whole grains. Foods such as oats, brown rice and whole-wheat products supply fiber and steady energy while avoiding the blood sugar spikes associated with refined carbohydrates, which some nutrition experts have linked to increased dementia risk through their effects on insulin regulation and inflammation.

7. Olive oil. As the diet’s primary recommended source of added fat, olive oil replaces butter and other saturated fats in the MIND diet’s framework. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats and polyphenols, compounds researchers believe may help protect brain cells from oxidative damage over time.

8. Poultry. The MIND diet favors lean poultry over red meat as a primary protein source, generally recommending consumption at least twice a week. This substitution reflects broader dietary research linking excessive red meat consumption to increased inflammation and potentially higher dementia risk.

9. Wine, in moderation. Some versions of the MIND diet include an optional, moderate allowance for wine, generally limited to one glass per day, reflecting research on polyphenols found in red wine specifically. Nutrition experts emphasize that this component remains optional and is not a recommendation to begin drinking alcohol for health purposes.

10. Vegetables more broadly. Beyond leafy greens specifically, the MIND diet recommends at least one additional serving of non-leafy vegetables daily, providing a broader range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidant compounds that contribute to overall dietary quality and brain health.

Beyond identifying beneficial foods, the MIND diet also specifies five categories nutrition experts recommend limiting: red meat, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food. Lauren Ptomey, a registered dietitian and associate professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center, said the foods emphasized by the diet provide brain-boosting omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids alongside broader anti-inflammatory benefits.

A 2026 study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, examining more than 1,600 participants in the long-running Framingham Heart Study, found that higher adherence to the MIND diet was associated with slower structural brain aging over a 12-year period, adding to the growing body of longitudinal evidence supporting the eating pattern’s potential neuroprotective effects.

Registered dietitian Lauren Harris-Pincus, who was not involved in research presented at the 2025 annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, described the diet’s distinct focus within the broader landscape of nutrition science. “The MIND diet is unique as the first eating plan focused on foods to specifically improve and support cognitive health,” Harris-Pincus told Fox News Digital.

Nutrition experts caution that no diet can guarantee prevention of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, and that following the MIND diet represents one modifiable factor among many that influence long-term brain health, including genetics, physical activity, sleep quality and cardiovascular health. Because dementia risk and nutritional needs vary significantly by individual, particularly for people with existing health conditions or a family history of Alzheimer’s disease, medical experts generally recommend that people consult a doctor or registered dietitian before making significant dietary changes intended to address cognitive health concerns, rather than relying solely on general nutrition guidance.

The fact that more than $1.2 million in combined reward money remains unclaimed nearly six months after the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie suggests that whoever was involved likely came from a small, tightly bound group, according to a retired FBI negotiator closely following the case.

Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood on the morning of Feb. 1. Jason Pack, a retired FBI supervisory agent and negotiator who spent 21 years with the bureau, 11 of them as a negotiator, said the untouched reward money speaks directly to the nature of whoever may have been involved. “That tells me the circle who knows is very small, and whoever is in it is bound by something stronger than money: blood, fear, shared exposure,” Pack said. “Those bonds hold. Until they don’t.”

Pack said the psychology behind unclaimed reward money in cases like this is well established. The more people who possess knowledge of a crime, he explained, the more likely it becomes that someone eventually comes forward to claim the payout. With 179 days having passed since Guthrie’s suspected abduction without a single claim on the reward, Pack said that absence itself functions as a meaningful investigative clue rather than a dead end. “Money like that usually pulls somebody loose from almost any group,” Pack told Fox News Digital. “It hasn’t.”

Rather than viewing the lack of a claim as discouraging, Pack said his experience investigating similar cases suggests these situations often eventually break open unexpectedly. “In my experience, a meaningful share of cases like this break sideways,” he said. “Somebody gets arrested for something unrelated and starts talking. A relationship ends badly. Somebody’s conscience finally outruns their fear. Six months is a long time to hold something this heavy, and the people around whoever did this have had six months to notice the change in them.”

Pack also offered an assessment of how the crime itself appears to have unfolded based on publicly known details. At least one suspect is believed to have cased Guthrie’s home in advance of the abduction. Whoever entered the property wore a ski mask, long sleeves and gloves, and deliberately covered the lens of Guthrie’s Nest doorbell camera, which investigators found missing when they arrived at the scene the following day. Pack said the overall pattern of evidence suggests an operation that went wrong quickly and was never adequately planned for that possibility. “When it went wrong, and I believe it went wrong fast, they had no plan for that either,” he said. “Everything since reads to me like improvising around a failure, not professionals executing a plan.”

Guthrie relies on heart medication and has a pacemaker, along with limited mobility, according to details about her health that have been shared publicly since her disappearance. Pack emphasized the human stakes behind the ongoing investigation. “She had dinner with her family on a Saturday night, went home, and never made it to church the next morning,” Pack said. “That’s who we’re talking about. Not a case number. A mother who was supposed to be at church.”

Despite the mistakes Pack believes the suspects made during the crime, he said that does not mean the broader investigation has stalled. Pack offered specific guidance for residents in the neighborhoods surrounding Guthrie’s home who may hold relevant, unreviewed evidence. “Go back and check your own cameras from that time period. Doorbell, security, dashcam,” he said. “A lot of systems archive further back than people realize. If you drove through the area that night, pull your dashcam files.” He added that people who witnessed something suspicious but lack video evidence should still come forward. “And think about the people in your own life. Somebody who left town. Somebody whose behavior turned in February and never turned back,” he said. “You don’t have to be sure. That’s not your job. Sorting it out is [the investigators’ job].”

A source with knowledge of the investigation told Fox News Digital in May that the FBI was incorporating new technology into its ongoing work on the case. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, whose department remains the lead agency on the investigation, reiterated his confidence that the case will ultimately be resolved during a recent interview that aired on “Today.” “We have so much DNA to sort through,” Nanos said. “We have so much, in terms of video evidence, to look at.”

Pack noted that investigators have likely developed significant insight from forensic evidence gathered over the past six months that has not yet been made public. Drawing on his own experience with long-running cases, he said extended timelines do not necessarily signal that a case will remain unsolved. “I’ve watched cases break in month eight, month 14, month 30,” Pack said. “Most every one of those families had stopped believing it was ever coming.”

Authorities continue to ask anyone with information related to Guthrie’s disappearance to contact the FBI directly at 1-800-CALL-FBI. A separate anonymous tip line, reachable at 520-88-CRIME, remains active for residents who wish to provide information that could lead to an arrest in the case while maintaining their anonymity.

The parent company of Taco Bell released its quarterly earnings report on Thursday and said that Taco Bell sales fell amid the cyclospora outbreak, though there were early signs of recovery in the last week.

Yum Brands – which operates fast-food chains like KFC and Pizza Hut as well as Taco Bell – said the Mexican-style chain’s sales were down 2% quarter to date through July 27.

“Since the U.S. food safety industry issue became front and center only two weeks ago, we saw maximum impact to sales over the weekend of July 18,” Yum Brands CFO Ranjith Roy said on the company’s quarterly earnings call.

“It is early days, but in the subsequent week, sales declines have moderated materially, and we are seeing steady improvement in day-over-day sales trends,” Roy added.

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Taco Bell’s sales dipped following the cyclospora outbreak, but have shown signs of recovery in the last week. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Roy went on to say in response to an analyst’s question that “if you take the average sales for the last four days, which includes the weekend and the first two days of this week, we are halfway back to sales levels of the prior year.”

The cyclospora outbreak is under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with state and local partners. It has been linked to iceberg lettuce that was sourced from central Mexico through Taylor Farms de Mexico.

Taylor Farms’ U.S. business initiated a voluntary recall that also included iceberg lettuce sold under the Taylor Fresh Foods and Marketside brands. The company has noted that the FDA hasn’t identified a single positive product test result for cyclospora after a false positive was reported by the agency.

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Cyclospora cases with exposure to Taco Bell have been reported in nine states, including Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Yum Brands CEO Christopher Turner said that “our top priority is, and always will be, the safety and well-being of our consumers. With respect to the consumer sentiment, though, we’ve seen real improvement as consumers have understood better the nature of the issue and they understand that it is not a Taco Bell-specific issue.”

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Taco Bell removed potentially affected lettuce from a supplier after the FDA linked it to a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Turner added that there’s “been no change in our measures of brand love” and that some of those metrics have seen growth in positivity, while Taco Bell’s share of the conversation around food safety has declined.

“The best proof point is that consumers are coming back to the restaurants on a steady basis. We’ve seen steady improvement in those sales trends,” he said, noting that the chain’s Tuesday release of a Mexican pizza special drove the most transactions and loyalty acquisitions of any Taco Bell Tuesday drop.

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“There is no brand and no team better equipped to drive a recovery in this temporary sales impact than Taco Bell,” he added.

Publix is recalling all lots of its GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries and Whole Mixed Berries sold across eight states over concerns they may be contaminated with E. coli, expanding an earlier recall tied to a single lot of frozen blueberries.

The Lakeland, Florida-based grocery chain said Wednesday it is voluntarily recalling all lots of the frozen fruit products “out of an abundance of caution” after public health officials’ trace back and epidemiological investigation linked them to a multistate E. coli O145 outbreak.

The recalled products were distributed to Publix stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. 

The company said it implemented an internal stop sale at the end of June, and the products remain unavailable for purchase.

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A package of Publix GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries is shown. Publix recalled all lots of its GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries and Whole Mixed Berries over potential E. coli O145 contamination. (FDA / Unknown)

The expanded recall follows a July 3 recall by Chilean supplier Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. involving a single lot of GreenWise Organic Blueberries. Publix said it broadened the recall to include all lots of GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries and Whole Mixed Berries based on information gathered during the ongoing public health investigation.

Customers are being urged not to consume the recalled products and should either throw them away or return them to any Publix store for a full refund. The affected products are GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries in 10-ounce packages (UPC 41415-06453) and 48-ounce packages (UPC 41415-12053), along with GreenWise Organic Whole Mixed Berries in 10-ounce packages (UPC 41415-06753) and 48-ounce packages (UPC 41415-12153).

According to the Food and Drug Administration, Escherichia coli O145:H28 is a Shiga toxin-producing strain of E. coli that can cause severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that may be bloody and vomiting. While most healthy people recover within about a week, some infections can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially serious complication that is more likely to affect young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

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A package of Publix GreenWise Organic Whole Mixed Berries is shown. The retailer expanded its recall to all lots of the frozen berry products following a public health investigation into a multistate E. coli outbreak. (FDA / Unknown)

FOX Business reached out to Publix for additional comment, including whether any illnesses have been linked to products sold at its stores and what prompted the company to expand the recall to all lots. Publix did not immediately respond.

The entrance to a Publix Super Market on July 30, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Customers with questions can contact Publix Customer Care at (800) 242-1227 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. Additional information about the outbreak investigation is available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Publix, the largest employee-owned company in the U.S., operates more than 1,400 stores across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.