People who consumed foods from the plant-based Mediterranean and brain-focused MIND diets had fewer of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer's — sticky beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain when autopsied, a new study found. The MIND diet is short for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.

In fact, people who most closely followed either of the diets had "almost 40% lower odds" of having enough plaques and tangles in brain tissue to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's, according to the study. "People who scored highest for adhering to the Mediterranean diet had average plaque and tangle amounts in their brains similar to being 18 years younger than people who scored lowest," according to a statement on the study.