Short answer: Preliminary. Mediterranean-style diets lower CRP, a blood marker of inflammation, in trials. In cohort studies, more pro-inflammatory diets are linked to faster cognitive decline. But no trial has tested an anti-inflammatory diet on cognition, and its effect on inflammation inside the brain hasn’t been measured. Eat fish, berries, greens, olive oil and nuts; cut sugar and ultra-processed food.

An anti-inflammatory diet probably helps the brain, but the evidence is preliminary. Trials show that Mediterranean-style eating lowers inflammation markers in the blood, and cohort studies link inflammatory diets to faster cognitive decline. No trial has yet shown that eating this way protects thinking or memory.

Chronic low-grade inflammation in the brain, called neuroinflammation, is a contributor to cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease and other brain diseases. Diet is one of the main factors you can change.

What to eat

Every day:

  • Extra-virgin olive oil as your main cooking and dressing fat (3 to 4 tablespoons).
  • A large serving of leafy greens and at least two servings of colorful vegetables.
  • A serving of berries or other deeply colored fruit.
  • A handful (30 g) of nuts. Walnuts are the most anti-inflammatory choice, thanks to their plant omega-3 and polyphenols.
  • Herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger and rosemary.

Each week:

  • Fatty fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring, anchovies) at least two to three times.
  • Legumes such as lentils, chickpeas or black beans three to four times.
  • Whole grains (oats, barley, brown rice, quinoa) instead of refined grains.
  • Fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut or kimchi several times.

Cut back on:

  • Refined sugar and sweetened drinks.
  • Anything with partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats). Many countries restrict them, but they persist in some fried foods, baked goods, non-dairy creamers and imported snacks.
  • Ultra-processed foods.
  • Soybean, corn and sunflower oil for cooking; use olive or avocado oil instead.
  • Processed and red meat, to no more than one to two servings per week.

You don’t need a perfect diet. In the Women’s Health Initiative study described below, only the quarter of women with the most inflammatory diets had a higher risk of cognitive impairment. Avoiding the worst pattern may matter more than perfection.

This pattern closely mirrors the Mediterranean diet and the MIND diet. These have the most evidence for cognitive health, though much of it is observational, and both score as anti-inflammatory.

Omega-3 and omega-6. Fish, walnuts and ground flaxseed raise omega-3 intake. If you eat little fish, an EPA+DHA supplement is one option. Ask a doctor or pharmacist first. Fish oil supplements can increase bleeding risk with anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs. Doses above about 1 g a day have been linked to a higher risk of atrial fibrillation in trials.

What brain inflammation is

The brain has its own immune cells, called microglia. When they sense damage or infection, they release signaling proteins called cytokines (such as IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha) to fight it. That short response is protective. In aging and in diseases like Alzheimer’s, microglia can stay switched on and start harming nerve cells. A 2015 review (Heneka 2015) described neuroinflammation as a sustained contributor to brain degeneration, not just a side effect.

Inflammation in the body can reach the brain. Cytokines in the blood can signal across the blood-brain barrier, the filter that keeps most substances out of the brain. Chronic inflammation can also make that barrier leaky. Using MRI, Montagne 2015 showed that this barrier breaks down with age in the hippocampus, a memory center, and more so in people with mild cognitive impairment. The authors suggest it is an early event in brain aging.

The brain can also be inflamed when blood markers look normal, and the reverse. That is why blood tests are only a rough guide to what happens in the brain. For more on the biology, see our page on neuroinflammation and diet.

What the evidence shows

Pro-inflammatory diets and cognitive decline

The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) scores a diet by how its parts affect inflammation. Shivappa 2014 built it from 1,943 published articles, rating 45 food components by their effect on six inflammation markers. A higher score means a more inflammatory diet.

  • Women’s Health Initiative (Hayden 2017): In 7,085 women aged 65–79 followed for an average of 9.7 years, higher DII scores were linked to greater cognitive decline. Only the most pro-inflammatory quarter had a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia, 27 percent higher than the least inflammatory quarter. The middle groups did not differ.
  • Korea (Shin 2018): In a one-time study of 239 older adults, higher DII scores were linked to lower scores on a cognitive screening test and higher odds of cognitive impairment.

These are observational studies and can’t show that diet caused the differences.

Blood markers point the same way. Yaffe 2003 studied 3,031 older men and women. Those in the highest third of CRP or IL-6 levels were more likely to show cognitive decline over about two years than those in the lowest third.

Diet lowers inflammation markers in trials

A meta-analysis of 17 trials with 2,300 participants (Schwingshackl 2014) found that Mediterranean diets lowered high-sensitivity CRP by about 1 mg/L on average compared with control diets. They also lowered IL-6. In a trial of 180 people with metabolic syndrome (Esposito 2004), CRP and IL-6 were lower after two years of a Mediterranean-style diet than with a prudent control diet. CRP can start to fall within weeks of a lasting diet change.

The gap

No trial has tested a diet designed to lower inflammation on cognition. The closest evidence comes from Mediterranean diet trials. In PREDIMED sub-studies, a Mediterranean diet with extra olive oil gave slightly higher cognitive screening scores after 6.5 years (Martinez-Lapiscina 2013). The nut version did better on memory (Valls-Pedret 2015). Whether diet lowers inflammation inside the human brain hasn’t been measured.

Foods that may lower inflammation

Fatty fish. Fish provides the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA. EPA competes with omega-6 fats for the enzymes that make inflammatory signals, and DHA is used to make compounds that help inflammation resolve. Calder 2015 reviewed how omega-3s reduce cytokine production. In a meta-analysis of 21 cohort studies (Zhang 2016), each extra weekly serving of fish was linked to a 5 percent lower risk of dementia.

Berries. Berries are rich in anthocyanins, the pigments behind their color. In animal studies, these cross into the brain and collect in memory areas. Among 16,010 women aged 70 and over (Devore 2012), those who ate the most blueberries and strawberries had slower cognitive decline than those who ate the least. The authors estimated the gap as up to 2.5 years of cognitive aging. This is an observational finding.

Leafy greens. Spinach, kale, collards and chard provide folate, vitamin K, lutein and nitrates. In 960 older adults (Morris 2018), people in the highest fifth of intake (a median of about 1.3 servings a day) had slower cognitive decline than the lowest fifth. The difference equaled being 11 years younger. This is an observational association. Folate, with vitamins B6 and B12, helps keep homocysteine in check; high homocysteine is a risk factor for blood vessel damage and neuroinflammation.

Extra-virgin olive oil. Its polyphenols include oleocanthal and hydroxytyrosol. Beauchamp 2005 showed that oleocanthal acts much like ibuprofen, blocking the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes that make inflammatory prostaglandins. In lab and animal models, oleocanthal also increased amyloid clearance and reduced tau clumping. In PREDIMED, the olive oil group used about one liter a week.

Nuts. Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and pecans supply plant omega-3 (in walnuts), vitamin E, polyphenols and magnesium. In PREDIMED, the nut group (30 g per day) did better than the control diet on memory.

Turmeric. Its active compound, curcumin, reduces inflammatory signaling in lab and animal studies, but human evidence is limited. In a trial of 40 adults aged 51–84 without dementia (Small 2018), a well-absorbed curcumin product (90 mg twice daily) for 18 months improved memory and attention compared with placebo. Brain scans for amyloid and tau showed a difference from placebo in the hypothalamus but not the amygdala. This small trial needs replication. Plain curcumin is poorly absorbed; eating turmeric with black pepper and fat helps modestly.

Turmeric safety: turmeric used as a spice in food is not a concern. Curcumin and turmeric supplements are different: cases of liver injury have been reported, more often with high-absorption or piperine-containing products. Avoid them if you have liver disease, and ask a doctor or pharmacist first if you take blood thinners or other medication, or are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Foods that raise inflammation

Sugar and refined carbohydrates. Blood sugar spikes increase oxidative stress and the formation of advanced glycation end products, which can trigger inflammation in microglia. High sugar intake also promotes insulin resistance. In a cohort of 2,067 older adults (Crane 2013), higher blood glucose, even in people without diabetes, was linked to higher dementia risk.

Trans fats. Industrial trans fats raise IL-6, TNF-alpha and CRP and impair blood vessel function. The brain evidence is limited. Phivilay 2009 fed very high trans fat diets to mice bred to develop Alzheimer’s-like disease and found lower brain DHA, but no clear change in amyloid or tau.

Ultra-processed foods. These are industrial products such as soft drinks, packaged snacks, instant noodles and most fast food. They are usually high in sugar, refined oils, salt and additives and low in fiber and polyphenols. In animal studies, some emulsifiers disrupt the gut lining and promote gut inflammation. Gomes Gonçalves 2023 followed 10,775 Brazilian adults for a median of 8 years. People whose ultra-processed intake was above the lowest quarter had a 28 percent faster rate of overall cognitive decline. This is an observational association.

Too much omega-6. Omega-6 fats from soybean, corn, sunflower and safflower oil are essential in moderate amounts. Simopoulos estimated that modern Western diets have omega-6 to omega-3 ratios of about 15:1 to 20:1, versus an estimated 1:1 in human evolution. Simopoulos 2002 argued that lowering the ratio is an important way to reduce chronic inflammatory disease, and a ratio of 4:1 or lower has been proposed as a target. This view is debated. Trials that lowered omega-6 intake have not shown clear benefits, and most nutrition bodies focus on raising omega-3 rather than cutting omega-6.

The gut connection

About 70 percent of the body’s immune tissue sits in the gut. A low-fiber, high-sugar diet can damage the gut lining and let bacterial toxins such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into the blood, where they trigger inflammation. Zhan 2016 found higher LPS levels in brain tissue from 24 people with Alzheimer’s than in 18 people of similar age without it.

Fiber feeds gut bacteria that make short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate. In laboratory and animal studies, butyrate strengthens the gut lining, calms immune cells and reaches the brain. In the NU-AGE study of 612 older European adults (Ghosh 2020), one year of a Mediterranean-style diet was linked to gut microbiome changes. The bacteria that increased were associated with lower frailty, better cognitive function, lower inflammatory markers and more predicted short-chain fatty acid production. Whether these changes reduce inflammation in the brain isn’t yet known.

Should you test your inflammation?

Inflammation inside the brain can only be measured with specialized PET scans. A high-sensitivity CRP blood test is an inexpensive, widely available test of inflammation in the body. Values below 1.0 mg/L are considered low risk, 1.0 to 3.0 mg/L moderate, and above 3.0 mg/L high. CRP also rises with infections and other illness, so discuss with your doctor whether testing makes sense for you.

The Omega-3 Index measures EPA and DHA as a share of red blood cell fats. A level of 8 percent or higher has been proposed as a target linked to lower cardiovascular risk, and many Western adults score well below it.

Frequently asked questions

Can supplements replace an anti-inflammatory diet?

No. Omega-3 fish oil, curcumin and vitamin D have shown anti-inflammatory effects in clinical trials. But they can’t replicate a whole diet, which works through many compounds, fewer inflammatory foods and changes to gut bacteria. Supplements can fill gaps, such as omega-3 for people who don’t eat fish. All of them can interact with medicines, so ask a doctor or pharmacist first, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, take medication or have a health condition. Fish oil can increase bleeding risk with blood thinners, and curcumin supplements have been linked to liver injury. The adult upper limit for vitamin D is 4,000 IU a day; current Endocrine Society guidance (2024) advises against routine vitamin D testing and high doses in healthy adults.

Does an anti-inflammatory diet help with depression?

There is some evidence, mostly for omega-3s. A meta-analysis of 26 trials with 2,160 participants (Liao 2019) found a small overall benefit of omega-3 supplements on depressive symptoms. The benefit was seen with EPA-predominant formulas (at least 60 percent EPA) at doses of 1 g a day or less, and not with DHA-predominant formulas. In the HELFIMED trial (Parletta 2019), 152 adults with self-reported depression got Mediterranean-diet food hampers, cooking workshops and fish oil. Their depression scores fell more at 3 months than in a social-group control. Diet is not a substitute for depression treatment: discuss changes with your doctor or care team, and don’t stop or reduce antidepressants on your own.

Is an anti-inflammatory diet the same as the Mediterranean diet?

They overlap heavily. The Mediterranean diet is one regional pattern and scores as one of the most anti-inflammatory. Traditional Japanese, Nordic and some plant-forward diets also score as strongly anti-inflammatory. The shared principle is more omega-3 fats, polyphenols, fiber and whole foods, with less processed food, sugar and excess omega-6.

What about alcohol?

Some observational studies link light red wine drinking to lower inflammation, probably through its polyphenols. But even moderate drinking activates inflammatory pathways in the brain, and heavier drinking is clearly harmful. You can get the same polyphenols from berries and grapes. If you don’t drink, there is no reason to start.

Sources

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