>Bites: June 2025 - Eating Smart for Summer
Welcome to the Summer edition of the Bites newsletter by ModifyHealth—this month, we’re serving up tips to help you feel your best all Summer and beyond. Whether you're looking to beat the bloat at poolside parties or explore the MIND Diet’s benefits for cognitive wellness, this edition is all about eating smart and living well.
Hot Tips: Beating the Bloat at Summer Backyard Parties
Summer is here, with picnics at the park, backyard- and pool- parties galore. People with IBS like to party, too, even on low-FODMAP diets! Here are some tips to help you enjoy your next gathering.
- Naturally low-FODMAP party-foods include: Deviled eggs, carrot or pepper strips, and green salad (hold the onions) are good options. Other party foods including sandwich toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and mayo, along with tortilla/potato chips, and fruit salad (stick to ½ cup, and work around the watermelon) can also be good options.
- Suns Out, Buns Out: Nothing says Summer like grilled burgers, steak, chicken, shrimp, or salmon. If you’re having a burger, skip the bun or choose a very small roll that isn't more than 1½ ounces, the size of an old school plain hamburger bun.
- B.Y.O.D. (Bring Your Own Dish): Offer to bring the potato salad or coleslaw and use limited amounts of scallions or sweet onions for allium flavor. For example, if you’re making a recipe for a potato salad that will serve 8 people, use 1 cup or less of sweet onions to make sure that one serving of the recipe is low in FODMAPs (contains not more than 2 tablespoons of onions). Other ingredients in these classic salads are already low FODMAP.
- Play it Safe: Other backyard party standards such as macaroni salads or desserts might require more substantial modification. Skip these, unless you bring your own, made with low-FODMAP pasta or flour.
- Don’t forget the drinks! Water or seltzer are the best low FODMAP options. Lightly sweetened homemade lemonade or iced tea could work (just one serving). Beer, a glass of wine, or a vodka seltzer are lower in FODMAPs than most cocktails. But alcohol is a gut irritant, so don’t overdo it.
Brain Food, Redefined: What to Know About the MIND Diet
Healthy Diet Makes a Big Difference
Dementia—nobody wants to go there! Fortunately, eating a healthy diet makes it more likely you'll have a healthy brain as you age. About 45% of dementia cases could be prevented by addressing 14 specific lifestyle risks. Healthy eating and drinking habits play a major role in 6 of the 14 risk factors: high LDL cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, and even depression.
The MIND Diet
The MIND Diet is a variation of the Mediterranean diet which was created to specifically target brain health. MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. As the name suggests, it is a mashup of the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet (DASH). People whose usual diets are closest to the MIND eating pattern have half the rate of Alzheimer’s disease. They have better cognitive functioning, larger total brain volumes, and higher memory scores. However, one study showed that changing from a regular diet to a MIND diet did not slow cognitive aging over a 3-year treatment period, which may have been too short to show benefit.
The MIND Diet takes the Mediterranean diet a step further, by recommending specific “brain-healthy” Mediterranean diet foods to include, how much, and how often. For example, the Mediterranean diet encourages eating lots of fruits and vegetables, and the MIND diet specifically recommends eating berries twice a week and eating green leafy vegetables almost every day. Any Mediterranean Diet meal, such as those available from ModifyHealth can be part of the MIND diet too!
Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month is a good time to check yourself for health habits that will help you age well. A lifetime of eating the MIND Diet is probably the best way to achieve healthy brain aging, along with all the other well-known benefits of the Mediterranean diet. You’re never too young to start!
The Specifics of the MIND Diet
Take your Mediterranean Diet to the next level! For the MIND diet, your weekly meal and snack plan should include the following specific foods:
- 3 or more servings a day of whole grains, such as brown rice, whole wheat, or quinoa.
- 1 or more servings a day of vegetables (other than green leafy), such as tomatoes, squash, carrots, peas, peppers, cabbage, potatoes, corn, green beans
- 6 or more servings a week of green leafy vegetables, such as kale, collards, spinach, or lettuce
- 5 or more servings a week of nuts
- 4 or more servings a week of “beans”, including beans, lentils, hummus, and tofu
- 2 or more servings a week of berries
- 2 or more servings a week of chicken or turkey (not fried)
- 1 or more servings a week of fish (not fried)
- Olive oil is the primary added fat
The foods listed here are just examples and many others can fit within the MIND Diet. Aim to enjoy a wide variety of whole grains, vegetables, leafy greens, and beans to support brain health.
Keep these foods to a minimum on the MIND diet:
- Pastries and sweets
- Red meat
- Cheese
- Fried foods
- Butter or margarine
- Alcohol
Special note about alcohol: Alcohol (not more than 1 glass of wine per day) was part of the MIND diet when it was originally created in 2015, but since then it’s been dropped from the diet due to safety concerns.
Don't be intimidated by these goals, the MIND Diet doesn't have to be perfect! Just do your best. Over time, the closer you are to the guidelines, the more your brain will benefit.
Source: Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, Sacks FM, Barnes LL, Bennett DA, Aggarwal NT. MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging. Alzheimers Dement. 2015 Sep;11(9):1015-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2015.04.011. Epub 2015 Jun 15. PMID: 26086182; PMCID: PMC4581900.
May Bites Survey Results: How difficult do you find it to manage your digestive health through nutrition?
Last month’s poll revealed that every respondent experiences at least some difficulty managing their digestive health through nutrition, a reminder that you're not alone in this journey! We know how frustrating it can be to navigate symptoms without clear answers, which is why ModifyHealth now offers personalized dietitian support. Covered by many insurance providers, this expert guidance is designed to help you take control of your health with more confidence and better clarity.
- Somewhat difficult – I’m still learning what helps: 75%
- Very difficult – I need more guidance: 25%
- Not very difficult – I know what works for my body: 0%
