Cardioprotective and Mental Health Benefits of the MIND Diet Combined With Forest Bathing

Summary

This randomized controlled trial aims to study the effects of the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet combined with forest bathing (FB) on reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in Chinese adults aged 50-75 years at increased risk of CVDs. The study will assess the impact of the intervention on obesity, higher cholesterol, higher blood pressure, higher triglycerides and glucose levels, stress, and negative emotional state.

The investigators hypothesize that the MIND diet combined with FB will have increased cardiac and mental health benefits in Chinese adults with elevated LDL-C compared to the MIND diet alone and routine care. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* What are the effects of the MIND diet plus FB, the MIND diet alone, and routine care on various cardiovascular risk factors and mental health indicators at 4 weeks?
* What is the sustained effect of the MIND diet plus FB, the MIND diet alone, and routine care on these cardiovascular risk factors at 12 weeks?
* How do the effects of the MIND diet plus FB, the MIND diet alone, and routine care differ when considering other individual characteristics such as demographic and lifestyle factors?

This twelve-week study will involve screening participants, obtaining their consent, and measuring various parameters such as blood pressure, lipid panel, glucose levels, waist circumference, body mass index, and dietary intake. Participants will also complete two psychometric questionnaires. Measurements will be taken at three time points: before the intervention, immediately after four weeks of intervention, and at the end of the twelve-week intervention period. Each measurement session is expected to last around 20 minutes.

Participants assigned to the MIND group will attend nutrition group counseling classes and adopt the MIND diet for twelve weeks.

Participants in the MIND plus FB group will attend nutrition group counseling classes and participate in forest bathing sessions.

Participants in the routine-care group will continue their usual activities and receive health talks and pamphlets about cardiovascular diseases.

The investigators will examine and compare the effects of the interventions on cardiovascular risk factors and mental health at 4 weeks and 12 weeks to determine if there are combined and sustained effects.

Conditions

• Elevated LDL Cholesterol

Interventions

OTHER

Mind diet intervention

These participants will receive four nutrition information sessions, 60 minutes per session, on four consecutive weekdays at the participating community centre. A 7-day sample menu will be developed and explained to the participants as a reference. A nutritionist with the help of a research assistant will conduct each session. The nutritionist-to-participant ratio for each session will be 1:10, 1:11 or 1:12. The following topics will be covered: (1) overview of the MIND diet; (2) discussion with the participants about their ability, motivation and opportunity to adopt the MIND diet; and (3) instruction on how to adopt the MIND diet and how to fill out a logbook for adherence checks.

OTHER

Mind plus FB intervention

The sessions will include four nutritional sessions about the MIND diet and four FB sessions. The participants will be instructed on the MIND diet as previously mentioned. In addition, the MIND-FB participants will undertake four 2 h FB sessions in a country park on four consecutive weekends during daytime hours. The FB sessions will take place during the day if it is sunny, cloudy or lightly raining. The distance covered on each forest visit will be 1-2 kilometres. If it is raining heavily, the session will be cancelled. The participants will gather at the entrance of the country park on the day of FB. The participants will gather at the entrance of the country park on the day of FB. An FB coach will brief the participants and begin the forest trip with a set of experiences on the forest environment. The participants will also be instructed to self-practice FB for 2h per session at weeks 8 \& 12 of the intervention.

OTHER

Usual care

Participants will receive a health talk and be given pamphlets provided by the Department of Health and/or Hospital Authority about the protective factors and risk factors of CVDs.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Tung Wah College

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Dr. Katherine Yau, Doctoral · Tung Wah College

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

50 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-03-01

Primary Completion

2027-02-28

Completion

2027-02-28

Countries

• Hong Kong

Study Locations