Whole dietary patterns to optimize cognitive function for military mission-readiness: a systematic review and recommendations for the field.

CONTEXT

Optimizing cognitive performance, particularly during times of high stress, is a prerequisite to mission-readiness among military personnel. It has been of interest to determine whether such performance could be enhanced through diet.

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review assesses the quality of the evidence for whole dietary patterns across various outcomes related to cognitive function in healthy adult populations to develop research recommendations for the military.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane Library were searched.

STUDY SELECTION

Peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials published in the English language were eligible.

DATA EXTRACTION

Fifteen included trials were assessed for methodological quality, and descriptive data were extracted.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Of the 6 acceptable-quality studies, 1 demonstrated statistically nonsignificant results, whereas the other 5 showed conflicting results across the cognitive outcomes assessed.

CONCLUSIONS

Due to the heterogeneity across the included studies, no recommendations could be reached concerning whether certain whole dietary patterns have an effect on cognitive outcomes in healthy populations. Specific recommendations for future research are offered.

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