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Alzheimer disease

Eating a combination of healthy foods lowers the risk of developing Alzheimer disease

Nature Reviews Neurology volume 6, page 295 (2010)Cite this article

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Diet is one of the most important modifiable environmental risk factors in AD, and previous studies have focused on specific foods and nutrients that might be protective against this neurodegenerative disease. This approach has identified 'good' foods, but has neglected the combinatory nature of modern diets and the interactions that occur between nutrients. An alternative approach has employed dietary pattern (DP) analysis to assess the link between nutrition and cognitive decline. Following a Mediterranean diet (MeDi) can lower the risk of AD, which suggests that this combination of foods confers a protective effect. However, the MeDi is a specific and limited diet, and adherence to it is likely to be variable in multiethnic populations outside of Mediterranean countries.

A third approach derives DPs from a study's population (by statistical analysis of eating habits) and combines these data with what is known about nutrient-specific associations with a disease. Use of this method has identified DPs that have strong associations with disease risk for cancers, diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease. Yu et al. have applied this approach in the field of neurology for the first time to assess the impact of food combinations on AD risk.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Gu, Y. et al. Food combination and Alzheimer disease risk. Arch. Neurol. doi:10.1001/archneurol.2010.84

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  1. Eleanor Beal
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Beal, E. Eating a combination of healthy foods lowers the risk of developing Alzheimer disease. Nat Rev Neurol 6, 295 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2010.56

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