"Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) and Cognitive Decline "
Although it's known that plant-based foods are important
for physical health, less is known about
the relationship between plant- based foods and cognitive health.
Now in terms of preventing Alzheimer's and other forms of actual dementia,
there's data that those who consume meat, including poultry and fish,
have 2 to 3 times the risk of developing dementia
compared with vegetarians,
but what about just like day-to-day function?
Greater adherence to a more plant-based dietary pattern
was related to better performance on all cognitive
tasks researchers measured.
One possible mechanism that could have been thought
to underlie the results is body weight. I mean,
plant-based diets reduce BMI, and lower BMI has been associated
with better cognitive function, but they still found a connection
between more plants and better brain function
even after controlling for weight.
Another possible mechanism linking diet and cognition is inflammation.
That's how saturated fat impairs the memory of lab rats,
through brain inflammation. And since fiber can be
anti-inflammatory, and meat pro-inflammatory,
that may help explain some effects of plant-based diets
on health and cognition.
The saturated fat connection appears to extend to human cognition.
A systematic review and meta-analysis covering nine studies
found that increased saturated fat intake,
which is found mostly in meat, dairy, and junk,
was associated with a 40% increased risk of cognitive impairment
and nearly 90% higher risk of Alzheimer's disease.
So wait, does that mean if you put people on a low-carb diet,
it impairs their brain function? Yes, it does.
A high-fat diet not only impairs the heart but also cognitive function.
Men were randomized to just to 5 days of a high-fat,
low-carbohydrate diet, or a lower fat diet,
and on the low-carb diet cognitive tests showed
they suffered impaired attention, speed, and mood.
Again, just within days.
Conclusion: raising the level of fat in your blood not only decreased
energy production in the heart, but reduced cognition, which
suggests that a high-fat diet is detrimental to the heart and brain.
Now they were thinking the impaired energy production
may have accounted for the brain dysfunction as well,
but oral glycotoxins may also link high-fat eating with
a loss of cognitive capacity.
Glycotoxins, also known as advanced glycation end products or AGEs,
are a class of oxidant stress-promoting agents,
free radical-promoting agents implicated in diabetes and aging,
including brain injury due to Alzheimer's disease and stroke.
The development of Alzheimer's disease in the first place
is thought to involve the accumulation of these AGEs,
which encourage the formation and deposition of the two
hallmarks of Alzheimer's:
neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques in the brain,
discovered on autopsy.
But it's not just full-blown dementia. Evidence suggests
AGEs contribute to cognitive decline in general.
Dietary advanced glycation end products are associated
with a decline in memory. And since modifying the levels
of AGEs in the diet may be relatively easy,
these preliminary results suggest a simple strategy
to diminish cognitive compromise.
What are the major sources of dietary AGEs to stay away from?
Meat, cooked using high, dry heat, such as in broiling,
grilling, frying, and roasting.
From my video, "The Best Diet for Healthy Aging,"
here is the list of all the most AGE-contaminated foods.
AGEs are not only associated with getting Alzheimer's in the first place,
but also the progression of Alzheimer's disease,
as well as lower cognitive performance in general,
as tracked, interestingly enough, via skin autofluorescence.
AGE's have a natural fluorescence that you can pick up
using a special detector, enabling a simple non-invasive assessment
of advanced glycation end product accumulation in the body.
The more meat you eat, the more of the AGE skin autofluorescence
you get, which then correlates with cognitive impairment.
In fact one of these days these fluorescence scanners
may be included in routine medical check-ups.
Since meat is the main high AGE-food, it should be no surprise
that AGE skin autofluorescence measurements are
significantly lower in those eating more plant based.
So the data suggest reduction of food-derived AGEs is feasible
and may provide effective treatment strategies
for our epidemics of Alzheimer's and metabolic disease.