A modified Mediterranean ketogenic diet may improve brain health

Important points:

• A modified Mediterranean ketogenic diet may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
• Researchers say the findings provide important insight into how diet can improve brain health.

A modified Mediterranean ketogenic diet was associated with alterations in Alzheimer’s disease-associated biological pathways in older adults with mild cognitive impairment, according to the results of a study published in . Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

For the ketogenic diet, Emerging as a leading candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease Due to its known protective effects against seizures and metabolic disorders, Amanda Hazel Dillmore It was written by a doctoral student and a colleague in Rob Knight’s lab at the University of California, San Diego.

“The ketogenic diet improves mitochondrial function and brain bioenergetics, enhances autophagy, and has the ability to reduce oxidative stress, making it a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease,” they wrote. It also reduces neuronal hyperexcitability, leading to improved regulation of amyloid and tau, demonstrating potential use in cognitive disorders.”

Dillmore and colleagues added that the gut microbiota is important in ketogenic diet-mediated protection against stroke and regulation of bile acids, a key factor in cholesterol metabolism. , was a catalyst for the analysis of gut microbiota and metabolites associated with cognitive status following a ketogenic diet intervention compared to a low-fat diet intervention.

“A better understanding of this complex relationship between diet, cognitive state and gut health is Prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Suzanne Kraft Professor of Geriatrics and Geriatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine said in a press release:

Researchers placed 20 prediabetic adults with normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) on a high-fat modified Mediterranean ketogenic diet (MMKD) or a low-fat American Heart Association diet for 6 weeks. assigned randomly. After a six-week washout period, the participant began a replacement diet.To analyze changes in the gut microbiota and metabolome, researchers collected stool samples at his five time points throughout the intervention. bottom.

Dilmore, Craft and colleagues found that MMKD may help older adults with MCI by modulating GABA levels and intestinal transit time.

“Overall, our investigation showed that controlled dietary changes lead to widespread changes in the microbiome and metabolome over time,” they wrote.

More specifically, researchers found that people with MCI in MMKD had lower levels of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA and GABA-producing microorganisms. They also had higher levels of GABA-modulating microbes, especially her low levels of GABA associated with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our study is the first to show that diet modulates GABA differently in MCI,” Craft said in a release.

The researchers also noted that patients with MCI who also consumed curcumin in their diet had altered bile acid pools and decreased levels of microbes, including bile acid hydrolases, suggesting that intestinal motility could be affected. suggests that is declining.

“The gut microbiota is known to regulate bile acid pools. It may alleviate dysregulation of cholesterol metabolism.

Dilmore, Craft, and colleagues acknowledged the study’s limitations due to the small sample size and “relatively short intervention duration,” but acknowledged the importance of the results.

“These findings provide important insight into how diet affects the microbiome and improves brain health,” Kraft said in a release. Larger studies are needed to assess the role that dietary interventions play.”

References:

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