Study reveals foods to eat to prevent Alzheimer’s

Research by the Barcelonset Brain Research Centre (BBRC)the Pascual Maragall Foundation Research Centre in collaboration with the Research Institute of the Hospital del Mar, have shown that regular consumption of foods rich in omega-3 fats may be key to preventing Alzheimer’s-related dementia..

The work is based on the analysis of 320 healthy people, but mainly descendants of individuals affected by the pathology, and therefore with a high genetic risk of its development. The results showed that these fats increased the brain’s ability to utilize glucose, which is necessary for its functioning.although the first damage associated with the disease has already occurred.

The study is based on the fact that before the clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease appear, there are already certain areas of the brain that have difficulty metabolizing glucose.”This is important because it is this organ of the body that uses it the most.”– emphasized Aleix Sala-Vila, author of the study, member of the Cardiovascular Risks and Nutrition Research Group of the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and researcher at the BBRC.

In this sense, he noted that Omega-3 promotes the proper functioning of receptors necessary for glucose uptake in the brain.. These fats are incorporated into cell membranes, which facilitates the subsequent use of glucose. For this reason, the researcher explained that “incorporating these omega-3s into the diet may be useful in making the brain resistant to the changes that occur before the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.”

The results of this work were published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment and Monitoring of Diseases.

The study was based on an analysis of 320 volunteers.

The study included data from 320 volunteers. This is a cognitively healthy population that does not have clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, but is mainly the descendants of people affected by the disease.and, therefore, with a high genetic risk of developing it.

The men were given tracer-labeled glucose to use MRI to check how it was metabolized in different areas of the brain. The levels of omega-3 in the blood were also quantified.

The beneficial effects of omega-3 in reducing the effects of diseases

The results showed that plant-based omega-3s (found in foods such as walnuts or soy, for example) were associated with better glucose use by the brain, especially in participants with a higher genetic risk (carriers of the APOE-e4 gene).

On the other hand, omega-3 of marine origin (from fatty fish) is more useful for those people who, despite the absence of symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, have already begun to accumulate proteins characteristic of the disease (amyloid and tau).

That’s why, “It is suggested that maintaining adequate levels of omega-3 in the blood can help prevent the disease, especially in people at higher risk of developing dementia. This can be achieved by including foods such as nuts and oily fish in the diet.”– the researcher concluded.