Alzhimer's and LC

[mike_d]

Recent animal model study indicates reversal:

http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=5146

Yet another 20th Century chronic condition bites the dust?

[Dodger]

The news article doesn't give much information, but it sounds more like calorie restriction than low carb. beta-amyloid peptides in the brain can be reduced by subjecting the mice to dietary caloric restriction, primarily based on low-carbohydrate food. Conversely, a high-caloric intake based on saturated fat was shown to increase levels of beta-amyloid peptides.The high-calorie diet seemed also to be low carb.

[paleowoman]

Does anyone have access to the actual study? I couldn't find it on the link mentioned in the blog. I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the high calorie diet was low-carb as well. I also would like to see what they used for "saturated fat" ie was it hydrogenated fat? Also, who says mouse brains behave like human brains? Thoughts?

[mike_d]

Humm ... I remember 1st hearing a blurb on FOX news a couple of months back when on vacation, its in peer review and prob not out yet:This study will appear in the July 2006 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.Keep in mind a common denominator for people who reach 100+ is a low fasting insulin level. Studies have shown insulin to be the/an aging hormone and even CR can lower it.

I am also checking some studies related to low-carb and postpartum deperssion, that's most likely related to an EFA deficiency though?

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=295172

[Whoa182]

I think it was Beef tallow or Lard they used for these mice... The reason why The high calorie diet did nothing is because it never activated a protein called SIRT1.

who says mouse brains behave like human brains? Thoughts?

Plants, animals, mammals all have SIR or SIRTUIN genes. The effect is pretty universal. So when you activate these you gain some protection no matter if your diet is high fat, high carb or whatever. For example, they could have showed that high carb increases the risk of AD, but high carb low cal decreases the risk. (proven already).

OR you could find another way to stimulate the protein and eat whatever you like :lol: almost... Read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir2

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the high calorie diet was low-carb as well.

But it was, hence why they said "PRIMARILY saturated fat" - so it isn't jumping to conclusions. Infact, it was the conclusion. High calorie is no good, regardless of your macronutrient ratio, unless you have ALS.

The study was about CR, they lowered calories by specifically reducing carbohydrates to achieve the 30% reduction. The protection was not achieved with the low carb high calorie diet because the starvation response was not induced.

You find Sirtuin promoters in PLANTS ONLY as far as I am aware. So eat your vegetables. Or eat less (most of you probably are anyway)

[Whoa182]

This might interest you

Wine molecule slows aging process:
Scientists drink to that
By William J. Cromie
Harvard News Office

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/09.18/12-antiaging.html

A molecule that is an active ingredient in red wine can slow the aging of human cells. It extends the life expectancy of every organism that, so far, has been fed on it, including yeast, worms, and fruit flies.

Called resveratrol, the wonder substance seems to work in the same way as does drastic calorie cutting. Dramatic reduction of calories has been shown to increase the life span of mice, rats, and monkeys. Such diets are being tried in humans but results are not yet in. Severe dieting also cuts the risk of dying from cancer, heart problems, and other age-related diseases in monkeys.

If resveratrol and related molecules are found to work as well in humans, we could gain extra years of healthy life without starving for them. We could have our cake and eat it, too.

"The discovery brings closer a time when a drug that extends life and prevents many diseases of aging becomes a reality," says David Sinclair who leads the research at Harvard Medical School. "I'm not a doctor so I can't speculate on how much wine to drink, but I've increased my consumption since we made the discovery."

Physicians recommend a glass or two of red wine a day as part of a heart-healthy diet. No one would advise nondrinkers to starting gulping red wine until better information about its anti-aging effect becomes available.

Eureka moment

Sinclair, 34, and his colleagues have been working on a marvelous protein called SIR2, which allows yeast cells to survive a startling 70 percent longer than normal. The same kind of metabolic trick in humans would extend our average life span to about 136 years. Humans are far more complex than yeast, but they have a similar protein, called SIRT1. All animals, in fact, boast copies of SIRT1, which Sinclair and others believe mimes the function of yeast SIR2.

With the help of Konrad Howitz and other colleagues from BIOMOL Research Laboratories in Plymouth Meeting, Penn., the Harvard researchers screened libraries of molecules for those that would activate SIRT1. They found 17 of them, most of which come from plants. When they fed them to human cells, they were overjoyed to discover that resveratrol extended the cells' survival by turning on SIRT1.

The next step - Sinclair calls it working backward - was to confirm the finding in yeast cells. He admits to "being skeptical that resveratrol would extend their life span."

One of the lab assistants set up two Petri dishes where yeast cells could grow, one with resveratrol and one without. Sinclair did not know which was which while he worked on them. "I soon saw some of the cells living much, much longer than the others," Sinclair relates. "I didn't know if those were the ones that had the molecule. The uncertainty was killing me, so I sneaked into the lab and looked at the hidden labels. Lo and behold! The cells that were living longer were those on reservatrol. That was my 'Eureka!' moment, the highlight of my career."

Cancer prevention

Sinclair and his team have begun testing improved varieties of resveratrol and its sister molecules in human cells. If things continue to go well, they will try them in rodents, then eventually in humans.

Molecules like resveratrol regulate other proteins, most of which still need to be identified. One of the known proteins, called p53, interferes with the natural process of cell death. Others are believed to be involved in repairing damage to DNA, the stuff of genes.

"We suspect that p53 is just the tip of the iceberg, that lots of other defenses are activated by these molecules through interactions with SIR2 and SIRT1," Sinclair explains. "These interactions keep cells alive longer and buy more time for their DNA damage to be repaired."

Changes in gene structure as people age can lead to cancer and diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Activation of defenses against these mutations may be the reason why animals fed resveratrol-type molecules live longer. Other researchers have found evidence that resveratrol can prevent cancer in mice, and Sinclair's group plans to check that out.

This family of molecules is produced by plants in response to mild stress, such as not enough water. "The final piece of the puzzle," notes Sinclair, "is that reducing calories provides the same type of stress."

This activation of molecular defenses is not unlike a vaccine. Vaccinations introduce bits of viruses or bacteria into the body, not enough to cause a disease but enough to prod your immune system into building defenses against it.

There are still many questions to be answered about how anti-aging molecules and severe calorie restriction work to extend life. Then there's the bigger question of whether they will work in humans. If the molecules allow us to live a longer, healthier life, producing them should be relatively easy and inexpensive. They could be purified from plants or made artificially in large amounts.
"Before that happens, many problems need to be solved," Sinclair admits. "And we will celebrate each new solution with a glass of red wine."

[paleowoman]

Thanks for the fascinating info Whoa182. I still do not understand why saturated fat is getting the blame when it appears that excess calories of any composition are bad.
I look forward to reading the whole study and reading exactly what the macronutrient composition of the diets were.

[ceberezin]

If resveratrol and related molecules are found to work as well in humans, we could gain extra years of healthy life without starving for them. We could have our cake and eat it, too.

"The discovery brings closer a time when a drug that extends life and prevents many diseases of aging becomes a reality," says David Sinclair who leads the research at Harvard Medical School.
Beware of anyone who tells you that a drug is going to extend life regardless of eating habits. Is that what they're teaching at Harvard these days?

[paleowoman]

Question for Whoa182 -- I checked out your website -- very interesting. I would like to experiment with CR in the context of low-carb -- I plan to ease into it with IR rather than consistent low calorie on a daily basis. I am unclear as to whether my daily exercise gets factored into my calorie requirements. For example, if I decide to eat 1,100 calories as my basis and then decide on a given to to exercise and expend for example, 300 calories -- do I need to add 300 calories to my diet on that day to make up for the exercise deficit?

[mike_d]

Not sure how this study might tie in with CR, but its aging research in the animal model: Mattson and his colleagues observed better insulin sensitivity in the mice fed every other day than in those that ate daily.
"The [intermittently fed] mice are not calorie restricted, and yet we see changes in their physiology similar to those obtained with calorie restriction."

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20030607/food.asp Past studies have established that animals tend to age more slowly and live longer when they consistently consume fewer calories (SN: 11/25/00, p. 341: http://sciencenews.org/20001125/fob3.asp; 5/11/02, p. 291: http://sciencenews.org/20020511/fob2.asp). Researchers are still working to understand how calorie restriction slows aging, but they've observed that calorie-restricted animals have improved insulin sensitivity. In people, this change protects against diabetes.
Mattson and his colleagues observed better insulin sensitivity in the mice fed every other day than in those that ate daily. Since I found this fact out, I have been skipping breakfast most days and losing even more weight.