Why this diet may prevent Alzheimer's

[Demi]

The Times
London, UK
10 October, 2006


EATING a Mediterranean diet and cooking with olive oil can help to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, scientists say.
Those who eat lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fish and drink a moderate amount of red wine are 68 per cent less likely to suffer Alzheimer’s than those who do not.



The findings add to the growing evidence that Mediterranean food is good for health.

The diet has already been associated with a longer life and can help to stave off cancer, obesity and coronary heart disease, but its effect against Alzheimer’s appears to work independently, scientists at the Columbia University Medical Centre, New York, said.

About 500,000 people in Britain suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, which causes memory loss, mood changes and death.

The Columbia team studied nearly 1,984 adults, checking them for signs of dementia every 18 months and assessing their eating habits. At the start, 194 had Alzheimer’s and by the end 89 more had developed the disease.

The participants, whose average age was 76, were given a score between 0 and 9 on how closely they stuck to a Mediterranean diet, and were divided into three groups according to their score.

Those in the top group, who stuck most closely to a Mediterranean diet, were 68 per cent less likely to get the disease compared with those in the bottom third.

Those in the middle group were 53 per cent less likely to get Alzheimer’s than the bottom third.

Writing in Archives of Neurology, a journal of the American Medical Association, the scientists said that for each additional point scored, the risk of Alzheimer’s decreased by 19 to 24 per cent.

The trends held true even after taking into account the participant’s age, gender, ethnic background, weight and smoking history.

The diet’s effect on individuals with vascular diseases — such as stroke, heart disease and diabetes — suggested that it might work through specific pathways to reduce Alzheimer’s disease.

The Mediterranean diet was first claimed in the 1950s to be behind the long life expectancy of southern Europeans.

In 2004 a team of Dutch researchers found that among the elderly, the diet was linked with a 23 per cent lower risk of death over ten years.

Statistics from the European Union say that Greeks stick most closely to the ideal Mediterranean diet, followed by the Spanish, Italians and French. Britons came fifth, ahead of Danes and Germans.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2396035,00.html

[KarenJ]

"The participants [...] were given a score between 0 and 9 on how closely they stuck to a Mediterranean diet"

I don't doubt that "lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fish and drink a moderate amount of red wine" are a good part of the Mediterranean diet, but they seem to be forgetting about the Dairy, eggs, Lamb, Veal, Beef, Mutton, Pork, Hare, Chicken, etc.
And of course, the famous wormy cheese of Sardinia, Casa Marzu (http://www.apocalypsefiction.com/issfive/cheese.html)

[Nancy LC]

Funny, was just reading an article linking gluten to Alzheimer's.

How come no one mentions lamb when they talk about a Mediterranian diet? I know those greeks love their lamb!

Hey, KarenJ beat me to it.

[waywardsis]

You know, my mum just got back from Greece a few days ago and she told me all about the food she ate - lamb, meatballs, chicken etc, plus olives, tomatoes, cukes, cheese, figs honey...not too much talk about whole grains in her menu.

[Angeline]

I don't think that cheese is a mainstay, more of a cross between a delicacy and a rite of passage lol.

hmmm lamb. My DH and I love lamb so much we purchase whole lamb every 6 months or so.

[Whoa182]

You know, my mum just got back from Greece a few days ago and she told me all about the food she ate - lamb, meatballs, chicken etc, plus olives, tomatoes, cukes, cheese, figs honey...not too much talk about whole grains in her menu.

I'm not quite sure I understand the point...



They said those who followed closely to the diet, I haven't read the above yet but what i've read about the study is that the participants who followed the TRADITIONAL diet more closely had a lower risk... and not those who ate Lamb, Veal, Beef, Mutton, Pork (which is not following the *traditional med diet*

[Whoa182]

From another report on this

"Red meats are eaten only rarely and poultry, eggs, and dairy products are eaten in moderation. Olive oil and fatty fish are the main sources of fat in the diet."

Large intakes of Red meat isn't counted as part of the "traditional part of the med diet" from the majority of source I am reading from.

[TBoneMitch]

In sardinia (lots of centenarians there), Italy, Greece, Southwestern France, lots of lamb has been eaten for millenia.

Articles concerning the 'traditional Mediterranean Diet' usually leave out a lot of info, and usually reek of PC reporting.

Traditionally, many Sardinians are/were shepherds.

[ReginaW]

"Red meats are eaten only rarely and poultry, eggs, and dairy products are eaten in moderation. Olive oil and fatty fish are the main sources of fat in the diet."

WHOA - I have to ask - have you ever traveled in Southern Europe? If you have, then you'd know that they do not eat the way we're told they eat...

A trip to Europe (specifically Greece, France, Spain and Italy) would be expensive - a free way to actually look at what is consumed in the food supply of these countries is to query the FAO database that maintains food supply records of almost all countries in the world. You might be surprised that, as one example, France consumes almost half their calories each day from animal products (fat and protein).

What's more interesting to me is that each country really does have a distinct dietary flavor to it in the foods eaten on a daily basis - some are heavy with olive oil, others heavy with cheese, still others heavy with butter....all consume more calories from fat each day than is recommended by the US and all have fewer health problems and live longer than we do.

The very real distinction though isn't their macronutrient ratios - it's the fact they eat more REAL foods, tend to shun processed or convenience foods in favor of fresh, seasonal foods, and don't buy into the myths about macronutrient ratios - they make their food and eat it and ENJOY it.

[bluesmoke]

The whole "traditional Mediterranean diet" is nothing but a myth that arose after WW2, when in the aftermath of the war the real traditional foods were scarce and expensive. People ate what was cheap and available, meats and fats weren't. This myth has been busted over and over and won't die. Nyah Levi

[Whoa182]

In order to say those that ate a more 'traditional mediterranean diet' they would have had to define what that is, right? (in order to put people in any particular group or assign a score). Obiviously they had a definition for it (which was earlier defined), and the group that was following 'their definition' of a 'traditional mediterranean diet' had a lower risk (lots of vegetables, nuts, fruit, grains, olive oil, fish), and clearly not your definition, which would have probably fell into groups that did not follow it as closely. You see, it DOES NOT MATTER whether its a myth or not, you're entirely missing the point.

[1] Mediterranean Diet, Alzheimer Disease, and Vascular Mediation
http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/63.12.noc60109

[VALEWIS]

The long lived Sardinians that were studied also did a lot of pretty heavy daily exercise. Exercise has been demonstrated to trump everything else when it comes to preventing diseases like diabetes and other inflammatory related conditions that lead to CVD etc. No doubt Alzheimers is less too. Eating 'natural' foods without preservatives and over processing as well as getting good Omega 3's in the fish no doubt plays a big part. The Sardinians also did not eat a lot either.

And then there are genetics which probably trumps everything else..

[Whoa182]

Exercise has been demonstrated to trump everything else when it comes to preventing diseases like diabetes and other inflammatory related conditions that lead to CVD etc.

Actually exercise is pretty weak, it doesn't prevent the rise in systolic or diastolic blood pressure with age (if eating a normal diet), cholesterol still rises, inflammation still goes up, and there is very little evidence it protects from cancer too. Read this http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=44344

Eating 'natural' foods without preservatives and over processing as well as getting good Omega 3's in the fish no doubt plays a big part.

Yup, eating natural foods will surely decrease a lot disease incidence.

And then there are genetics which probably trumps everything else

Not quite, genetics only account for a small percentage of how long we live, estimated around 25%. Diet and environment seems to be the most important, especially calorie intake.

Don't the Sardinians drink a lot of red wine?

[Whoa182]

sardinia and france RED wine effect?

Uncovering a Key to Human Longevity (mentions sardinia and france)
http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/040106a.aspx

you all know red wine is a CR mimmetic by now right ;)

[VALEWIS]

Actually exercise is pretty weak, it doesn't prevent the rise in systolic or diastolic blood pressure with age (if eating a normal diet), cholesterol still rises, inflammation still goes up, and there is very little evidence it protects from cancer too. Read this http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=44344



"These findings suggest that although exercise helps prevent problems that can cut life short -- such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease -- only CR appears also to have an impact on primary aging."

In my previous post I was referring to what is said above re obesity, diabetes and CVD. I also mentioned that the Sardinians ate little, given the exercise they do, so that was covered as well. And no doubt a few glasses of the antioxidants in red wine helps it all along. And 25% contribution to the variance from genes is pretty substantial.

So the lesson is? Don't eat too much, eat whole unprocessed foods with ample protein, exercise, and get your omega 3's and antioxidants. Probably helps to live away from toxic urban environments too while you're at it, and good genes won't hurt either. Which of these are cardinal to Alzheimer's..who knows. I recall recently (was it here?) reading the suggestion that it could be a form of alternative diabetes.

[VALEWIS]

The article Whoa cited says that you must exercise in order to avoid the diseases that kill you..the lowered T3 from CR presumably keeps you living longer. But I guess the question is how much do you enjoy the low T3 effect from CR? I don't...it keeps me feeling cold and thinking about eating all the time. I don't know if old age is so terrific that I want to endure that to live a few more years. Mind you most researcher's idea of CR is about 1500 calories or something. At age 66 that is maintenance for me. I have to eat around 900 to get the drop in T3. No way I'd eat that little past a few weeks at a time, and now I don't really want to get any thinner anyway. Now I want to gain lean body mass, and to do that you need to eat more, not less.

Also, isn't there some new evidence that intermittent fasting has the same effect? I think the new study should have an IF group as a control.

[ReginaW]

[1] Mediterranean Diet, Alzheimer Disease, and Vascular Mediation
http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/co.../63.12.noc60109

Thanks for the link...did you read it?

They didn't have an established definition of how much of any food group or macronutrient was "ideal" or Med....they scored everyone on the median for each item.

Take it a step further - it was self-reported data which everyone knows is littered with recall issues.

When I read it something important to me jumped out - they didn't consider the effect of insulin resistance (hyperinsulinemia). Add to that, those with AD were older (which was statistically significant)...and while not "statistically significant" - it is important to note that 23% who developed AD had diabetes....only 18% who didn't develop AD had diabetes. I would have like to see a break down analysis done of those with AD who also had other metabolic disorders, like hypertension to see if co-morbidities played a role....they didn't take the data that far though.