Junk food can increase Alzheimer’s risk

Poor diets can contribute towards getting Alzheimer’s disease.

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A new study has linked diets high in fat and sugar to increasing Alzheimer’s chancesDiet can have a greater impact on a person’s chances of getting Alzheimer’s, according to new research.

The Northeastern University study indicates its not only a person’s genes that play a part in their chances of getting the disease, but consuming a diet high in fat and sugar can have an impact too.

Professor of psychology and bioengineering Craig Ferris at the University tested the impact of diet on male and female rats. Some of the rats had the gene that put them at an increased risk of Alzheimer’s, others didn’t.

Alzheimer’s risk from bad dietThe rats were given a diet high in fat and sugar and researchers found the rats without the genetic risk for the disease displayed poorer cognitive performance than those with the gene.

Adult rats were given a diet of half carbohydrates, 34% of which sugared, 21% fat and the rest protein for four months.

What’s the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia? Alzheimer’s disease is a physical illness that damages a person’s brain, which eventualy causes dementia and affects memory and thinking. It is the most common cause of dementia.

Using a 3D MRI rat atlas, researchers were able to analyse 173 areas of the rats’ brains.

They found that, despite the female rats facing a higher Alzheimer’s risk, it was the male rats with no genetic risk that showed higher changes in cognitive performance.

Why does bad diet increase Alzheimer’s risk? Brain imaging also showed the rats had “enhanced connectivity in the neural circuits” associated with food consumption.

Though the association between poor diets and increased Alzheimer’s and dementia risk was known, the impact on the levels of hyper connectivity, particularly within the hippocampus, weren’t as well understood.

Researchers could make the link between junk food and the slowing of blood to the brain barrier.

There have been several studies linking food and cooking to cognitive health and Alzheimer’s, including cooking foods to high temperatures, as well as diets like keto having the potential to delay the disease.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12868-024-00901-z

Authors: Bradley Colarusso, Richard Ortiz, Julian Yeboah, Arnold Chang, Megha Gupta, Praveen Kulkarni & Craig F. Ferris