DNA & Dementia: Foods for Brain Health

One
study with over 5.7 thousand
adult nos
USA showed that following
mediterranean diet can decrease the risk of developing
insanity. The effect was even more important in people who carry two copies of a
gene called APOE4, the main hereditary factor of the
Alzheimer.

The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine by Harvard scientists, has followed more than 4,000 women and 1,400 men for over 30 years. Researchers have analyzed blood, genetics and eating habits to understand how these factors affect the brain throughout life.

The results revealed that certain types of blood fat increase the risk of the disease, while other components, such as some glycerols, appear to protect the brain. The study also showed that “the associations of 57 metabolites with the risk of dementia varied according to the genotype APOE4 U other risk genetic variants.”

According to the geneticist Jorge Dotto, heard by the news site Infobae, “the study published in Nature showed that while carrying the risk variant of Apoe4 multiplies between three and twelve times the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s, Mediterranean feeding can reduce this risk to thirty -five percent in whom it has the most genetic predisposition.”

He points out that the benefit also applies to those who do not know their genetic profile: “The most important thing in the general population is that the Mediterranean diet has reduced the risk of dementia up to twenty -three percent. This is key because most of the population does not have a genetic study made to know Alzheimer’s risk variants.”

Dotto compares the impact of eating habits on a unloaded weapon: “Genetics carries the weapon, but food can take these bullets.”

The Mediterranean diet is based on fruits, vegetables, fish, olive oil and little red meat consumption. For those who already know they have high genetic risk, the doctor recommends prioritizing foods rich in antioxidants such as tomatoes, carrots and spinach; Increase the consumption of olive oil and fatty fish; and reduce ultra -processed foods and saturated fats.

For him, these are not restrictions, but “choosing foods that speak the same language as your DNA.” Dotto concludes: “If these findings were a medicine, today there would be millions of people in the world making queues to buy it. There are no magic pills. Science shows that the natural, like real foods, remains the best solution to our health.”