SEPTEMBER 2009

Adiet high in vegetables, nuts and fish and low in high-fat dairy products may be just the right combination to help reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to findings released at an American Academy of Neurology meeting. Researchers led by Yian Gu, PhD, of Columbia University analyzed seven nutrients thought to be related to Alzheimer’s in the diets of 2,136 healthy seniors in New York: saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, vitamin E, vitamin B12 and folate. Their goal was to identify dietary patterns that explain, as much as possible, the variation of nutrients believed to relate to Alzheimer’s disease risk.

“Because foods are not consumed in isolation, dietary patterns taking into account the interactions among food components may offer substantial advantages,” Gu and colleagues explained.

Over an average follow-up of almost four years, 251 subjects developed Alzheimer’s. A dietary pattern high in cruciferous and green-leafy vegetables, tomatoes, nuts and fish but low in red meat and highfat dairy products was associated with lower risk of Alzheimer’s.

The one-third of the subjects most closely matching this dietary pattern were 42% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those whose diets most diverged from that pattern. Even the middle group—matching the dietary pattern less closely, but better than the bottom one-third—saw a 23% lower risk of Alzheimer’s.

The dietary pattern linked to lower Alzheimer’s risk was positively correlated with omega-3, omega-6, folate and vitamin E, and negatively correlated with saturated fat and vitamin B12 intakes.

The B12 finding was a surprise, Gu commented, because low B12 levels are associated with dementia. Since a chief dietary source of vitamin B12 is meat, however, those consuming more B12 might also be getting lots of saturated fat.

TO LEARN MORE: American Academy of Neurology,abstract at www.abstracts2view.com/aan2009seattle/ view.php?nu=AAN09L_P09.115. Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center, (800) 438-4380, www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers.