Low protein and high carbohydrate diet can protect against dementia

Protect carbohydrates from dementia?

Researchers have now found that a low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet can help improve brain health. This led to the assumption that eating carbohydrates could also help protect people from dementia.

The researchers from the Charles Perkins Center at the University of Sydney found in their recent research that a diet rich in carbohydrates but low in protein improves the health of mouse brains. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Cell Reports".

There is currently no cure for dementia

The experts were able to observe that such a form of nutrition leads to different benefits for the brain. These especially affect the area responsible for learning and memory. The scientists hope that these benefits could provide protection against dementia disease. At present there are no effective pharmaceutical treatments for dementia. So far it has only been possible to slow down the onset and spread of the disease. That's why it's especially important to identify certain diets that affect the age of the brain, says study author Devin Wahl of the University of Sydney.

People should limit their calorie intake

Limiting the intake of calories has been the best way to help improve brain health and delay the onset of neurodegenerative disease in rodents, the expert adds. However, the majority of people have difficulty limiting calorie intake, especially in Western societies where food is so freely available, Wahl further explains.

Investigation focused on hippocampus

In the study, the scientists focused particularly on the hippocampus, which deteriorates in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease as the first part of the brain. The results found in mice support the fact that this form of nutrition can also be beneficial to the overall health and health of the human brain during aging, experts say.

People often consume many proteins

The researchers tested possible effects on learning and memory through spatial perception and memory tests. They found that the improvement in overall health and brain health through diet was present in both male and female mice at young and advanced ages. The mice were fed 20 percent fat, 5 to 19 percent protein and a different amount of carbohydrates. In comparison, it is quite possible that people eat a diet that is based on 40 percent protein.

Mediterranean diet could be beneficial

People in many parts of the Mediterranean have long consumed a low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet, as have people in Japan, where only nine percent of the traditional diet consists of protein and is rich in sweet potatoes. These people are usually still in good health even in old age, which could be due to the effects of nutrition. But in the Western world, a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet has become increasingly popular. (As)