Calorie Restriction and Alzheimer’s Disease
Calorie-restriction has been highlighted as a way to slow the aging process in general. Recent research looks at the potential for calorie-restriction to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
The researchers fed mice bred to develop AD a reduced-calorie diet (mostly through the reduction of carbohydrate intake), and found that the mice had fewer disease symptoms and better memories than the control group fed a regular-calorie diet.
In a separate study, the same researchers applied SIRT1, one of the sirtuin proteins with increased expression seen in calorie restriction and believed to play an important role in slowing aging, into the nerve cells affected by AD. They found that SIRT1 helped to prevent the cleavage of beta-amyloid precursor molecules, which, in turn, slowed the formation of plaques.
So, calorie-restriction (with adequate nutrition) may be one way to help slow the progression of aging and cognitive decline. Other potential approaches to preserving cognitive function are discussed here.
