Conventional wisdom holds that Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, in their most common forms, are progressive neurodegenerative afflictions of aging, and there's no cure. But at a medical meeting I attended last week, a Massachusetts neuroscientist suggested that they are looking more and more like lifestyle diseases, the long-term effects of unhealthy eating patterns, and that ridiculously simple dietary changes can reverse some symptoms and slow the disease process. Just as I was digesting that bit of info I stumbled across evidence that the prostate problems men commonly experience as they age may similarly result from years of eating a diet too rich in red meat and fats.
Speaking at a meeting of the Metropolitan Area Geriatric Society, James A. Joseph put forth the evidence that Alzheimer's disease is "more a lifestyle disease," the cumulative result of oxidative stress of brain cells that starts early. And it is preventable by lowering obesity, maintaining zinc levels, and consuming foods rich in circumin (mustard seed and curry), folic acid (leafy greens), alpha lipoic acid (spinach and broccoli), and fruits and vegetables that are high in antioxidants." Particularly blueberries.
In studies done in his lab at Tufts University, animals that showed signs of aging on behavioral tests were fed a standard rat diet supplemented with blueberries—the human equivalent of one cup of blueberries. Their performance in water mazes had them swimming like rat pups, he reported.
When given to rats that already had Alzheimer's disease, the extra fruit didn't do a thing for the brain plaques that are the distinctive pathologic feature of the condition. But it set in motion changes at the molecular level that compensated for some of the damage. The animals grew new nerve cells, which abetted memory because they made fewer errors in the maze tests. What's more, Joseph said, there was less inflammation in their heart tissue, and their "leg muscles looked like the legs of young rats."
Contending that a cup a day of blueberries could slow down the progression of dementia, Joseph stressed that "it's never too late" to make dietary changes. What's more, he noted, "what's good for the brain is also good for the heart and good for the eyes."
And he could have added: good for the prostate. A study just released in the American Journal of Epidemiology indicates that a diet rich in fruits and veggies, along with moderate alcohol consumption, significantly lowers the risk of prostate enlargement-by 32 percent and 38 percent respectively. A high-fat diet increased the risk of prostate enlargement by 31 percent, and daily consumption of red meat increased the risk by 38 percent.
A high-fat diet increases the body's inflammatory response, implicated in heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis as well as brain aging. "Oxidative stress and inflammation are the evil twins of brain aging," Jim Joseph said. The title of his talk made the remedy as simple and clear as anyone could ask for: "Fruit and Vegetable Supplementation in the Aging Brain: Priming the Brain Against the Ravages of Time."
