Low-Carb Can Reverse Alzheimer's Disease

Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti discovered low-carb can improve Alzheimer's

The positive news regarding the science behind low-carb keeps coming out as this United Press International story highlights yet another new study that found an amazing health benefit for livin' la vida low-carb -- treating and even reversing the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease!

Lead researcher Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., who serves as director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center and as professor of Psychiatry, Geriatrics And Adult Development as well as in the Fishberg Department of Neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, used experimental mice to observe the beta-amyloid peptides in their brain to see if they could be reduced.

Dr. Pasinetti wanted to see if simple dietary changes could bring about improvement in neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's. What he found was that a calorie-restricted, low-carb diet did exactly that while the mice who were fed a high-calorie, heavy-saturated fat diet showed increased levels of beta-amyloid peptides.

This study will appear in the July 2006 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Based on his research, Dr. Pasinetti believes simple changes in the kind of foods eaten can improve the function of the brain, especially in patients who are diagnosed with the memory-altering Alzheimer's disease.

"Both clinical and epidemiological evidence suggests that modification of lifestyle factors such as nutrition may prove crucial to Alzheimer's disease management," Dr. Pasinetti remarked. "This research, however, is the first to show a connection between nutrition and Alzheimer's disease neuropathy by defining mechanistic pathways in the brain and scrutinizing biochemical functions."

Sweet! With research like this coming out about Alzheimer's, it coincides very well with this recent study about how a low-carb diet can improve Parkinson's disease.

While the Atkins/low-carb approach has been generally considered primarily as a weight loss mechanism, researchers are proving it has a lot more benefit as a way to manage various health conditions, including diabetes, cholesterol, and bone health, just to name a few.

How can the media continue to ignore such compelling evidence in favor of livin' la vida low-carb? It's baffling to think about!

You can e-mail Giulio Maria Pasinetti about his study at giulio.pasinetti@mssm.edu.