Strict Diet May Save Brain From Aging

From Yahoo Health. A diet with no sugar?

"Eating less may keep the mind young, according to Italian scientists who reported Monday they have discovered the molecular process by which a strict diet may save the brain from the ravages of age.

The research, published in the US journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on a study of mice that were fed a diet of about 70 percent of the food they normally consumed.

Scientists found the calorie-restricted diet triggered a protein molecule, CREB1, that activates a host of genes linked to longevity and good brain function.

"Our hope is to find a way to activate CREB1, for example through new drugs, so to keep the brain young without the need of a strict diet," said lead author Giovambattista Pani, researcher at the Institute of General Pathology, Faculty of Medicine at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart in Rome.

Researchers have previously discovered that mice on diets showed better cognitive abilities and memory, less aggression, and tended to avoid or delay Alzheimer's disease. But they have not known exactly why.

"CREB1 is known to regulate important brain functions as memory, learning and anxiety control, and its activity is reduced or physiologically compromised by aging," said the study.

Mice that were genetically altered to lack CREB1 showed none of the same memory benefits if they were on a low-calorie diet as mice that had the molecule, and showed the same brain disabilities as mice that were overfed.

"Thus, our findings identify for the first time an important mediator of the effects of diet on the brain," Pani said.

"This discovery has important implications to develop future therapies to keep our brain young and prevent brain degeneration and the aging process."

According to Marc Gordon, chief of neurology at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York, the findings could shed new light on why some people who are obese in middle age encounter cognitive problems later in life.

"Mid-life obesity has been associated with late-life dementia. However, the physiological basis for this association remains unclear," said Gordon, who was not part of the study.

"These investigators have studied the effects of limiting caloric intake in mice, and have identified a biochemical pathway that may mediate at least some of the brain's responses to dietary restriction."

Sorry--all I could find was this press release--the magazine itself was of no help unless I were to speak scientific.

Again, I ask if it's the sugar, or maybe starch intake and storage, that affects this? It makes sense to my non-scientific mind: less intake (and less calories), less storage, and less in circulation. It's already been shown in research projects that the elderly fare better on diabetic diets than with regular diets, and that the addition of an insulin nasal spray with the regular diet greatly improved cognitive activity in the elderly with Alzheimer's.

So, as I have asked before, is Alzheimer's merely a case of "brain diabetes", and do we need to invent ways of measuring blood sugar in the brain--separate from measuring it in the body, due to the blood-brain barrier? You'd think that whatever sugar's in circulation would register equally in both the brain and the body, but maybe not--maybe we have a bunch of diabetic head-cases wandering around, and Alzheimer's is our only clue!

And speaking of strict diet, which one do we choose? CRON (Caloric Restriction with Optimal Nutrition), Paleo, or something completely different? Based on what I've read for so many years, and my synthesizing brain, the difference between CRON and Paleo is that CRON allows beans, and downgrades (but doesn't exclude) grains, as well as recommending lesser portions of meat protein. But how does one hope to restrict calories without restricting intake through fat satiety? Simple--it seems someone else fell prey to the faulty "calorie hypothesis" that cutting fat means cutting calories, and lesser portions of meat, along with ushered use of beans, grains, and vegetable matter, does just that. It's also known as volumetrics--fill up on low- and negative-calorie foods at the expense of meat protein and saturated fat. CRON encourages grazing, or multiple mini-meals throughout the day.

I'd think you'd have to with the lack of satiety in that diet. Looking at it now, it appears to be Pyramid Lite.

Dieting the Paleo way means no grazing, and no mini-meals (at least that's been MY experience). I eat twice daily, and that's all I feel hungry for.

Knowing what I know about Alzheimer's, the cause, and diet, I cast my vote for the Paleo diet, but I'm biased. I hope someone sometime soon pinpoints us to a brain-saving diet, and makes it publicly available in print for all to see.