Alzheimers : "Diet To Help Prevent The Disease"

People who eats a lot salad dressing, nuts, fish, poultry and certain fruits and vegetables and not much red meat and butter are less likely to develop Alzhemer's disease, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center.
The study, to appear in the June issue of the Journal Archives of Neurology, built on previous research that found that foods containing certain nutrients are beneficial for the brain and effective at warding off Alzheimers's.The disease typically affects the elderly and is accompanied by debilitating memory lost.
First author Yian Gu, Ph.D., and colleagues tracked 2,148 healthy adults aged 65 and older over a period of four (4) years. During the folw-ups, 253 of the subjects were discovered to have developed Alzheimer's , even though none of them showed signs of dementia when the study began.
Those who didn't get Alzheimer's had diets rich in seven different nutrients : vitamin E, vitamin B12, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids and folate. The nutrients may help prevent loss of memory and cognitive decline, Gu told AOL Health. They may play a role in a variety of different mechanisms in the brain.
The non-Alzheimer's group got the crucial nutrients by consuming a lot of fish, pourty, oil and vinegar salad dressing, nuts, tomatoes, other fruits and green leafy vegetables. They also ate little red meat, organ meat, high-fat dairy foods and butter. It's important not only to take in a lot of good foods like vegetables and fruits but also not to take in a lot of bad foods like red meat, said Gu. Changing diet is a relatively easy way to go and give us hope.
Though previous studies show a link between diet and Alzheimer's , research on the benefits of certain nutrients in protecting against the disease is inconclusive, Gu and her colleagues wrote in the paper. Epidemiological evidence linking diet, one of the most important modifiable envinonmental factors, and risk of Alzheimer's disease is rapidly increasing, the authors wrote. However, current literature regarding the impact of individual nutrients or food items on Alzheimer's disease risk is in-consistant, partly because humans eat meals with complex combinations of nutrients or food items that are likely to be synegistic.
The Columbia study was population based and observational - meaning subjects's exisiting habits were analyzed without any intervention from researchers. Gu said clinical trials need to be domne in order to get more conclusive results.
We can't make any recommendations on what people should eat based on a single study, she said. But it doesn't hurt to follow this dietary pattern, although we need more studies to confirm our finding.
My take on the Alzheimer's disease diet: A good diet is a good way to go, a healthy diet is good for a healthy body and help fight all disease. My family has a great start...we have fish , poultry and a lot of salads but I must admit we do like a good steak now and then. A good diet is not only good for Alzhemier's disease but good for everyone to have a good diet, we need to fight the obesity problem that's out of control.