Ketogenic Diet and Beta-Amyloid Plaque
Amyloids are protein fragments produced by the body. Beta-amyloids, which are found throughout the brains of Alzheimer's patients, are snippets of the amyloid protein. Animal research published in the October 2005 issue of "Nutrition and Metabolism" found that the ketogenic diet reduced the buildup of this plaque in mouse brains.
Human Studies on the Ketogenic Diet
Researchers have tried to mimic the effects of a ketogenic diet by giving a drug that produces ketones in the body to 152 elderly patients who were presumed to have Alzheimer's disease. The results of the study, which were published in the October 2009 issue of "Nutrition and Metabolism," showed that these patients showed significant improvements on tests of cognitive functioning. Results were especially good for patients who carried the APO E4 gene, which predisposes carriers to develop Alzheimer's disease.
