Diets serve various purposes. Whether it be to lose weight, or to improve overall health, the options and benefits are endless. According to recent research, a Mediterranean keto diet could help reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
What Is Alzheimer’s?
As the most common cause of dementia (60-80% of all cases), Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder with a decline in memory, and thinking skills. It is typically followed by confusion, restlessness, impaired judgment, and emotional apathy.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, over 6 million Americans of all ages have the condition. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this number will rise to an estimated 14 million people by 2060. It is caused by a combination of age-related brain changes, and genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. According to Harvard Medical School, healthy habits may help prevent its onset. From not smoking to lowering alcohol consumption, our lifestyle choices can influence our risk.
What Is The Research Saying?
A study by Wake Forest University School of Medicine showed that this diet may decrease one’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease. In the study, researchers compared a low-fat diet to a “Modified Mediterranean-Ketogenetic Diet”. This diet mostly features healthy fats and proteins, and low carbohydrates. This modified diet presented robust changes in the biological pathway that is linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
What is a Mediterranean-based Keto Diet?
Before exploring the specific aspects of the diet, we need to look at the basics of the two separate plans.
Mediterranean Diet
The diet consists of foods that are commonly consumed in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, including Greece, Spain, Italy, and France. The diet emphasizes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and heart-healthy fat intake.
Research has indicated that people living in these regions are not only quite healthy but also at a lower risk of many chronic conditions. In fact, studies have indicated that the Mediterranean diet can not only prevent heart attacks but also Type 2 diabetes and premature death.
Benefits of Mediterranean-based Keto Diet
- Support healthy blood sugar levels: Studies show that the Mediterranean diet can reduce your fasting blood sugar levels. It also improves levels of hemoglobin A1C. This is a marker used to measure long-term blood sugar levels. The diet also decreases insulin resistance. The condition affects the body’s ability to use insulin for the regulation of blood sugar levels.
- Protects brain function: A study of 512 people found that this diet was associated with improved memory and the reduction of several risk factors. A large review also found that it was linked to improved cognitive function, attention, and processing speed in healthy older adults.
This diet is encapsulated by consuming a very low amount of carbohydrates and replacing them with fat to help your body burn fat for energy, known as ketosis. Instead of relying on sugar from carbohydrates, the diet relies on ketone bodies. This is a fuel the liver makes from stored fat.
Getting the liver to manufacture ketone bodies can be quite difficult. This requires you to limit carbohydrate intake to less than 20-50 grams daily.
Keto Diet
While the benefits may range from weight loss and appetite control to potentially lowering triglycerides and cholesterol, the diet can still be quite risky.
According to registered dietician Kathy McManus, “If you’re not eating a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and grains, you may be at risk for deficiencies in micronutrients.”
Basically, a keto diet increases your risk of nutrient deficiency. Research indicates that it can potentially cause low blood pressure and increase your risk of heart disease and kidney stones.
Merging The Two Diets
This is where the Mediterranean keto diet comes in. It combines aspects of both of these diet plans, presenting a hybrid solution that offers minimal side effects/risks, and more benefits.
The Wake Forest University School of Medicine conducted a study to analyze the impact of this diet on cognitive function.
Suzanne Craft, Ph.D., professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine, said they “hope that better understanding of this complex relationship between diet, cognitive status, and gut health will lead to new interventions to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease.”
Study Results
The study involved 20 adults, nine of whom physicians had diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The remaining 11 had normal cognition. These participants were randomly assigned to follow either the Mediterranean-ketogenic diet or a low-fat, higher-carbohydrate diet for six weeks.
After a six-week “washout” period, they were to switch to another diet. Researchers collected stool samples at the beginning and end of each diet period, and six weeks after the washout of the second diet, to analyze changes in the gut microbiome.
The Link Between GABA and Alzheimers
The researchers found that participants with MCI had lower levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and GABA-producing microbes. However, they had higher levels of GABA-regulating microbes. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.
Found across multiple brain regions, including the hippocampus, gamma oscillations are important in controlling the connectivity between different brain regions. This is crucial for movement, perception, emotion, and memory. Studies have linked abnormal gamma oscillations to central nervous system conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Craft says that “these findings provide crucial insight into how diet may affect the microbiome and improve brain health.” On the one hand, the research needs larger studies to determine just how effective dietary interventions can be in fighting cognitive impairment. On the other, this evidence shows that these adjustments can be beneficial for cognitive health.
A Wide Range of Other Benefits
Cognitive health isn’t the only benefit a Mediterranean keto diet provides. In a study of the diets’ impact on 22 obese men, it found that:
- After 12 weeks, all participants no longer had metabolic syndrome (a co-occurrence of a number of biomarker-related diseases and premature death).
- There was a significant reduction or complete resolution on the markers for fatty liver disease
- Their fasting blood sugar level dropped from a pre-diabetic 118 to an ideal 91
- Levels of HDL (good) cholesterol increased from 44 to 58
- Triglycerides dropped from 224 to 109
More research has indicated that this diet can also decrease heart disease mortality, heart attack incidence, diastolic and systolic blood pressure, stroke incidence, and mortality.
How Can You Implement It?
The Mediterranean keto diet relies on Mediterranean staples. These include low-carb vegetables (such as cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, and kale), olive oil, full-fat dairy (including whole milk, butter, and full-fat cheese), and Mediterranean protein sources (such as seafood, eggs, and poultry). These staples are then tailored to a keto-macronutrient ratio.
While the method of implementation may differ from person to person, the principles responsible for these benefits are:
- Restricting carbohydrate consumption in order to promote ketosis. One needs to obtain these carbs from low-carb vegetables
- Eat mostly monosaturated fats (avocados, macadamia nuts, etc.), and polyunsaturated fats (omega-3s from fish and seafood)
- Have fish, seafood, poultry, and eggs as your primary protein sources.
Should You Implement This?
Considering all the potential benefits this diet may bring, it seems fairly tempting. However, as with any lifestyle changes, it’s important to consult your doctor and ensure that you are closely monitoring any bodily changes.
Our bodies will not react the same way to this diet, similar to how medication doesn’t treat us the same way. This will help you know if this diet is for you, or if it could potentially cause you any harm.
According to the University of Chicago Medicine, keto is not safe for those with “any conditions involving their pancreas, liver, thyroid, or gallbladder.” What is important is ensuring that it works for your health and body, not against it.
Header Image from JJ Jordan on Pexels
References
Nagpal, R., Neth, B.J., Wang, S., Craft, S. and Yadav, H., 2019. Modified Mediterranean-ketogenic diet modulates gut microbiome and short-chain fatty acids in association with Alzheimer’s disease markers in subjects with mild cognitive impairment. EBioMedicine, 47, pp.529-542.
Włodarek, D., 2021. Food for thought: the emerging role of a ketogenic diet in Alzheimer’s disease management. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 21(7), pp.727-730.
Vinciguerra, F., Graziano, M., Hagnäs, M., Frittitta, L. and Tumminia, A., 2020. Influence of the mediterranean and ketogenic diets on cognitive status and decline: a narrative review. Nutrients, 12(4), p.1019.
