A study found that higher protein intake was associated with better episodic memory, a cognitive function associated with Alzheimer’s disease in older age.
On the 24th, Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital announced that a joint research team including Professors of Psychiatry Kim Ji-wook, Geum Moo-seong, Seo Gook-hee, and Choi Young-min and Professor of Laboratory Medicine Kim Hyeon-su investigated the relationship between protein intake and cognitive function, especially episodic memory, in 196 adults aged 65 to 90 without dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, and found that eating a lot of protein increases memory in old age by up to 40%. Episodic memory is a type of memory that is the ability to store and recall information, and is mainly damaged in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Among the participants, 113 had normal cognitive function and 83 had mild cognitive impairment. The research team analyzed their diet for three months using the Mini-Nutritional Assessment, which evaluates the nutritional status of the elderly. Among them, protein intake was classified as low, medium, and high based on the intake of dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt, legumes, eggs, meat, fish, and poultry.
In addition, to control for various influencing variables, we also conducted tests on vascular disease, overall physical activity, annual income, nutritional biomarkers, blood tests, and genetic tests related to Alzheimer’s disease.
The evaluation results showed that the group with high protein intake had an average cognitive function score of 83 points, which was 24% higher than the group with low protein intake (average 67 points). In particular, the episodic memory score was 43 points in the group with high protein intake, which was 27% higher than the group with low protein intake (34 points).
Even after adjusting for influencing variables, the group with higher protein intake had about 20% higher overall cognitive function and episodic memory than the group with lower protein intake. However, there was no significant difference between the groups in nonmemory cognitive functions (verbal ability, executive function, visuospatial ability, and attention).
In this study, the research team found a significant interaction between protein intake and the Alzheimer’s disease gene, apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4). In people with APOE4, when protein intake was high, overall cognitive function and episodic memory were about 40% higher than in the group with low protein intake. The research team analyzed that APOE4 moderated the relationship between protein intake and episodic memory.
Professor Geum Moo-seong said, “The results of this study confirmed that the higher the protein intake, the better the episodic memory of the elderly,” and “In cases where there is a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease, protein intake may be especially important for maintaining cognitive function.”
Professor Kim Ji-wook said, “We have presented clinically important implications that a protein-rich diet may have a positive effect on cognitive health in the elderly at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” adding, “Additional research is needed to clarify this more clearly.”
2024-09-25 21:41:06