Healthy Diet May Offset Alzheimer’s Risks

Apolipoprotein E (APOE), created by the apolipoprotein E. gene, is a molecule that is generally acknowledged as a known contributor to Alzheimer’s Disease.  APOE is a lipoprotein and known to be influenced by the good oil found in fish. Daniel Michaelson, from Tel Aviv University (Israel), and colleagues, engaged under a joint European Commission grant known as LIPIDIDIET, introduced three different kinds of diet: a normal diet, a "bad" diet high in cholesterol, and a "good" diet high in fish oil, to a mouse model of Alzheimer’s Disease.    The team found that a rich in omega-3  fatty acids, and low in cholesterol,  significantly reduced the negative effects of the APOE4 gene.   The researchers urge that:  "The main take-away message here is that good diets can alleviate the effects of bad genes. This approach can be applied to specifically counteract the negative effects of Alzheimer's disease-related genes."