A new study suggests that a high-fat diet could be implicated in severe brain damage.
An international study has uncovered a link between a high-fat diet and declining in cognitive ability.
In the research, mice were fed a high-fat diet for 30 weeks which resulted in diabetes and a subsequent deterioration in their cognitive abilities; including the development of anxiety, depression and worsening Alzheimer’s disease.
Mice with damaged cognitive function also had a higher potential to gain excessive weight because of poor metabolism caused by changes in the brain.
The international study was led by UniSA neuroscientists Professor Xin-Fu Zhou and Associate Professor Larisa Bobrovskaya.
Bobrovskaya believes that the research adds to the growing evidence linking chronic obesity and diabetes with Alzheimer’s disease, predicted to reach 100 million cases by 2050.
“Obesity and diabetes impair the central nervous system, exacerbating psychiatric disorders and cognitive decline. We demonstrated this in our study with mice,” said Bobrovskaya.
Throughout the study, mice were randomly allocated to a standard diet or a high-fat diet for 30 weeks, starting at eight weeks of age. At different intervals, body weight, food intake and glucose levels were all monitored.
As well as monitoring these levels, glucose and insulin tolerance tests and cognitive dysfunction were also studied.
The mice that were on the high-fat diet gained an excessive amount of weight, developed a resistance to insulin and began to behave abnormally compared to those study subjects that were on the standard diet.
Mice with genetically modified Alzheimer’s disease displayed a significant deterioration of cognition and pathological changes in the brain whilst they were being fed the high-fat diet.
Bobrovskaya said: “Obese individuals have about a 55 per cent increased risk of developing depression, and diabetes will double that risk. Our findings underline the importance of addressing the global obesity epidemic. A combination of obesity, age and diabetes is very likely to lead to a decline in cognitive abilities, Alzheimer’s disease and other mental health disorders.”
