A diet to prevent the ravages of age on the brain

A low-fat diet, along with limited caloric intake, prevents the activation of immune cells in the brain. Microglia calls in mice during aging. This is what research published in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience shows. The study also found that exercise is significantly less effective than calorie restriction in preventing these age-related changes in the brain.

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“Obesity and aging are prevalent and increasing in societies around the world. But the consequences for the central nervous system are still not well understood.” Says Bart Eggen, lead author of the study and researcher at the University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands. “We determined whether a high- or low-fat diet, in combination with exercise and food restriction, affected microglia during aging in mice.”**

Microglia

Microglia are brain cells that help maintain the integrity and normal functioning of brain tissue. The dysfunction of these cells is related to neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative conditions. Aging is also associated with inflammation caused by microglia in specific regions of the brain. But it is not clear whether diet or lifestyle can influence this process. Eggen and his collaborators investigated the impact of high- and low-fat diets on inflammation and microglial markers, in a specific region of the brain. The hypothalamus of 6-month-old mice. They also analyzed the effect of low-fat or high-fat diets on microglia. They also received a lifelong exercise regimen or restricted diets (a 40% reduction in calories). “The aging-induced inflammatory activation of microglia could only be prevented when the mice were fed a low-fat diet. In combination with limited caloric intake,” says Eggen. “A low-fat diet, per se, was not enough to prevent these changes.” Eggen notes that much more work is still needed to understand the meaning of these findings. In their study, the mice were only given one type of diet throughout their lives. It is unclear how switching between diets would alter these results. “However, these data show that at least in mice, the fat content of a diet is an important parameter in terms of the detrimental effects of aging on the brain, as well as caloric intake,” says Eggen. “Only when fat content and caloric intake are limited can aging-induced changes in microglia be avoided.” An important thing to share and motivate our patients to eat better.