June 16, 2022
The thought of losing your mind is a frightening one, but one in three Americans die with Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. Regardless how frightening the possibility is, the chances of it happening to you aren’t exactly slim, which means prevention should be at the forefront of your mind. A recent study from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies indicates prevention could be as simple as a natural foods diet—rich in fruits (such as strawberries) and vegetables containing something called fisetin.
Fisetin is a flavonol found in strawberries, mangoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables and fruits. Researchers with the Salk Institute found this simple compound can actually reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s in mice, and could be effective in humans as well.
Maher and her team have documented that fisetin has both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties in the brain. It is also able to turn on a cellular pathway related to memory function.
The team looked to a type of mouse with mutated genes making them vulnerable to Alzheimer’s. At three months old, the researchers began feeding the mice a diet enriched with fisetin.
Mice who hadn’t received the fisetin began struggling in the mazes at nine months of age, but the fisetin mice performed as well as normal (non-predisposed) mice at both nine and twelve months of age.