NEW YORK—Alzheimer’s researchers found that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets resulted in smaller brain size in mice. All mice used for the study were genetically engineered to express amyloid-beta, the plaque that causes brain cell death and memory loss.
Four-week old mice were fed one of four diets for 14 weeks: regular commercial chow; high fat/low carbohydrate; high protein/low carbohydrate; or high carbohydrate/low fat.
At 18 weeks, post mortum studies on brain weight, plaque build-up and structural differences in the hippocampus (regions known to be involved in memory) revealed that the brains of mice fed the high protein/low carbohydrate diet were 5% lighter than those of mice on the other diets, and regions of the hippocampus were less developed.