Eating fish and nuts fights off Alzheimer's says study

Eating plenty of fish, nuts and oil-based salad dressings that contain polyunsaturated fatty acids cuts the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, researchers say.

A seven-year study of 815 nursing home residents - 131 of whom developed the brain-robbing disease - found those who reported eating fish at least once a week had a 60 per cent lower risk of Alzheimer's compared with those who rarely or never ate fish.

Researcher Martha Clare Morris of Rush-Presbyterian St Luke's Medical Centre in Chicago, writing in The Archives of Neurology journal, credited polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish, nuts and oily dressings for the protective effect.

She said the fatty acids were also found in the membranes of brain cells, and might protect them from the ravages of Alzheimer's.

Previous studies have suggested that a healthy diet rich in antioxidants - such as those found in red wine and various fruits and vegetables - may stave off Alzheimer's.

But the root cause of the brain-clogging plaque that afflicts an estimated 12 million people globally remains unknown.

In an accompanying editorial, Robert Friedland of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, said fish provided many other benefits.

"A high antioxidant/low saturated fat diet pattern with a greater amount of fish, chicken, fruits, and vegetables and less red meat and dairy products is likely to lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease, as well as that for heart disease and stroke."

- REUTERS