Consumption of a variety of fruit and vegetable juices has been linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer?s disease, according to a large epidemiological study just published.
The researchers, who evaluated juice consumption habits as part of a larger lifestyle study, found that those who drank three or more servings of fruit and vegetable juices per week had a 76 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer?s disease than those who drank juice less than once per week. Those individuals in the study were part of a large cross-cultural study of dementia, called the Ni-Hon-Sea Project, which investigated Alzheimer?s disease and vascular dementia in older Japanese populations living in Japan, Hawaii and Seattle, Wash. The research appears in the September issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
As part of the study named the Kame Project, the researchers identified 1,836 dementia-free subjects in the Seattle population and collected information on their dietary consumption of fruit and vegetable juices. They then assessed cognitive function every two years for up to 10 years.
After controlling for possible confounding factors like smoking, education, physical activity and fat intake, the researchers found that those who reported drinking juices three or more times per week were 76 percent less likely to develop signs of Alzheimer?s disease than those who drank less than one serving per week.
The benefit appeared particularly enhanced in subjects who carry a specific genetic marker (on the apolipoprotein E allele) which has been linked to late-onset Alzheimer?s disease ? the most common form of the disease.
However promising the study results appear, Dai cautioned it?s important that the general public realize more research is necessary to confirm juice?s value as a preventive measure for Alzheimer?s disease.