"Neurovascular integrity, including cerebral blood flow and blood-brain barrier function, plays a major role in cognitive ability," Lin added.
For the study, the team examined the effect of diet on cognitive health on mice, which followed a ketogenic diet regimen.
Two groups of nine mice, aged 12-14 weeks, were given either the ketogenic diet or a regular diet.
The team found that after 16 weeks, mice on ketogenic diet had significant increase in cerebral blood flow, improved balance in the microbiome in the gut, lower blood glucose levels and body weight, and a beneficial increase in the process that clears amyloid-beta from the brain a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
"While diet modifications, the ketogenic diet, in particular, has demonstrated effectiveness in treating certain diseases, we chose to test healthy young mice using diet as a potential preventative measure," Lin said.
"We were delighted to see that we might indeed be able to use diet to mitigate risk for Alzheimer's disease," Lin noted.
Source: IANS