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Apples Reduce Alzheimer's Risk?
 A recent study shows that consumption of apples and apple products, especially juice, may benefit those suffering from cognitive decline. As people age, levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine decline. This decline is markedly more significant in people with Alzheimer's Disease. Many of the Alzheimer's prescription drugs on the market are targeted at increasing the level of acetylcholine in the brain.1
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, conducted a study on mice that showed that ingesting apple products may significantly increase natural levels of acetylcholine in the brain. In the study, normal "young" mice (aged 9 to 10 months) and normal "old" mice (aged 2 to 2.5 years) where fed one of two diets for one month: a normal, complete diet or a special diet deficient in folate and vitamin E while rich in iron, a pro-oxidant.
Each of the 4 groups where then divided with half receiving apple juice concentrate. The special diet was designed to create impaired mice with alzheimer's-like symptoms, which it did in the older mice. The young mice, however, were not impaired. Subsequent tests showed that all groups that received the apple juice concentrate had higher levels of acetylcholine. The mice on the normal diet that received the apple juice concentrate had 25% higher acetylcholine levels than the mice that did not receive the apple juice. The young mice on the special diet that received the apple juice concentrate had 33% higher acetylcholine levels than their cohorts that did not receive the apple juice concentrate.
Final, the group of older mice that received the apple juice concentrate had 130% higher levels of acetylcholine than their cohorts that did not receive the apple juice. These findings support the theory that antioxidants, and a diet rich in antioxidant-containing food may help prevent cognitive decline.
1. Tchantchou, F., A. Chan, et al. (2005). "Apple juice concentrate prevents oxidative damage and impaired maze performance in aged mice." J Alzheimers Dis 8(3): 283-7.
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