Seniors with type 2 diabetes may experience memory declines
immediately after eating unhealthy meal
Can be offset by taking antioxidant vitamins with meal, but healthy
diet rich in fruits and vegetables is best defense
Toronto, CANADA – Adults with type 2 diabetes who eat unhealthy, high-
fat meals may experience memory declines immediately afterward, but
this can be offset by taking antioxidant vitamins with the meal,
according to new research from Baycrest.

There is already growing evidence linking diabetes to cognitive
complications in humans. Adults with type 2 diabetes are especially
vulnerable to acute meal-induced memory deficits after eating
unhealthy foods.

This latest study, led by Baycrest and published in the July issue of
Nutrition Research, suggests that taking high doses of antioxidant
vitamins C and E with the meal may help minimize those memory slumps.

"Our bottom line is that consuming unhealthy meals for those with
diabetes can temporarily further worsen already underlying memory
problems associated with the disease,"said lead author Michael Herman
Chui, who conducted the research as a University of Toronto
pathobiology undergraduate in the Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research
Unit (KLARU) at Baycrest. "We've shown that antioxidant vitamins can
minimize oxidative stress from the meal and reduce those immediate
memory deficits."

Type 2 diabetes is associated with chronic oxidative stress, a major
contributor to cognitive decline and Alzheimer disease. Consuming
unhealthy foods can induce this type of stress which is triggered by
acute elevations of free radicals – unstable molecules that can damage
tissue, including brain tissue. These destructive molecule reactions
typically occur over a one-to-three hour period after food ingestion.

Dr. Carol Greenwood, senior author of the study and a nationally
recognized expert in how diet impacts brain function, cautioned that
relying on antioxidant vitamins at meal time is not a quick fix.
"While our study looked at the pill form of antioxidants, we would
ultimately want individuals to consume healthier foods high in
antioxidants, like fruits and vegetables," said Dr. Greenwood, a KLARU
senior scientist at Baycrest.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise, a low
fat diet rich in antioxidants, and staying mentally active and
socially engaged in a variety of activities, is the best medicine for
optimizing cognitive health during the lifespan, she said.

The study

In the study, 16 adults (aged 50 years and older) with type 2 diabetes
participated in an unblinded trial where they attended three weekly
sessions that involved consuming a different test meal. One meal
consisted of high fat products – a danish pastry, cheddar cheese and
yogurt with added whipped cream; the second meal consisted of only
water consumption; and the third test meal was the high-fat meal plus
high doses of vitamins C (1000 mg) and E (800 IU) tablets.

Fifteen minutes after starting meal ingestion, participants completed
a series of neuropsychological tests lasting 90 minutes that measured
their recall abilities for words they had heard and paragraph
information they had read. These cognitive skills are associated with
the brain's memory centre – the hippocampus.

Researchers found that vitamin supplementation consistently improved
recall scores relative to the meal alone. Participants who ate the
high fat meal without vitamin supplements showed significantly more
forgetfulness of words and paragraph information in immediate and time
delay recall tests, relative to those who had the water meal or the
meal with antioxidant vitamins. Those on water meal and meal with
vitamins showed similar levels in cognitive performance.

Dr. Greenwood and medical student M.H. Chui emphasize that their
findings require further replication in larger studies with more
participants. Future studies will need to look at whether antioxidant
vitamins are directly targeting oxidative stress reactions or
triggering an independent memory-enhancing ability which is simply
masking the detrimental effects.

###

The study was funded by a grant from the Natural Sciences and
Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Baycrest is an academic health sciences centre, internationally-
renowned for its care of aging adults and its excellence in aging
brain research, clinical treatments and promising cognitive
rehabilitation strategies. Baycrest is fully affiliated with the
University of Toronto.

Public release date: 26-Jun-2008
Contact: Kelly Connelly
kconne...@baycrest.org
416-785-2432
Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care

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