Pomegranate juice could fight Alzheimer’s
From Washington, D.C., at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience
Drinking pomegranate juice has been linked to a host of positive health effects, such as reduced risks of heart disease and cancer. Researchers may soon add another benefit to drinking the deep-red drink: slowing progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Richard Hartman of Loma Linda (Calif.) University and his colleagues worked with mice that were genetically predisposed to develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, including buildups in the brain of a protein called beta-amyloid. The researchers separated the animals into two groups. Starting at 6 months of age, which is young adulthood in mice, one group had pomegranate-juice concentrate added to its drinking water in amounts that approximated a glass or two of the juice per day for a person. The second group received water without the concentrate but with as much sugar as the juice mix had.