New research has highlighted how a diet very rich in AGEs leads to an increase in harmful proteins in the brain that can induce problems with cognitive function.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousBeef, especially the one cooked on the grill, but also the so-called junk food are rich in AGEs (products of the final glycation). New research links these substances to the emergence of diseases such as type 2 diabetes but also Alzheimer's and dementia.
According to the study carried out on an animal model by a team of researchers at the Icahn school of medicine in Mount Sinai (New York) and published in PNAS, a diet very rich in AGEs leads to an increase in harmful proteins in the brain (beta amyloid plaque) capable of modifying chemical reactions and inducing problems with cognitive functions.
AGEs are formed when proteins and fats chemically react with sugar, this happens daily in our body but in small quantities that the body is able to dispose of. The problem is that the AGEs taken with food: this occurs in particular when the meat is cooked not only on the grill but also in a pan or in the oven. Absorbing these AGEs, according to scholars, would increase inflammation andaccumulation of beta amyloid protein, a marker already known in diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's.
These substances are also present in some pasteurized dairy products and in junk foods and what can cause damage over time is the accumulation in our organism: the excretory organs are no longer able to dispose of these substances and thus chronic inflammation is created which leads to the appearance of diseases.
Experts recommend immediately reducing the consumption of these foods, preferring a plant-based diet instead. There Helen Vlassara, lead author of the study, stresses that it is not necessary to become a vegetarian but "that you have to pay attention to what you eat and how you prepare it".
They are needed anyway other studies, and this time on human sample, to better understand the correlation between AGEs and the onset of degenerative diseases.
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