People carrying two copies of 'Alzheimer's gene' lowered risk by 35% via diet changes

CNN —

Closely following the Mediterranean diet lowered the risk of dementia by at least 35% in people with two copies of the APOE4 gene, a major risk factor for Alzheimer's, according to a new study.

"We followed over 5,700 people for 34 years and found those who followed a baseline Mediterranean diet with little alcohol, red and processed meat but full of vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, legumes, fish and olive oil all reduced the risk of dementia," said Yuxi Liu, lead author of the study that was published Monday in the journal Nature .

"But the benefit was highest for people with the APOE4 gene, especially those with two copies of APOE4," said Liu, a research fellow in medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "Not only did following a