Antioxidant cocktail key to preventing Alzheimer's

Research from The University of Western Australia has found a diet rich in nutrients and antioxidants may prevent or even reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease.

The study, published in Open Biology, found taking a combination of antioxidants at increasing doses was more beneficial at preventing the debilitating disease than any other treatment currently available.

Chronic degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's are attributed to more than 70 percent of deaths globally and oxidative stress, chronic metabolic acidosis and free radicals in the body play a key role in the aging process.

The results showed that antioxidants react with free radicals in the body to render them harmless.

Dr. Gerald Veurink carried out the research while working at UWA's Medical School and examined a range of antioxidants to discover which ones were most effective at protecting the neurons in the body's nervous system.

He found complex phenolic carotenoid, as well as antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E in high concentrations, were most effective at reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Veurink said while a nutrient-rich diet helped stabilize the pH levels in the body that caused oxidative stress, the simultaneous supplementation of an antioxidant combination cocktail was most effective at preventing and managing chronic disease.

"The combination of antioxidants at sufficiently high, personalized doses and a nutrient-rich, low-carbohydrate diet appears to have the biggest impact on patients suffering with Alzheimer's," Dr. Veurink said.

He also found a combination of antioxidants rather than a single antioxidant helped combat oxidative stress.

Dr. Veurink said a holistic approach to healthcare that optimized individual dietary needs was needed to delay and prevent these chronic diseases.