The idea here is to cut back on food containing the amino acid methionine. This simple dietary measure seems to reverse cognitive impairment in mice, enabling them to function normally again. The researchers at Temple University School of Medicine who saw this effect suggest that avoiding foods high in methionine might improve memory in patients in the early to moderate stages of Alzheimer's disease. Foods high in methionine include red meats, some types of fish, beans, eggs, garlic, lentils, onions, yogurt and seeds. In their study, the investigators put one group of mice on a high methionine diet and another group on a regular, healthy mouse diet. After three months, they switched half the mice on the high methionine diet to a healthy diet. After two months on the regular diet, they found a complete reversal of cognitive impairment they had seen earlier in this group of mice. The investigators noted that to slow progression of Alzheimer’s in humans, both physical and mental exercises are needed in addition to dietary changes.
