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High-fat diet slows brain aging process
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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In one of the largest research centers and the oldest university in Europe – the University of Copenhagen, an expert group has found that the aging processes of the brain, which are observed in Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease, can be slowed down with a high-fat diet. Processes that damage DNA occur in the body constantly and cells have the ability to restore damage, this process is called reparation. But with age, DNA reparation is disrupted.
Also, with Cockayne syndrome or senile dwarfism (a congenital hereditary disease in which the reparation system is impaired), children age prematurely and die (at about 10-12 years of age).
In their new research project, scientists created rodents with senile dwarfism. During the experiment, a positive effect was noted in a group of mice that were fed saturated fatty acids from coconut oil. Such a diet slowed down the processes in the rodents' bodies that provoke early aging, hearing loss, vision impairment, and weight loss.
The brain needs energy, which it gets from sugar or ketones. Ketones are a type of organic compound and are needed by the body as a reserve source of energy. Ketones are formed when fats from food are broken down. Experts believe that this is what helps slow down the aging process in the brain.
In addition, another study by British scientists found that the aging process of the body can be stopped.
In their work, the researchers tested the effect of the NMN molecule on the body of laboratory rodents. According to the experts' assumptions, such therapy should activate the genes of youth, while the genes of aging should remain inactive, and as it turned out, their expectations were confirmed.
The head of the scientific project was David Sinclair, who noted that his group was the first to discover genes responsible for the processes of aging and rejuvenation of the body. The NMN molecule introduced to the rodents was supposed to completely "switch off" the genes that trigger the aging process, while activating the rejuvenation genes.
The British have managed to discover genes that control the processes of the human body's fight against aging, and with the right approach, these genes can be made to work, experts believe. Activating some genes and disabling others will allow achieving a fairly strong rejuvenating effect, it is possible that human aging processes can be reversed, at least a similar effect has been recorded in rodents.
During the study, the specialists injected a new drug with the NMN molecule into the experimental group of rodents. As a result, the scientists noted that the aging processes in the mice began to slow down. After the injection of the protein, the rodents began to experience a sharp slowdown in the aging processes in the body, and the head of the project is convinced that a similar effect can be observed in humans.
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