Fungi in Gut Linked to Higher Alzheimer's Risk Can Be Reduced Through Ketogenic Diet

A study in EBioMedicine determined that fungi in the gut linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease and found in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can be beneficially modified with a Mediterranean ketogenic diet, reports EurekAlert . The researchers sequenced the fungal rRNA ITS1 gene in 17 older adults — 11 with diagnosed MCI and six with normal cognition — prior to and following a six-week intervention of a modified Mediterranean ketogenic diet or the American Heart Association Diet. "Although we do not fully understand how these fungi contribute to Alzheimer's disease, this is the first study of its kind to reveal their role in our mental health, which we hope will ignite thinking in the scientific community to develop better understanding of them in relation to Alzheimer's disease," said Wake Forest School of Medicine Professor Hariom Yadav. "It also indicates that dietary habits such as eating a ketogenic diet can reduce harmful fungi in the gut which might help in reducing Alzheimer's disease processes in the brain."