Could Low-Carb Diets Help Prevent Memory Loss?

We ordinarily think of HDL cholesterol ("good cholesterol") as being "good" because high HDL is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Recently, we are finding out other good things which may go along with high HDL - immune system function, stronger healing response to injury and acute illess, and even possibly less depression.

Now there is yet another possibility - a study in June's Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (an American Heart Association Journal) found an association between HDL and memory decline in middle-aged adults. They followed 3673 people, testing them twice at averages ages of 55 and 61. The found that the people with low HDL were more likely to have memory deficits, and that a decrease in HDL was associated with memory deterioration.

Of course, we don't know whether the HDL itself produced the results or something associated both with memory and HDL. But we do know that one of the most reliable outcomes of a low-carb diet is increased HDL cholesterol.

Image © Vasiliy Yakobchuk

Related Resources:

• Low-Carb Diets and Cholesterol
  
  
• Low-Carb Diets Improve Cholesterol even Withouth Weight Loss
  
  
• Low-Carb Diets and Heart Disease