Here's a study claiming that cooked high-fat diets lead to a reduction in brain-weight of 5%(yes, I know the headline refers to "high-protein diets" but since the article is clearly referring to high-fat diets like the Atkins Diet, it's clearly referring to the latter, really):-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6387851/High-protein-diets-could-cause-Alzheimers.html"High protein diets 'could cause Alzheimer's'
High protein diets could shrink your brain and cause Alzheimer's, research suggests.
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Published: 7:35AM BST 21 Oct 2009
Researchers found that mice fed meals similar to those of the original Atkin's Diet had brains five per cent lighter than all the others.
They also found that the hippocampus part of the brain, which is responsible for memory, were less developed in those rodents on the high protein diet.
Related Articles
Mediterranean diet 'can protect from Alzheimer's'
New therapy 'can reverse Alzheimer's memory loss'
Cutting back on calories 'can help improve memory'
Marijuana may improve memory and help fight Alzheimer's
New Alzheimer's drug is twice as effective as current treatmentsScientists say the findings, published in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration, suggest the ravages of dementia "might be slowed or avoided through healthy eating".
Previous research has discovered Mediterranean-style low-calorie, low-fat diets rich in vegetables, fruits, and fish may delay the onset or slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers used mice specially bred to develop Alzheimer's.
The animals were fed either a regular diet, a high fat-low carbohydrate diet, a high protein-low carb version or a high carb-low fat option.
The researchers then looked at the brain and body weight of the mice, as well as plaque build up associated with Alzheimer's.
They were surprised by the smaller brains of those given the high protein-low carb diet.
Mice on a high fat diet had raised levels of plaque proteins, but this had no effect on them.
Professor Sam Gandy, a neurologist of The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said: "The most unexpected result of our study was the loss of overall brain mass associated with a high protein-low carbohydrate diet.
High protein diets are used for weight control, and those diets sometimes combine high fat and high protein, which may be doubly damaging, if the high fat increases the accumulation of plaques and the high protein sensitizes nerve cells to the poison released by plaques."
Given the previously reported association of high protein diet with ageing-related neurotoxicity, one wonders whether particular diets, if ingested at particular ages, might increase susceptibility to incidence or progression of Alzheimer's."
At its peak, around three million Britons were following the original Atkins Diet which was promoted as a revolution in dieting which let people fill up on meat, eggs and cheese, while shunning carbohydrates.
Its message seemed to go against conventional medical wisdom and attracted criticism from doctors who warned of the dangers of eating too much fat.
The diet involved no calorie counting and at its height was particularly popular with men. But it fell out of favour after concerns that it could increase the risk of heart disease and kidney problems.
The Atkins Diet was devised by US heart doctor Robert Atkins. It originally involved eating plenty of protein while virtually eliminating carbohydrates like sugar, bread, rice and pasta.
It has since been revised to allow for more carbohydrates to be eaten."
