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A steak a day may keep the forgetfulness away.
New research suggests that a meat-heavy diet may help ward off dementia, but don’t go switching to the carnivore diet just yet — this protein-packed advice is only for a select group of people with a genetic risk factor tied to Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists say the findings could eventually pave the way for custom nutrition strategies to support brain health in those more prone to cognitive decline.
“There is a lack of dietary research into brain health, and our findings suggest that conventional dietary advice may be unfavourable to a genetically defined subgroup of the population,” Jakob Norgren, a researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and first author of the study, said in a press release.
“For those who are aware that they belong to this genetic risk group, the findings offer hope; the risk may be modifiable through lifestyle changes.”
That’s a big deal. In the US, roughly one in four Americans carry the APOE 3/4 or 4/4 gene combinations, which are linked to an increased likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s.
In the study, Norgren and his colleagues followed more than 2,100 adults in Sweden for up to 15 years as part of the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care.
At the start, all of the participants were 60 or older and free of dementia. Over the years, they reported their diets and completed regular cognitive tests.
The researchers found that among people with the high-risk gene profile, those who ate less meat were more than twice as likely to develop dementia compared with participants without the variants.
Interestingly, that higher likelihood disappeared among the fifth of participants who ate the most meat. Their median intake was estimated at roughly 870 grams per week, based on a standard 2,000-calorie daily diet.
“Those who ate more meat overall had significantly slower cognitive decline and a lower risk of dementia, but only if they had the APOE 3/4 or 4/4 gene variants,” Norgren said.
The researchers are still trying to understand exactly why people with APOE 3/4 or 4/4 who ate relatively large amounts of meat showed a lower chance of developing dementia — but they have a theory.
“APOE4 is the evolutionarily oldest variant of the APOE gene and may have arisen during a period when our evolutionary ancestors ate a more animal-based diet,” Norgren said.
But don’t fire up the grill just yet — not all meat made the cut.
“A lower proportion of processed meat in total meat consumption was associated with a lower risk of dementia, regardless of APOE genotype,” said Sara Garcia-Ptacek, the study’s last author.
In fact, in a follow-up analysis, researchers found that people with the high-risk gene variants who ate more unprocessed meat also had a lower risk of dying from any cause.
Still, it’s too early to start stocking up on sirloin.
Researchers note that the study was observational, suggesting a possible link between meat intake, the gene variants and dementia — but it cannot prove cause and effect.
“Clinical trials are now needed to develop dietary recommendations tailored to APOE genotype,” Norgren said.
If the findings hold up, the impact could be significant.
Across the country, one in 10 older adults are already living with dementia. The number of new cases each year is expected to double in the coming decades, climbing from roughly 514,000 in 2020 to a staggering 1 million by 2060.
The toll is significant: Dementia cost the US an estimated $781 billion in 2025 alone, and it contributes to more than 100,000 deaths annually.
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