Beetroot compound may slow Alzheimer’s: Study

A compound found in beetroot may do more than give the fruit its distinct purple colour.

New research presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society found that the Betanin compound may one day be able to help slow the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain, a process that is typically associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers hope that the link between beetroot and Alzheimer’s has the potential to lead to lead to the creation of drugs and medications that would be able to make the long-term and often devastating effects of the cognitive disease less severe.

Scientists presented their new findings earlier this week at the 255th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. Researcher Li-June Ming said that the results so far were promising. “Our data suggests that betanin, a compound in beet extract, shows some promise as an inhibitor of certain chemical reactions in the brain that are involved in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease,” Ming explained.

“This is just a first step, but we hope that our findings will encourage other scientists to look for structures similar to betanin that could be used to synthesize drugs that could make life a bit easier for those who suffer from this disease.”

Globally, as many as 44 million people are living with Alzheimer’s or related dementia. It typically impacts one in ten people over the age of 65, although that number increases to one in three for people over 85. While the research notes that scientists are continuing to figure out exactly what causes the cognitive disorder, one of the biggest theories relates to beta-amyloid. The sticky protein fragment accumulates on the brain, making it difficult for brain cells known as neurons to communicate.

Ming noted that a lot of the damage is the result of beta-amyloid attaching itself to iron, copper and other metals. These metals cause the beta-amyloid to clump together and kill neurons, worsening dementia in patients.

Previous studies have found that beetroot juice has the ability to increase oxygen flow in the brain and increase cognitive function, with Ming, co-author Darrell Cole Cerrato and the rest of the research team setting out to find whether betanin really had the potential to block the negative effects of copper and stop the beta-amyloid from killing neurons.

Testing the theory in lab studies, the researchers found that adding betanin reduced oxidation by 90 per cent and also prevented misfolding to an extent. Cerrato said the team was happy with the results. “We can’t say that betanin stops the misfolding completely, but we can say that it reduces oxidation,” he explained in a statement.

“Less oxidation could prevent misfolding to a certain degree, perhaps even to the point that it slows the aggregation of beta-amyloid peptides, which is believed to be the ultimate cause of Alzheimer’s.”

What do you think? Are you a fan of beetroot? Would you eat more of it if it helped improve your cognitive health?