{"id":209482,"date":"2025-03-22T03:12:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T08:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/lowering-bioenergetic-age-may-help-fend-off-alzheimers"},"modified":"2025-03-22T03:12:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T08:12:01","slug":"lowering-bioenergetic-age-may-help-fend-off-alzheimers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/lowering-bioenergetic-age-may-help-fend-off-alzheimers","title":{"rendered":"Lowering bioenergetic age may help fend off Alzheimer\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The researchers turned to a group of molecules called acylcarnitines, which are associated with declining cognition and breaking down or metabolizing fats and proteins for energy. To test if high acylcarnitine levels in the blood could predict who\u2019s at risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s, the researchers used data from a large-scale study called the Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fascinating,\u201d the author said. \u201cDividing research participants into groups based on their specific acylcarnitine levels highlighted people with more severe Alzheimer\u2019s disease and others with fewer symptoms.\u201d This led the researchers to define a bioenergetic clock based on acylcarnitines\u2014how old a person\u2019s metabolism acts, compared to actual age. Higher bioenergetic age is linked to higher acylcarnitine levels, worsened Alzheimer\u2019s pathology, cognitive decline and brain atrophy.<\/p>\n

The researchers also quantified cognitive decline using a common test called the mini-mental state examination, on which a score below 24 out of 30 points indicates impairment. They found that people with low acylcarnitine levels to begin with declined more slowly, losing about 0.5 points less per year than people with high acylcarnitine levels. The benefit is on par with the Alzheimer\u2019s drug lecanemab.<\/p>\n

To some degree, a person\u2019s bioenergetic clock ticks forward at a rate determined by their genetics, but having a healthy lifestyle\u2014for example, eating a plant-based diet and exercising \u2014can help keep acylcarnitine levels low, which means a younger bioenergetic age, the author explained.<\/p>\n

They went on to identify a subgroup of participants, about 30% of the Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, with older bioenergetic age but favorable genetic background. These individuals may benefit more from early lifestyle interventions designed to decrease their bioenergetic age and potentially delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Moving forward, the senior author hopes to home in on the lifestyle interventions most effective for lowering bioenergetic age. For example, eating a low-carb diet may help maintain metabolic health, but just how low would carbohydrate consumption have to be for a person to see benefits?<\/p>\n

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Continue reading \u201cLowering bioenergetic age may help fend off Alzheimer\u2019s\u201d | ><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The researchers turned to a group of molecules called acylcarnitines, which are associated with declining cognition and breaking down or metabolizing fats and proteins for energy. To test if high acylcarnitine levels in the blood could predict who\u2019s at risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s, the researchers used data from a large-scale study called the Alzheimer\u2019s Disease [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1506,412,1495,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-food","category-genetics","category-health","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}