A scientific team led by the Food Sciences Research Institute of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CIAL, CSIC-UAM) published a clinical study in people over 65 years of age in which it was concluded that a component of dairy fat could prevent mild cognitive impairment associated with aging.
As reported this Wednesday by the research center, supplementing the diet with components of the membrane of the dairy fat globule was of great interest due to its implication in enhancing memory, which is why it could be used in the prevention of mild cognitive impairment during adulthood.
Cognitive decline is one of the most important consequences of aging, and drug therapies have so far been largely unsuccessful. In fact, cognitive deficits in the hippocampus of the brain are linked to low levels of phospholipids related to the maintenance of cognitive activity, memory and learning.
Phospholipids are the main lipids of the nervous system, they are located in cell membranes and have the ability to interact with metabolites, hormones, antibodies and other cells.
Recent studies demonstrated that during aging there is a reduction in phospholipid content in various brain regions, which was linked to cognitive decline associated with aging.
The milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) consists of a complex structure of glycoproteins, phospholipids, sphingolipids, glycolipids (cerebrosides and gangliosides), cholesterol and other minor components that could prevent this cognitive impairment.
Therefore, in this nutritional intervention work, the researchers developed a dairy drink fortified with MFGM that was tested in a randomized pilot clinical study. A total of 44 people over 65 years of age, healthy or with mild cognitive impairment, received a daily serving of milk with MFGM or skimmed control milk (without MFGM) for 14 weeks.
At the beginning and end of the study, the volunteers underwent a battery of cognitive and analytical tests. Those participants who consumed the preparation with MFGM showed improvements in episodic memory, that is, the ability to remember recent events in their lives, with special relevance in women compared to men.
For all these reasons, they concluded that nutritional supplementation with MFGM could be used to prevent or slow down the progression of age-related cognitive decline.