New research validates consuming these bright colored foods have a positive influence
ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a disorder that affects the function of nerves and muscles. Based on U.S. population studies, a little over 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year or 15 new cases each day.
Dr. Alberto Ascherio, MD, Dr. P.H., Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and senior author of study stated in a press release "ALS is a devastating degenerative disease that generally develops between the ages of 40 and 70, and affects more men than women.” "Understanding the impact of food consumption on ALS development is important. Our study is one of the largest to date to examine the role of dietary antioxidants in preventing ALS."
For this study researchers used data from five prospective groups: the National Institutes of Health (NIH)–AARP Diet and Health Study, the Cancer Prevention Study II-Nutrition Cohort, the Multiethnic Cohort, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and the Nurses’ Health Study, researchers investigated more than one million participants for the present study. A total of 1093 ALS cases were identified after excluding subjects with unlikely food consumption.
The study also revealed the participants whose diet were high in beta-carotene and lutein that is found in dark green vegetables, had a lower risk for ALS.
Researchers did not find that lycopene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and vitamin C reduced risk of ALS neither was long-term vitamin C supplement intake.
“Our findings suggest that consuming carotenoid-rich foods may help prevent or delay the onset of ALS.Further food-based analyses are needed to examine the impact of dietary nutrients on ALS, concludes Dr. Ascherio.
The study, published by Wiley in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society,
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