Advanced Glycation End Products

some scientists have cast doubt that AGEs in foods have any effect on the concentration of AGEs within the body.  If dietary AGEs do not affect the concentration of AGEs within the body then dietary would probably not increase Alzheimer’s risk.  Several studies have shown that one of the main AGEs called carboxymethyl–lysine (CML) does not increase in the body after consumption of foods with a high amount of AGEs.  In fact, CML within the circulatory system increases more after eating healthy foods, like non-starchy vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and fruit.  Something odd is obviously at play.3    

To figure out what is going on, let’s turn to randomized clinical trials that look at a diet high in AGEs with a diet low in AGEs.  In one trial, the researchers looked at two different diets, an unhealthy diet with high amounts of red meat, processed meat and refined grains and a healthy diet of whole grains, dairy, nuts and legumes.  The researchers took blood samples from the subjects and not only looked at CML, but also two other types of AGEs, CEL and MG-H1.  This isn’t a perfect AGEs study because nuts and dairy can have very high amounts of AGEs, but it might be a good place to start understanding what is going on with AGEs.  As shown before, the high AGEs diet did not increase the amount of CML in the blood.  MG-H1 also not differ between the high AGEs diet group and the low AGEs diet group.  However, CEL did increase within the high AGEs for people with insulin resistance.  For people that are insulin sensitive, there was no difference between the AGEs analyzed within the two groups.  CEL might be a better AGEs maker than CML, especially for people that are insulin resistant.4   

A meta-analysis of 17 randomized clinical trials investigating the effect of dietary AGEs on cardiovascular biomarkers.  The researchers found that insulin resistance, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein were all reduced with a low AGEs diet.  They also found an overall decrease of CML among subjects.5     

Dietary AGEs may have a minor effect on AGEs within the body, however the cardiovascular health and cognitive benefits of a healthy diet, which is typically composed of low AGEs, is undeniable.  The naturally occuring AGEs within the body may be a bigger problem than AGEs found in food and decreasing the activity of these AGEs might prove more beneficial.

A randomized clinical using diabetic patients found that vitamin D supplements were able to reduce the concentration of AGEs within the blood.  Polyphenols have been shown to inhibit the formation of AGEs, detoxify AGEs, and inhibit RAGE.  In addition, the antioxidant properties of both polyphenols and vitamin C can reduce the destructive oxidation behavior of AGEs.  Vitamin C and vitamin E as well as a variety of drugs (including aspirin) can also inhibit the formation of AGEs.  Limiting sugar intake, especially fructose intake, will also help decrease AGEs within the body because the Maillard reaction requires sugar to form AGEs.6,7,8      

Another sources of AGEs is cigarette smoke.  Of course, if you are at all worried about Alzheimer’s and your health in general, cigarette smoking will be the first thing you cut out.9