Copper Plus Fats Accelerate Mental Decline

Too much saturated fat and trans-fat in your diet is likely to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease two or three times. That’s bad enough, but a new finding, based on animal studies, is even more alarming. A chance observation of a study in rabbits on a high cholesterol diet who drank distilled water with a trace of copper in it were found to have an accelerated decline in memory test results, when compared with rabbits who drank distilled water only. And the rabbits drinking the copper-tainted water had amyloid beta plaques in their brains – a signal finding in Alzheimer’s.

Rush University scientists designed a study to see if copper plus a high saturated and trans fat diet in older persons was associated with any changes in mental (cognitive) tests over a 6-year period. They found that people with the highest (average 2.75 mg daily) vs. the lowest (average 0.88 mg daily) copper intake (together with a high saturated fat and trans-fat intake) had the effect of advancing cognitive decline equivalent to the changes expected over 19 years. But, copper-related changes in cognition weren’t seen in people who didn’t have the high saturated and trans fats diet.

There are plenty of nutritional supplements on sale that contain copper. However, based on the results described, we suggest you don’t rush out and buy any copper supplements. And it's interesting to know that arguments rage over chocolate, which may contain quite a lot of copper.