What You Need To Know About AGEs In Food
These inflammatory particles are linked to brain aging
Hello, everyone. Welcome to your mid-week newsletter. Today I want to tell you about another way to look at food through the lens of brain health. Let’s consider the impact of AGEs (advanced glycation end products)—tiny inflammatory particles in food linked to accelerated brain aging.
First, you should know that it’s impossible to eliminate these substances entirely from the food you eat. Not only are AGEs inherently part of all foods—no matter how processed—cooking creates even more. I know that sounds dreadful but rest assured, there are ways to minimize your AGE exposure. A little know-how goes a long way. While high levels of AGEs have been associated with poor health outcomes, minimal exposure is probably not a big concern. I’ll go into how to identify the worst AGE-rich foods so you can avoid them. And, I’ll show you the best way to apply heat to the food you cook—what I call brain-friendly cooking techniques.
What you need to know about AGE’s, inflammatory particles in food
A good rule of thumb: the more processed a food is, the more AGEs it will harbor. We already know there’s a strong link between ultra processed foods and poor brain health. If you could boil it down into one sentence, here is the reason why: modern diets are largely heat-processed and as a result contain high levels of AGEs.
AGEs are known to contribute to increased oxidative stress and inflammation in the body and the brain. Some researchers blame the recent epidemics of diabetes and cardiovascular disease on AGE consumption. A diet high in AGEs has also been linked to cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
AGEs 101
AGEs are glycotoxins—substances that bind proteins together in a process called crosslinking. When heat is applied to a food in the presence of sugar, the protein in the food becomes chemically transformed into these crosslinked AGEs. The sugar can be inherent in the food, as in peak-season corn on the cob, or applied to the food in the form of a sugary sauce.
When I took courses at the Culinary Institute of America, I learned about the Maillard reaction—a term for what happens when heat triggers chemical reactions in food. The amino acids and sugars become toasty brown, or caramelized, creating delicious aromas, flavors, and attractive textures. This chemical reaction also creates AGEs. It happens when you slather chicken with barbecue sauce and place it directly on a hot grill, or when you fry bacon in a pan so that it turns crispy and brown. When you bake bread and the crust becomes golden brown, that’s AGE formation too. It is nearly impossible to cook without creating AGEs, but certain cooking techniques can minimize their formation; see below.
How AGEs Travel in the Body
After consuming AGE-laden foods, substances travel into the bloodstream and wreak havoc, causing inflammation and oxidative stress. AGEs accumulate on the surface of normally smooth structures, such as the interior of blood vessels, making them lose their elasticity. Damaged blood vessels are more likely to become sticky and attract blood clots. In the brain, this can result in a major blockage, or stroke, or many small ones—what we used to call multi-infarct dementia and is now called vascular dementia.
While much of our exposure to AGEs is from ingesting foods, we also create AGEs on our own. As we age, we synthesize AGEs more and more in a process that is akin to aging itself.
AGEs May Accelerate Brain Aging
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York found an association between the level of AGEs in the body and cognitive decline. When they studied elderly participants, they found higher blood levels of AGEs in those who consumed more AGE-rich foods. And, participants with the highest AGE levels (the blue line, below) had poorer memory testing over time compared to those with the lowest AGEs.