Nutrition-Based Approaches in Clinical Trials Targeting Cognitive Function: Highlights of the CTAD 2020

The Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) 2020 conference was the stage for researchers from all over the world to present their recent and ongoing research focused on potential Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatments and prevention of cognitive decline. Among a varied range of topics, nutritional aspects arose as possibilities of treatments towards the promotion of a healthy aging. Among the discussed themes, supplementation of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and multi-nutrient approaches were presented, suggesting that long-term supplementation (i.e., over 3 years) might be needed for observing positive effects on cognitive performance. Trials testing ketogenic agents and carbohydrate-restricted diet were also presented and showed promising effects on improving cognitive function of mild-cognitive impaired (MCI) and pre-diabetic individuals, respectively, in a short-term way (i.e. after 3 to 6 months). The combination of some of the nutritional approaches with physical activity interventions raises the question on whether they would individually perform in a similar way. Promising therapies involving nutrition appear to be safe and well tolerated by volunteers. Failures on achieving positive findings raise questions on whether they were driven by specific characteristics of the studied populations, insufficient doses or duration of treatment. Notwithstanding, current evidence on the applicability of nutrition-based approaches as AD treatments are encouraging but demand further research on the topic.