Recent study has proven association between junk food and increased risk of dementia. In animal models, eating meals rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol triggered changes in the brain associated with the early stages of the debilitating Alzheimer’s disease.

Research team led by Susanne Akterin, a researcher at the Karolinska Institute's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center studied the effect of a junk food diet on mice genetically altered to be prone to Alzheimer's. Researchers tested the creatures' brains after they were fed a diet laden in fat, sugar and cholesterol for nine months. Tests revealed that such food altered the formation of a protein called tau which forms tangles inside the brain of Alzheimer's patients, causing brain cells to shrink and die.

Researchers also found that the cholesterol cut levels of a brain protein called arc that is a key in storing memories. Study also revealed that those overweight at 60 are more than twice as likely to have dementia by 75.

Susanne Akterin said, "On examining the brains of these mice, we found a chemical change not unlike that found in the Alzheimer brain."

She added, "We suspect that a high intake of fat and cholesterol, in combination with genetic factors . . . can be a contributory factor in the development of Alzheimer's."