Overview
- The peer-reviewed observational study from Karolinska Institutet, published in JAMA Network Open, analyzed more than 2,100 adults aged 60+ in the SNAC‑K cohort over up to 15 years (DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.6489).
- Higher overall meat consumption was associated with slower cognitive decline and lower dementia risk only in people with APOE 3/4 or 4/4 genotypes.
- Among APOE4 carriers, the excess dementia risk seen at lower meat intake was not observed in the top fifth of meat consumers, whose median intake was about 870 grams per week standardized to a 2,000‑calorie diet.
- A lower share of processed meat in total meat consumption was linked to reduced dementia risk regardless of genotype, and higher unprocessed meat intake among APOE4 carriers was associated with lower all‑cause mortality in a follow-up analysis.
- Authors emphasize the findings are associative and based on self-reported diet with adjusted confounders, and they call for intervention studies to test genotype-tailored dietary recommendations, noting APOE4 combinations are carried by roughly 30% of Swedes.