According to researchers from Temple University, it’s possible that eating certain foods in your diet may increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, otherwise known as dementia.

The culprit is an amino acid called methionine.

If you eat foods that contain methionine and your levels of the amino acid get too high, your body will fight back by changing methionine into another amino acid called homocysteine.

High blood levels of homocysteine are associated with a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The Temple researchers studied methionine in mice as a first step for figuring out what might happen in humans.

They found that the mice with higher levels of methionine in their food developed greater homocysteine levels and amyloid plaque in their brains.

The high-methionine mice also had more trouble learning new tasks.

Methionine is found in beans, eggs, fish, garlic, lentils, onions, red meat, seeds, and yogurt.

The Temple researchers admitted that humans need methionine and that eliminating it from your diet won’t stop Alzheimer’s disease from developing.