Highlights:
- Diets high in carbohydrates, and diets low in healthy fats, lead to Alzheimer’s disease
- Diets high in carbohydrates are associated with an 89 % increased risk for dementia. High-fat diets are associated with a 44 % reduced risk
- Alzheimer’s is directly related to chronically elevated blood sugar levels
- Diabetes doubles your risk for Alzheimer’s disease
- You can regenerate cells in your brain’s memory center through a process called neurogenesis.
Saturated Fats Are a Critical Part of a Heart- and Brain-Healthy Diet. Saturated fat is needed to have good cholesterol in your body.
Dr. Perlmutter cites a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, which found that women who are given cholesterol-lowering statin medication have a 44 % increased risk for becoming a type 2 diabetic.Diabetes, in turn, doubles your risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s Is Directly Related to Elevated Blood Sugar Levels. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in August 2013 demonstrates that even mild elevation of blood sugar – a level of around 105 or 110 mg/dl – was associated with an elevated risk for becoming demented.
Dr. Perlmutter believes the ideal fasting blood sugar level is around 70-85. People who are keto-adapted (eating low-carb, high-fat) are burning fat and they can get by with much lower blood sugar.
Your brain does not need sugar. The brain loves to burn fat, specifically ketones, which your body produces by metabolizing your fat.
Eat the Right Types of Fat: Healthy fats include Avocados, Butter made from raw, grass-fed organic milk, Raw dairy, Organic pastured egg yolks, Coconuts and coconut oil, Unheated organic nut oils, Raw nuts, such as pecans and macadamia, which are low in protein and high in healthy fats, and Grass-fed meats. Avoid all trans fats or hydrogenated fats i.e. margarine, vegetable oils, and butter-like spreads.
Our ancestral diet was very high in saturated fats and virtually void of non-vegetable carbohydrates. Our bodies were not designed to eat carbs are refined and highly processed and foods that are genetically engineered grains and sugar (GMO sugar beets and corn).
This underpins almost every health malady that we are trying to deal with today.
Exercise reduces free radical production and inflammation,both of which are drivers for chronic disease. Exercise has been shown to turn on a brain growth hormone called BDNF, (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). BDNF codes for your brain’s ability to both repair itself and grow new brain cells.
Dr. Perlmutter recommends high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which provides you with the equivalent of two hours of conventional aerobic exercise in just 20 minutes.
Learn more at 15 minutes of resistance weight training is all the exercise I need for the week to build muscle.
Dr. Perlmutter’s Grain Brain program includes other recommendations, not limited to:
- Turmeric, for its anti-inflammatory potential and ability to activate BDNF for brain health.
- An optimal vitamin D level of around 70-90 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) year-round.
- Optimizing your gut health by reseeding your gut with beneficial bacteria (probiotics).
- Avoid antibiotics and eating CAFO meats (concentrated animal feeding operations)which provide you with traces of antibiotics in each bite. These antibiotics kill beneficial bacteria.
- Measuring your gluten sensitivity with a Cyrex [Array 3] test.Dr. Fasano discovered that gluten can also make your blood-brain barrier leaky.
A high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet is not just for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. It’s the right diet for ALL brain-related disorders.
Choose above-ground vegetables which, include kale, chard, collards, broccoli, and spinach. These also contain plenty of healthy fiber – you really do not need grains.
Choose grass-fed products – wild fish, pasture-raised chicken, and farm-raised or pasture-raised eggs.
This Post has been condensed from Key Dietary Strategies to Protect Yourself from Alzheimer’s https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/27/diet-alzheimers-disease.aspx
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