According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 5 million Americans suffer with Alzheimer’s disease and 1 of every 3 seniors dies with some form of dementia.[SUP]1[/SUP] Families may spend over $5,000 each year caring for a loved one, and it costs the U.S. $216 billion a year for Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
However, feeding your brain the right food isn’t just about preventing a disease in the future. Giving your brain the fuel it needs to function optimally may also improve your current cognitive function and creativity, making you more productive at work and at home.
Your brain needs the right fuel to nourish neurons, boost production of neurotransmitters and protect against damage and degeneration.
Unfortunately, some popular nutritional fads may have placed you at greater risk for damage to your neurons, without the additional heart health benefits and proponents of these dietary changes promised.
You may make a significant difference in your overall health and reduce your risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease when you purposefully include the foods your brain needs to function and detoxify.
Fuel Important to Your Brain
There are two types of fuel your body and brain can use to convert into energy. Either metabolized carbohydrates or fats may supply your brain and body with the energy it requires to survive.
Although your brain can use both, there is evidence to suggest that the metabolic product of fats, or ketones, will help restore and renew neurons, even after damage has started.
A primary source of these ketones are medium chain triglycerides (MCT). These triglycerides are not processed by the body in the same way as long-chain triglycerides. Usually, a fat is mixed with bile from your gallbladder before it is broken down in your intestines.
MCTs are digested like carbohydrates, entering your bloodstream more quickly but without the release of insulin associated with carbohydrates. Besides MCT oil, which is my preference, coconut oil has the highest percentage of MCTs, followed by palm oil and grass-fed, organic dairy products.
While ketones from the breakdown of MCT may provide an excellent fuel for your brain, some areas of your brain require glucose for fuel. Fortunately, your body can turn amino acids, the building blocks of protein, into glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis.[SUP]2[/SUP]
Your liver can also create glucose from glycerol found in stored triglycerides.[SUP]3[/SUP] In this way the part of your brain that requires glucose receives a steady supply, even when your carbohydrate intake is low.
Fats and proteins are essential to your survival but your body could happily do without non-fiber carbohydrates. The only carbs you really need are fresh vegetables, which are a great source of gut- and health-promoting fiber.
Low Fat Fad May Have Contributed to a Dramatic Rise in Dementia
There have been few formal studies evaluating the efficacy of ketones on the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer’s. Since the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s becomes resistant to insulin and is unable to use glucose for energy, some scientists are calling the disease type 3 diabetes.[SUP]4[/SUP]
Nutritional ketosis has had modest beneficial effects on cognitive outcomes in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.[SUP]5[/SUP]
Researchers have found a shared mechanism of pathogenesis between people suffering from metabolic syndrome and Alzheimer’s.[SUP]6[/SUP] Individuals with metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s, and the reverse is also true.[SUP]7[/SUP]
Individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s also share a characteristic trait of those with epilepsy, as their brains are more electrically excitable, leading to seizure activity.[SUP]8[/SUP]
Emerging evidence reveals a co-morbidity with epilepsy — so much so, in fact, that researchers recommend more clinical investigation to improve early recognition when you suffer a seizure.
During one study, researchers found individuals with Alzheimer’s who were treated with an MCT supplement for 90 days experienced significant improvement in their cognitive function compared to those in the control group.[SUP]9[/SUP] One theory of how ketones are effective for brain fuel is how they affect reactive oxygen species (ROS).
A byproduct of cellular metabolism, ROS has a single electron. This makes them highly reactive and a contributor to aging, neurodegeneration and stroke. The theory is that ketones are able to reduce the number of ROS and the resulting inflammation in your brain, thus reducing the damage to your neurons.[SUP]10,[/SUP][SUP]11
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By reducing the number of healthy fats you eat, low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets can essentially starve your brain cells, prevent effective detoxification and diminish the structural components necessary for cognition, memory and learning.
