Three ways to prevent Alzheimer’s recently had positive tests....

Today's Post: Monday, 8-9-2010

Last week, my email from Dr Khalsa, the doctor who specializes in senility prevention and reversal, was a report of three nondrug methods that recently had research that said they worked.

There are several other methods in this post, most of which Dr Khalsa also uses.

Three studies presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Honolulu identified these three lifestyle habits that tested as reducing the risk of cognitive impairment such as vascular dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

1. Do regular exercise including some vigorous exercise most days of every week.

The first study found that people who did the least exercise or
physical activity were 45 percent more likely to develop dementia
than their more active counterparts. And the people who did moderate to
heavy levels of physical activity or exercise lowered their risk for any type of
dementia by about 40 percent.

This should hardly be surprising.

Here’s why.

Such exercise done regularly over years of time, makes massive heart health protective changes by increasing HDL, lowering LDL &, lowering triglycerides, directly increases circulation to your heart and brain, grows new brain cells !, lowers excess insulin and blood sugar, keeps your blood vessels healthier, tends to prevent or turn off insulin resistance, and helps prevent high blood pressure and obesity. Surprisingly, exercise tends to lower inflammation too.

Every single one of those effects is brain protective.

2. Drink green tea from a few times a week to a few times most days or take green tea extract each day or both.

Another study found that people who drank green tea one to four times per week experienced 37 percent less cognitive decline than non-
tea drinkers.

The green tea ingredients have been shown to have heart and blood vessel protective effects, may lower inflammation, have enough caffeine for mild brain stimulation, and lower inflammation.

Also, every time you drink green tea or tea without sugar or milk, and do NOT drink a soft drink or diet soft drink instead, you protect your brain double. You drink the tea that protects your brain and do NOT drink the drinks that have the reverse effects of exercise and so harm your brain.

3. Take an extra 2,000 to 10,000 iu a day of vitamin D3.

A third study found that having a vitamin D deficiency increased the chances of cognitive impairment by about 42 %.

Being severely deficient in vitamin D raised the risk by an astounding 394 percent.

It used to be thought that 400 iu of vitamin D was the minimum daily requirement; but more recent research is showing that it may not even be enough to prevent severe deficiency in everyone. And, virtually everyone who fails to get at least that much is severely deficient.

On a sunny day you spend outside, your body tends to make 10,000 to 15,000 iu of vitamin D3; but few people today spend that much time outside on any day in a week, let alone 7.

And, since people’s bodies will use at least 3,000 iu a day of vitamin D3 if it is available, the minimum daily requirement is closer to 2,000 to 3,000 iu a day.

It also looks like the optimal supplement amount daily is closer to 5,000 to 10,000 iu a day.

The good news is that 1,000 iu and 5,000 iu capsules of vitamin D3 are some of the least expensive supplements.

Here are several more protective methods.:

4. Recently there was a report that eating a Mediterranean diet had similar protective effects and reduced the chances of mental decline. The garlic, lots of nonstarchy vegetables, the extra virgin olive oil, the cooked tomato dishes, and the red wine in moderation with meals plus eating almost no meats from grain fed animals and not that much refined grains or sugar and NO junk food and soft drinks seem to be the most effective parts.

This diet has strong heart protective effects and tends to reduce or prevent obesity and high blood pressure. Those also effects happen to be brain protective.

5. Not eating oils high in omega 6, eating virtually no foods containing refined grains, eating no or very little fats from meats or dairy products from animals fed grains instead of their natural diet, and taking purified fish oil omega 3 supplements and DHA supplements and eating wild caught fish only several times most weeks has been shown to be massively health protective.

That set of things reduces omega 6 oils to a level your body can handle and provides the omega 3 oils your brain needs to operate well. It’s been shown to directly protect your brain and make impairment less likely. And, the sharp decrease in chronic inflammation this causes for sure makes you more comfortable and in less pain. It is strongly heart protective which means it is also brain protective. Plus your brain directly uses omega 3 oils. In addition, the lower inflammation looks to also help prevent cancer and obesity and high blood pressure.

6. Take a good multivitamin plus mineral and a good B Complex supplement. Shortages of B12 and other B vitamins, vitamins and minerals have been shown to harm your brain.

7. Eat curried foods spiced with turmeric and black pepper and other spices a few times most weeks and take a daily curcumin supplement (the active ingredient of turmeric) ideally with some black pepper.

This has been shown to prevent, reduce, or even possibly reverse the amyloid plaques that create or are markers for the damage that is the direct cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

It’s also thought that vitamin D is protective in a similar way and even that taking BOTH vitamin D and turmeric or curcumin may be more than twice as effective as either by itself.

There is also some evidence showing that this combination helps your body prevent cancer.

8. Keep up an active social life and keep learning new things and educating yourself.

These activities do triple duty to prevent mental decline. They usually lower stress. They give your brain enough exercise to often grow new brain cells and they add to your brain’s active neural net.

And, that last effect means that you can actually have damage from small strokes or Alzheimer’s without any or much drop off in thinking or memory skills. Educated people, people who speak more than one language, and regular exercisers all tend to have brains that keep functioning even when they sustain enough damage to impair people who have not done these things. It’s just like the internet. If you have enough parts of your neural net and enough interconnections, parts can be damaged or temporarily down; but messages still get through anyway.