Alzheimer's Disease

Statistics show that Americans 65 and older have an overall 20 to 25% rate of mild cognitive impairment. A full 10% of these people have outright dementia. The average person does fairly well until their late 70's.. There are more than 6 million Americans today with Alzheimer's. This is now called diabetes type 3. Higher education is a big plus factor here, as college graduates do much better as they age. Men are affected more than women.

Why do we fear growing old so much? Mostly, it is because we start to lose our mental clarity, memory, decision making ability, and therefore our independence. Alzheimer’s is a fast growing epidemic in America, and most of the world. Over 50% of Americans over 85 will suffer from it. This disease has only appeared in the last few decades. It was simply unknown until very recently. We have other epidemics never seen before, especially diabetes, hypertension, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. We have these new epidemics  because we are doing things humans have never done before. These never before seen epidemics are mostly confined to the industrialized nations, especially America. No one has ever hogged down so many calories, fat, sugars, chemicals, preservatives, and nutrition-less food than we do. No one. Basically, Alzheimer's is based on inflammation and oxidative stress. This is very related to the same factors that cause coronary diabetes and heart disease (the biggest killer). Our insane intake of over 160 pounds of various sugars is the main cause. Please note that. What can we do about it? We can avoid cognitive decline and failing memory. Genetics is a minor factor, especially since this condition didn't even exist 100 years ago. Also, it was never prominent until recently. We can prevent Alzheimer's as well as dementia, and serious cognitive decline as we age. Once Alzheimer's takes hold though, it cannot be cured. The most important causes are sugar intake, high blood glucose, high insulin, and insulin resistance. High estrogens, estradiol and estrone, are another very basic cause. This comes down mostly to a dysfunctional blood sugar/insulin axis, and high E1 and E2. Let’s look at the major factors:

Sugars. We swill down over 160 pounds of various sugars every year. This is prima facie insanity. One in three American children will grow up diabetic. This is the main cause. This sugar intake causes high blood glucose, high insulin, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes). This is why it is now called "diabetes type 3". Sugars rot your brain. Read the article Sugar is Sugar. It doesn't matter whether you eat honey, fruit juice, dried fruit, molasses, agave syrup, raw sugar, sorghum, stevia, or white sugar. Now we have toxic sugar substitutes such as sucralose that cause the very same problems. All these also raise triglyceride levels.

Insulin resistance, high insulin, and high blood glucose. This comes from eating all that sugar. Our blood glucose rises. Our insulin no longer is effective, so we keep making more and more to compensate. This leads to metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, and then outright diabetes. Caffeine in any form will do the same. Even one cup of coffee, or one energy drink a day, will eventually wreck your blood sugar metabolism. Stop the caffeine! We should have a fasting blood insulin level of about 5, not 9 and above. Our blood sugar should be 85 or less, not 100 and above. Yes, these levels are realistic, and rural Asian people prove it.

Obesity. We’re the fattest nation on earth, and getting fatter every year. Every year we get more obese. The fatter you are, the higher your chances are of getting every known disease, including Alzheimer’s. You can eat all you want, never be hungry, and lose weight, if you just make better food choices. Just make better food choices. Whole grains should be your staple basic food. Fat makes you fat, not food per se. The only way to be slim is a whole grain based diet, regular exercise, and the other five of the Seven Steps.

Saturated animal fats. We stuff over 40% saturated fat calories in our face. This should only be 10 to 20% unsaturated oils, and from vegetables only. Excessive fat intake is a major factor here, as it is with all other diseases. Eat less than 20% vegetable oils. The meat, poultry, eggs and dairy foods have to go. Americans have the highest cholesterol levels and highest rates of CHD in the world.

Hormonal imbalance. The average American over 40 is a hormonal mess. Men have about eight basic hormones to deal with (testosterone, DHEA, E1, E2, pregnenolone, melatonin, T3 and T4), while women have about ten (due to estriol and progesterone). Natural hormone balance is vital here. Your basic hormones are all very vital here. Pregnenolone is especially important. High estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1) are major factors in both men and women. High E1 and E2 are disastrous for our brains. Read the article Balance Your Hormones.

Too much food. We eat TWICE the calories we need. We eat for two people. We never stop eating. This country now has wall to wall fast food grease pits wherever you go. No one else out eats America. Eat two meals a day. Fast one day a week. Make better food choices, and you can eat all you want and never be hungry. The less you eat, the longer you'll live, the healthier you'll be, and the higher your quality of life. Calorie restriction is the most effective way know to increase lifespan. Always eat as little as possible by eating low calories plant foods like whole grains and beans. Not less food, but whole lower calorie vegetable foods.

Lack of exercise. Who walks anywhere anymore? How many people do you know who go to a gym or have a home gym? Playing golf in an electric cart really doesn’t count. Exercise, even just walking every day, is a powerful preventative. The more you exercise, the more bulletproof you will be to mental decline as you age. Exercise raises your feel good endorphins, too.

Oxidative stress. This means the free radicals in our body are overwhelming us. This comes from our diet and lifestyle. It is not enough to just take proven antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene, and melatonin. These, on their own, will not make up for bad diet and lack of exercise. Diet and lifestyle cures oxidative stress.

Bad habits. Caffeine is the most popular psychotropic drug on earth, and is insidiously addictive. We don’t drink as much alcohol as the Scandinavians, but we sure try hard. Tobacco is still an epidemic, and 1 in 3 smoke. These three drugs alone contribute dramatically to our high rates of disease. Recreational drugs are another cause. We now have a national  opiate epidemic. We have an outright marijuana pandemic. Don't think pot is innocuous at all, because it causes serious cognitive impairment over time. You have to go cold turkey on all bad habits. Yes, that can be tough, but there's no way around that.

Prescription drugs. We take far more prescription drugs than anyone else in the world. Read the article Most Medicated Nation. No one on earth takes nearly as many of these toxic, poisonous chemicals as we do. These chemical aberrations cause all manner of illness, including cognitive decline. The more prescription drugs you take, the more at risk you are for Alzheimer's and dementia. Stop taking these toxic concoctions- except opiates for temporary pain relief, antibiotics in an emergency (e.g. after surgery), and insulin for type 1 diabetes.

Mineral deficiency. Everyone is mineral deficient, no matter how well they eat. Take a good mineral supplement. Mineral deficiency is one of the root causes of every single disease known to man. Our food and soils are mineral deficient. Read my booklet The Minerals You Need. Take All Your Minerals® with 17 elements in the amounts you need. Minerals work together in harmony as a team in concert.

Undernutrition. Americans are overfed and undernourished. Even though we eat twice the calories we need, there is simply no nutrition in the food we eat. We eat a mere 1% whole grains, but should be eating 50%. We eat twice the protein we need, and eight times the fat we need, but we aren’t getting the nutrients we need. Lack of minerals, vitamins, sterols, and lignans is especially critical here. Take proven supplements like beta glucan, vitamin D, lipoic acid, PS, NAC, beta carotene, CoQ10, sulforaphane, vitamin E, flax or fish oil, acidophilus, glucosamine, FOS, DIM, and glutamine. PS has dramatic published studies! Don't take stupid garbage like jellyfish extract.

Aluminum intake. People with Alzheimer's often have large amounts of aluminum in their brains. Aluminum does exist in very  tiny microgram amounts in our food and soil, and thus in our body and blood. Fortunately, our aluminum cookware is now almost universally coated with protective Teflon or other coatings, but we still use aluminum foil. We get aluminum from three sources-  baking powder (not soda), underarm deodorants with transdermal  aluminum salts, and iodized salt with aluminum based iodine. Use sodium based (e.g. Rumford®) baking powder. Over 90% of deodorants contain aluminum chlorohydrate. Buy regular salt. Read the labels! All three should be banned outright. Read your labels. Eat and use nothing with aluminum in it. Always read your labels on the food you buy.

Mental and emotional stress. We are under a lot of stress in the most productive affluent society on earth. Stress will kill you faster than anything else. People were never under as much stress as they are today in modern society. Find some way to deal with it.

Fortunately, we now have laser therapy to help alleviate Alzheimer's. Find a laser therapist with a 10-15W, 1064 nm laser who has treated people for Alzheimer's, memory loss, brain damage, ADD, autism, ADHD, migraine, and other brain problems. He must have an Alzheimer's protocol. Laser therapy is MIRACULOUS, but the medical profession is suppressing it severely. There just isn't much profit it in, and you don't need to be a doctor to be a therapist. Whatever medical problem you have, look into laser therapy to see if it can help you. You can just Google "laser therapy" plus your medical condition.

You have a choice in life. You can be a breathing vegetable in a nursing home, after your “loved ones” dump you there. Or you can be bullet proof to Alzheimer's, and other forms of dementia, if you deal with all these things. An ounce of prevention is worth ten pounds of cure. Health is real wealth, and diet and lifestyle are the key to a long life.  Think whole body, holistic health, and not just 'brain health". Print out the Seven Steps to Natural Health article, and tape it to your fridge. Think whole body, holistic health, and not just brain health. Diet, supplements, hormone balance, weekly fasting, no Rx drugs, regular exercise and no bad habits. That is what natural health is really about.