The Alzheimer's Antidote : Amy Berger

As regular readers of both the Forum and Blog will know, Alzheimer's features heavily in my family ... one of my reasons for living the LCHF lifestyle.

I was pleased to read about this book by Amy Berger and thought it worth sharing.

"The Alzheimer's Antidote: Using a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet to Fight Alzheimer’s Disease, Memory Loss, and Cognitive Decline

A Comprehensive Metabolic & Lifestyle Approach

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in 2016 is startlingly similar to a half-century ago. Despite decades of research and millions of dollars invested in uncovering the causes and developing treatments for this devastating illness, progress has been slow, with each new “blockbuster” drug proving to be as big a disappointment as the ones that went before it. Today, an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is a death sentence.

However, there may be ways to prevent, delay, and possibly even reverse the course of this crippling neurodegenerative disease. In The Alzheimer’s Antidote, Certified Nutrition Specialist Amy Berger presents a multi-pronged nutrition and lifestyle intervention to combat Alzheimer’s disease at its roots. Berger’s research shows that Alzheimer’s results from a fuel shortage in the brain: As neurons become unable to harness energy from glucose, they atrophy and die, leading to classic symptoms like memory loss and behavioral changes.

This is a revolutionary approach―one that has been discussed in the scientific literature for years but has only recently been given credence in clinical settings, thanks to extremely promising studies wherein Alzheimer’s patients have experienced complete reversals of the condition. Medical and scientific journals are full of research showing alternate ways to fuel the starving brain, but no one has been bringing this essential information to the people who need it most―until now.

In a culture obsessed with miracle medications, the pharmaceutical route for tackling Alzheimer’s has been a massive failure. Pills and potions don’t address underlying causes, and regarding Alzheimer’s, they typically fail to improve even the symptoms. As a metabolic problem, the only effective way to treat Alzheimer’s may be a multifaceted approach that fundamentally reprograms energy generation in the brain. The good news is, the secret is as simple as switching to a low-carb, high-fat diet.

The Alzheimer’s Antidote shows us that cognitive decline is not inevitable, but if it does occur, we don’t have to sit idly by and wait helplessly while it progresses and worsens. Amy Berger empowers loved ones and caregivers of Alzheimer’s sufferers, and offers hope and light against this otherwise unnavigable labyrinth of darkness.

Please also read much more here
http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2017/03/alzheimers-antidote.html

All the best Jan

(Please note there is no commercial interest in promoting Amy or her book)

Not reading a book but very happy low carb is an antidote because we also have loads of it in our family, thanks Jan

Amy has written quite a lot about Alzheimer's, and I do like her motto which is “Real people need real food!”, which is similar to the ethos of this Forum, just look under our header!!!

She also writes about the importance of cholesterol for healthy cognitive function, and the ever-deepening detrimental effects of statins is also crucial.

David Perlmutter, MD, Robb Wolf, Dr. David Brady, Franziska Spritzler, RD, and Jason Fung MD have favourably commented on her book.

This disease affects so many families, and it is so cruel ... you lose your loved one long before the body gives up.

We can only do our best to keep as healthy and fit as we can.

All the best Jan

(Please note there is no commercial interest in promoting Amy or her book)

IMO Amy has one of the best current blogs. I'm pleased to see Michael Eades blogging again too, he was an early influence on me. Pity J Stanton stopped, he still has some excellent material though, see his work on metabolic flexibility

http://www.gnolls.org/3637/what-is-metabolic-flexibility-and-why-is-it-important-j-stantons-ahs-2013-presentation-including-slides/

"Dietary Recommendations for Alzheimer's -- NPR Gets it ... Almost

There’s a growing body of evidence linking elevated blood sugar to memory problems.”

Mainstream media is catching on, folks. The quote above, taken from this story from NPR over three years ago, is reflective of the growing awareness among the medical community and laypeople alike that there might actually be something to the wild and crazy notion of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive impairment as “type 3 diabetes” or “diabetes of the brain.”

I have written about this over and over again and need not rehash the details here. (If you want to know the full story, consider purchasing my book, The Alzheimer’s Antidote.)  Even The New York Times published a piece just the other day profiling a famous chef who is using a low-carb, high-fat diet to fight dementia. (Shout out to liberal use of butter abd MCT oil in her morning coffee!)

The NPR article is pretty good. It gets the point across while being very succinct – a feat I have proven I am totally incapable of. What I like best about it is that it references this paper, the key finding of which is that elevated blood glucose may be a risk for dementia even at levels lower than the diabetic range.

This is not news to me, and probably not to you, but it’s nice to see this getting out to the general public, among whom it probably is news. (Or should have been a few years ago when this came out.) It’s not news to us because you and I already know that hyperinsulinemia alone—not high glucose, but high insulin—is an independent risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, compared to people with “normal” insulin levels, those who are not diabetic but are hyperinsulinemic have double the risk of developing AD."

All words above are from Amy Berger
Much more to read, with full links, here

http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2017/03/alzheimers-diet.html

All the best Jan