Unless you've lived in a cave for the past five years, you are now familiar with the warnings about obesity greatly increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Less well known, but equally dire, is the link between diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). This mind-ravaging disease terrifies middle-aged adults. Unfortunately, the fear of AD rarely changes anyone's eating habits, perhaps because of a lack of media attention to the diet-obesity-diabetes-AD connection. There's no blockbuster story involved with long-term healthy food choices.
The federal government sinks billions into research and organizations looking for cures for diseases, and little into prevention. Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are searching for "silver bullet"-type cures, with the underlying assumption that AD can't be prevented.
Logic needs to prevail. If the rate of AD is rising faster than the rate of increase in the middle-aged and elderly population, which it is, then causal factors need to be identified. If diabetes increases the risk of AD by at least 30%, which studies indicate that it does, and the rate of diabetes is increasing dramatically, then diabetes prevention (NOT treatment!) urgently merits attention and resources. Adults need to take responsibility for their and their children's health, and not trust that a future treatment will mitigate the consequences of their unhealthy habits.
If you're concerned about your long-term brain health, take the following actions without delay. These recommendations apply to children as well as adults.
- Exercise your body. It helps your insulin response to sugar (ever wonder why endurance athletes can eat all the sweets they want?).
- Forget the food pyramid, and cut down on carbs (grains, pastas, sweets, fruit juices). In particular, quit eating cereal for breakfast and replace it with a high-protein meal or beverage.
- Eat more raw foods. A lot more.
- Get enough protein (eggs, fish, meat, cheese).
- When you do eat sugar, make sure that you have small amounts of fat and protein with it. This will reduce the spike and then drop in blood sugar, the repetition of which leads to insulin resistance.
- Eliminate high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from your food and beverage choices. This harmful carbohydrate is pervasive in processed foods. Learn to read labels and take the time when you shop, even in convenience stores.
- Greatly reduce chemicals (colors, flavors) in your diet. These can block the communications between brain cells.
- Supplement. Consider Omega-3 fatty acids (the brain is composed mostly of fat), lecithin, niacin, folic acid, and cinnamon.
- Exercise your brain. Turn off the television and cut down dramatically on your electronic messaging, iPods, and passive activities. Repeated brain exercises (puzzles, games) and learning new skills and sports builds new brain structure. The "use it or lose it" principle applies.