DEFYING DEMENTIA

Of all the health disorders we can experience, the most devastating is to lose our mind. Particularly so, because most people who become senile, develop Alzheimers, or other irreversible forms of brain degeneration and are aware it’s happening to them. Progressive senility is living death, turning once youthful agile minds into slow, ineffectual ones that leave the sufferer anguished and frustrated.

Progressive brain damage is not something we need endure. It is not a part of normal ageing that must be borne stoically. It can be prevented. Brains can remain youthful, agile and sharp, well into our 90s and beyond. All it requires is a nutritious diet, adequate exercise, reduced toxic chemical intake, and of course mental stimulation. If we don’t use it, we lose it.

Poor nutrition, bodily pollution (chemicals from food, air and water), overuse of alcohol, drugs, drug medications and lack of exercise are the main reasons the brain deteriorates. Genetics play only a secondary role.

It’s obvious that many people carry the gene for Alzheimers, or Parkinsons, or poor memory, and the other forms of dementia. However, the existence of such a gene doesn’t mean the carrier is fated to experience that condition later in life. It means he or she is only predisposed to that condition. That there is a tendency for him/her to develop it should the gene be triggered to express itself.

The main triggers for the expression of the dementia genes are poor nutrition, bodily pollution, overuse of alcohol, drugs, drug medications and a lack of oxygen (lack of exercise) reaching the brain. The health of our brain and mind is very much in our own hands. We trigger the dementia genes, not bad luck, family history, mathematical probability, or bad karma. We do.

The early warning sign of dementia is memory loss. Memory is the first brain function to go. At the first sign of memory loss, changes to our diet and life style need to be made. Alcohol needs to be reduced significantly, and if memory loss is so noticeable that others are joking about it, cut out altogether. Recreational drugs need to be cut out and drug medications reduced as much as possible. A visit to a naturopath will offer alternatives to drug medications. A brisk walk of about 3-5 kilometres at 7 kph needs to be taken 4-5 times a week. This will pump fresh oxygen and nutrients to the brain. To ensure there are adequate nutrients in the blood the diet needs to be supported by a comprehensive vitamin and mineral formula, taken with the main meal of the day.

Numerous studies have shown that memory is stored in special brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. The more neurotransmitters we have the better our memory is.

Neurotransmitters form important little bridges between brain cells over which nerve impulses (thoughts, feelings, emotions) travel from one brain cell to another. A deficiency of neurotransmitters means that the free flowing of thoughts is disrupted, and effective thought integration and expression begins to break down. This manifests as losing the thread of our own conversation and as a declining ability to express ourselves confidently and to articulate clearly and coherently.

Neurotransmitters wear out in the course of their nerve conducting and memory storing duties and need to be continually replaced.

If our diet is rich in vitamins, minerals, protein and essential fatty acids this is not a problem. If our diet is lacking in any one of these nutrients there is a problem, for the brain can synthesise replacement neurotransmitters only when all the essential nutrients are there altogether, at the same time.

Poor replacement of neurotransmitters means that over time their numbers decline taking our capacity for effective thought integration and memory with them.

There are many different neurotransmitters in the brain. One of the most important is acetylcholine. Acetylcholine levels fall in line with declining memory. Low acetylcholine levels are evident in the post-mortem brains of people who had suffered the severe memory problems of Alzheimers disease. Biopsies from living, aged people, with good memory show much higher levels of acetylcholine.

The principal nutrient needed for the manufacture of acetylcholine is choline, often referred to as a B vitamin. However, taking large quantities of choline on it’s own won’t improve memory. It needs to be taken in association with all the other vitamins and minerals if it’s to be successfully converted to acetylcholine by the brain.

Also, if memory loss is significant it could take quite a while for acetylcholine levels to come up as the brain cells needed to manufacture it may have died, and it can take some time on a course of improved nutrition to grow new ones in their place.

The best results from improved nutrition comes when memory loss is treated in the early stages, before brain cells begin to die. Prevention is better than cure. Acting on the first signs of memory loss is the way to go.

I find the best results are achieved when the nutritious diet is supported with a good, high potency, multi vitamin and mineral formula. Patience is also required. It takes time to restore brain function.

The foods needed to maintain sound brain function are the natural, unrefined ones. Fresh oily fish, (salmon, mullet, sword fish, warehou, deep sea perch) are very important. Fresh fish should be eaten 3x per week as the main meal. Tinned fish has been shown to be less effective at building up the brain. Wholemeal bread, raw untoasted muesli, unrefined oats (porridge) fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and lean red meat are also important.

The soft lifeless food such as white bread, cakes, biscuits, cookies, ice cream. soft drinks, refined breakfast cereals, pizza, hamburgers and takeaway pre-heated packaged meals, are devoid of the nutrients needed to maintain optimal brain function. Eating these soft lifeless foods, in time, gives us a soft lifeless body, and eventually causes us to go soft in the head.

This B grade food is a recipe for sluggish brain function and ultimately dementia in it’s various forms, and we as a nation are certainly at risk. A recent dietary survey has defined us as a nation of predominantly B grade eaters.

A 1929 study concluded that the reason for the disproportionately high numbers of Scottish graduates from English Universities was the high fish and the high oat (porridge) diet of the Scots.

Modern science has since confirmed that fresh oily fish is in fact excellent brain food and that the oat bran keeps cholesterol levels down which improves blood flow and oxygen/nutrient supply to the brain.

What we eat today - walks and talks tomorrow. If we eat nutritious, A grade foods we will remain well and enjoy mental acuity for the duration of our lives. If we are lucky enough not to carry any dementia genes, we may well get by on B grade food. However, as there is no way of knowing if we are carriers of such genes or not, it doesn’t pay to push our luck by eating refined, packaged, processed, junk food.

The good news for B grade eaters is “it’s never too late to change”. The body’s capacity for repair is quite remarkable and it starts regenerating itself the moment we start eating A grade.

Posted: 7 Dec 2004

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