Outsmarting Alzheimer’s Disease with a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet
The previous blog post focused on Defeating Diabetes with a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet. This week’s topic is another one of the Top 10 Killers of Americans—Alzheimer’s Disease. According to the United States National Center for Health Statistics, Alzheimer’s Disease is the sixth highest cause of death in the United States. Over 110,000 people in the US die from Alzheimer's each year. [1]
This artist’s illustration, from NewScientist.com, compares a healthy brain on the left with the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient on the right.
The Mayo Clinic describes Alzheimer's disease as, “a progressive disorder that causes brain cells to waste away (degenerate) and die. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia — a continuous decline in thinking, behavioral and social skills that disrupts a person's ability to function independently.” [2]
Additionally, people with Alzheimer’s may “repeat statements and questions over and over, forget conversations, appointments or events, and not remember them later, routinely misplace possessions, and even eventually forget the names of family members and everyday objects.” [2]
The Clinic also explains that “Research has shown that the same risk factors associated with heart disease may also increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.” Some of these risk factors include obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. [2]
The good news is that Alzheimer’s may be prevented with a whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet. One of the first steps to prevent Alzheimer’s may be to eliminate risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. As mentioned in previous blogs, each of these is fairly easily prevented and controlled by a whole food plant-based diet.
A peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease looked into trends in diet and Alzheimer's disease during the nutrition transition in Japan. They found, as shown in Table 1, that from the years 1961 to 2008, calories per person went up by about 10%, but animal fat increased by almost 600%, which is ten times the increase in sugar. This supports the notion that animal fat is strongly correlated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s. The researchers found that “For Japan, alcohol consumption, animal product...and lung cancer rates correlated highly with [Alzheimer’s Disease] prevalence data.”[3]
Table 1. The table shows the percent changes of average consumption of selected factors during the years 1961 to 2008 in Japan. The final column shows that calories per person went up by 10%, but animal fat increased by 598%, which is about ten times the increase of 59% in sugar. This gives evidence to the fact that an increase in animal is correlated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s. [3]
Researchers were then curious to find out if the same factors increased the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease in various other countries. This time they published their findings in The Journal of the American College of Nutrition. The results, displayed in Table 2, showed that “The most important dietary link to Alzheimer’s Disease appears to be meat consumption, with eggs and high-fat dairy also contributing.” [4]
Table 2. This table shows the location of a study as well the risks and risk reduction. Overall, the most important dietary link to Alzheimer’s Disease is meat consumption, along with eggs and high-fat dairy. [4]
Image 1. The cerebral arteries of elderly individuals without Alzheimer’s are labeled A and the cerebral arteries of elderly individuals with Alzheimer’s are labeled B. The arteries labeled A are open and healthy, while the arteries labeled B are clogged and almost nearly shut with plaque packed with fat and cholesterol. [5]
Other researchers, who published their work in the journal BMC Geriatrics, postulated that the mechanisms for atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in arteries, and Alzheimer’s had a similar cause. They looked at two sets of human cerebral arteries, the arteries deep inside your skull. First, they observed the arteries, on autopsy, of elderly individuals without Alzheimer’s and compared them with the arteries of Alzheimer’s patients, as shown in Image 1. The arteries from Alzheimer’s patients were clogged and almost nearly shut with plaque packed with fat and cholesterol. [5]
Once again, the evidence is overwhelming that “Chronic consumption of Western-style diets enriched in saturated fat and cholesterol compromise cerebrovascular integrity.” [6] Essentially, following a Standard American Diet has horrific negative impacts on our health. However, a whole food plant-based diet will greatly help prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. [7]
As Dr. Gregor’s many videos on the topic of Alzheimer’s Disease clearly show, it is the elimination of animal foods and the inclusion of plant-based whole foods that prevent this disease. Let us urgently spread the message to the thousands of people around the world to help them prevent dementia, Alzheimer’s, and suffering in old age.
Sources:
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/alzheimers.htm
[2] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350447
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24037034
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27454859
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24656052
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26678521
[7] https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-to-prevent-alzheimers-with-diet/