Today, I’m continuing my series about inflammation. More and more experts link it to the development of major chronic diseases — now including Alzheimer’s disease. And a new study published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature suggests a healthy gut may help reduce inflammation, and ultimately, play a key role in preventing this brutal disease.
But before I dive into that study, let’s back up and recap a bit…
As I explained earlier this week, two new studies show that ibuprofen (the over-the-counter drug) and curcumin (the natural powerhouse found in turmeric) appear to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, both by reducing inflammation.
I first explained some years ago that sometimes the best way to figure out the cause of a disease is to see what cures it…and work back from there. And that’s what’s happening here with Alzheimer’s.
It’s tragic, really…
The government spent decades and billions of dollars on failed, far-fetched theories in an attempt to explain what causes the disease.
Meanwhile, the real cause — inflammation — couldn’t be simpler to understand.
Determining how it all works
Part of why mainstream medicine has failed to come up with a solution to Alzheimer’s is because they think only drugs that enter into our bloodstream and cross the “blood-brain barrier” into the brain itself can fix the problem.
But we now know many effective treatments actually work through their influence in the gut…before they are absorbed and enter your bloodstream
For example, curcumin has low bioavailability. In other words, the body doesn’t absorb it well from the GI tract into the bloodstream.
Instead, curcumin — and drugs, like metformin, for example — go to work right away — in your GI microbiome. Plus, study after study has shown that it works to stop inflammation.
As I’ve talked about for years, your microbiome is the environment in your GI tract where billions of healthy probiotic bacteria thrive. And we’re beginning to learn how nutrients in food and supplements affect your microbiome — a concept I refer to as “biome-availability.”
Now, let’s turn back to the new Nature study I mentioned a moment ago to tie it all together.
Understanding the gut-brain connection
For this study, researchers determined that microbes (healthy probiotic bacteria) in your microbiome “remotely” influence your body to respond to inflammation. This concept is a little technical, so stick with me…
As it turns out, the healthy bacteria in your gut send signals to activate immune system cells in your brain. These immune system cells then “turn on” your body’s response to inflammation.
And a broad range of factors, including stress, environmental toxins, illness, and most importantly — diet — influence your gut-brain pathway’s response to inflammation.
Regulating your body’s response to inflammation is vital for a properly functioning central nervous system. When our body poorly controls inflammatory response, white blood cells attack even healthy tissues and organs. So, if you have chronic inflammation, you’re more likely to develop disease, suffer irreversible cell loss, or form tumors.
All in all, properly nurturing and balancing this gut-brain pathway essentially ensures your body won’t overact or overcompensate.
And the best nourishment you can give your body comes from your diet.
The best kind of brain food
If you’ve been a longtime reader, you’ve seen this a million times: The path to better health starts with what you put on your plate. Your diet has the power to affect nearly every aspect of your life. And your brain is no exception.
To reduce brain inflammation, I recommend eating foods from the Brassica family, which help regulate the GI immune response in the brain, thus reducing inflammation. These foods include:
- Bok choy
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Kale
- Turnips
Another way to help control brain inflammation is to promote the natural production of short-chain fatty acids in the body. These fatty acids are produced by healthy probiotic bacteria in your gut. Foods that promote these fatty acids include:
- Apples
- Asparagus
- Artichokes
- Bananas
- Beans
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Leeks
So, add these to your shopping list (I recommend buying organic or locally whenever you can) and avoid processed, refined, or sugar-laden foods.
A new view on the brain’s immune cells
Amazingly, immune specialists have generally regarded the brain and central nervous system as a “no-man’s land.” Since it’s avoided by immune cells, they never saw it as a very promising avenue for research. Maybe that’s why they’ve been missing the real causes of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia all these years.
But it just takes one scientist to look at it a different way…
And that’s what we have happening here.
The researchers for the Nature study think utilizing this pathway between the gut and brain might help repair brain degeneration. This has implications not just for preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease, but for treating and preventing all kinds of inflammation-related brain diseases as well. That includes multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Of course, three years ago, UCLA scientists published a protocol showing they could reverse Alzheimer’s in 90 percent of cases by using 18 natural steps.
And, when you look at it any guess what problem most of these natural approaches have in common?
You got it — they target inflammation.
This new Nature study simply helps explain how those natural approaches work. (Again, sometimes science works backwards. And knowing the cure helps us understand what causes a disease.)
More natural treatments continue to emerge
As you may recall, I actually reported on the UCLA Alzheimer’s study over two years ago. I also noted their original protocol left out some effective natural treatments. Plus, they got some of their recommended dosages wrong, based on other studies.
So, I decided to create my own protocol, which includes these additional cutting-edge treatments — and dosages I adjusted according to the science.
You can learn all about how to naturally prevent — and reverse — this terrible disease in my comprehensive Complete Alzheimer’s Cure online learning protocol. For more information, or to enroll today, simply click here.
Source:
“Brain inflammatory cascade controlled by gut-derived molecules,” Nature Med. 23, 1018-1027 (2017)