Despite spending billions of dollars on two, massive “Decades of the Brain” research projects, mainstream medicine still has no idea what really causes Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia—much less how to treat it. So, as I explained last week, they end up simply drugging patients into a stupor with heavy-duty painkillers, opioids, and sedatives in an attempt to “manage” their behavior.
But in recent years, some pioneering researchers have begun to look at how to combat this degenerative brain disease with nutrition. And they’re having great success!
In fact, a research team in Iowa recently discovered that men and women who enjoy a daily happy hour of sorts gain “significant” protection against AD. And the team even thinks that by adopting these changes nationwide, we could put the brain disease epidemic in a “reverse trajectory.”
I’ll tell you all about that groundbreaking study in a moment. But first, let’s set the stage with some other recent research…
Good brain health starts in the gut
A few years ago, research scientists began to find a strong link between your gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome and most chronic diseases, including AD. (Of course, the GI microbiome refers to the environment in your gut where billions of healthy probiotic bacteria thrive.)
When it came to AD in particular, they found that people diagnosed with it often exhibit a vastly altered microbiome compared to people without the disease. Specifically, they have:
- Less diversity of probiotic bacteria in the gut.
- More “bad” bacteria that increase inflammation.
- Less “good” bacteria that decrease inflammation.
In addition, researchers from Italy and Switzerland recently learned that the “bad,” pro-inflammatory bacteria seem to increase the production of harmful proteins that travel through the blood stream and “trigger” AD in the brain. And fortunately, we can check for these harmful proteins with a simple blood test.
Probiotic pills aren’t the answer
Of course, the Italian and Swiss researchers want to develop a probiotic pill “cocktail” to “feed” the GI microbiome and protect against AD. (Probably with funding from big pharma.)
But, as I’ve reported before, research shows that probiotic pills just don’t work. In fact, they can cause great harm.
Remember, hundreds of thousands of different species of probiotic bacteria live in your microbiome. They work in tandem to regulate your digestion, immune system, and metabolism. Plus, throughout your life, many factors influence the makeup of your microbiome—including birth conditions, diet, sanitation of living environment, physical problems, and drug intake.
Therefore, by artificially adding one or two specific strains into the mix of hundreds of thousands of strains of probiotics in your gut, you’re highly unlikely to accomplish much at all…much less alter the course of a disease. Plus, it can upset this delicate balance and cause harm.
In the end, I always urge you to skip the probiotic pills and instead adopt a diet filled with “prebiotic” foods—such as garlic, onions, asparagus, bananas, apples—that naturally “feed” the probiotic bacteria in your gut.
You should also aim to eat more foods and beverages that contain actual “active,” probiotic bacteria—including plain, full-fat yogurt, wine, traditional cheeses, and fermented vegetables, like sauerkraut, tempeh, kimchi, and pickled foods.
And that point brings me back to the new “happy hour” study I mentioned at the beginning of this Dispatch…
Enjoy a daily “happy hour” to protect against degenerative brain disease
In the new study by Iowa State University, researchers analyzed data on almost 2,000 adults (ages 46 to 77 years old) through the U.K. Biobank—a large-scale database available to researchers worldwide.
At the study’s outset and at two follow-up assessments over the next 10 years, all the participants completed cognitive testing that measures abstract problem-solving. According to the researchers, the tests gauge a person’s ability to “think on the fly” as they aged.
The participants also answered questions about their food and alcohol consumption at these three intervals. Specifically, they shared information about their intake of fresh fruit, dried fruit, raw vegetables and salad, cooked vegetables, oily fish, lean fish, processed meat, poultry, beef, lamb, pork, cheese, bread, cereal, tea and coffee, beer and cider, red wine, white wine, champagne and liquor.
At the end of 10 years, there were four major findings…
First, it turns out that daily cheese intake “strongly predicted” a higher score on the cognitive test over the 10-year study period. In fact, eating a bit of cheese each day provided the most protection, by far, against developing age-related cognitive problems, such as AD and dementia.
Second, daily intake of alcohol, particularly red wine, also helped protect against the development of AD and dementia over the study period.
Third, weekly consumption of lamb was shown to actually improve long-term cognitive function. (Which makes sense, since lamb has the healthiest composition of essential fatty acids of any meat.)
Fourth, excessive salt consumption posed a concern over time, but only for people already at risk for AD and cognitive problems.
We’ve had this research for years in our own backyard
The researchers said these findings “surprised” them. They also claimed their study was the first, large-scale analysis to connect specific foods to cognitive ability later in life.
But that’s just silly. And wrong.
This Iowa State study is nowhere near the first to illustrate how drinking alcohol as you get older protects against brain disease. Remember, just three years ago, a major study found that moderate drinkers are far more likely to live to age 85 without dementia than teetotalers.
Furthermore, I’ve been writing about the importance of adding cheese and lamb to your diet for years. They’re both key parts of the healthy, Mediterranean diet. (Although, nutritionists rarely discuss either, as they don’t fit their anti-fat narrative.)
Plus, going back five years, researchers with UCLA published groundbreaking clinical research showing that dementia could be reversed in nine out of 10 people who follow a dozen, simple, nutritional, lifestyle steps.
Unfortunately, even though this research began in earnest years ago, most primary care physicians (and apparently, even researchers, like these) still don’t know about it.
So, I urge you to become your own advocate and check out my Complete Alzheimer’s Fighting Protocol. This innovative learning tool includes all the natural steps and nutritional advice used to prevent and reverse AD, as outlined in the original UCLA protocol. Plus, it contains important, additional steps, which I added based on 40 years of my own, personal research. Including specific recommendations for supplementing with berberine, folic acid, grape extract, lutein, thiamine, turmeric, and vitamins B6 and B12. To learn more about this comprehensive protocol, or to enroll today, click here now.
And don’t forget to enjoy a nice, relaxing happy hour tonight. I’ll be enjoying a nice plate of gorgonzola, gouda, grapes, and giardiniera (pickled vegetables) with my pinot.
Sources:
“Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Lipopolysaccharide as Mediators Between Gut Dysbiosis and Amyloid Pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease.” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 2020; 78 (2): 683. doi.org/10.3233/JAD-200306
“Genetic Factors of Alzheimer’s Disease Modulate How Diet is Associated with Long-Term Cognitive Trajectories: A UK Biobank Study.” J Alzheimer’s Dis, 2020;78(3):1245-1257. doi.org/10.3233/JAD-201058.