(Eat organic cruciferous vegetables as often as possible but green smoothies are only good for partial credit. You need to chew a cruciferous vegetable to get all the benefits of sulforaphane which does help prevent dementia. Dr Rhonda Patrick made several videos about this. Horse. Organic foods contains salvesterols that protect plants from fungi and lower your risk of cancer. The plant chemicals in cruciferous veggies reduce your risk of inflammation and cancer.)
(Instead of raising broccoli sprouts in jars for 5 days, I think I would prefer to raise them on trays for 10 and eat them as tender young plants. Horse.I have to move before doing that.)
(There have been some claims that coconut oil could be used as a treatment, or even a cure, for Alzheimer's disease. However, there is currently not enough experimental evidence to back up these claims. Horse. I take coconut and olive oil daily. I do not fry foods. I avoid hydrogenated oils like margarine.)
(If you need to make lots of dietary changes anyway, look up Anti-insulin diet on YouTube. That diet will cover the most diet issues of any. Horse)
8 Surprising Ways to Lower Your Dementia Risk
Lower Your Risk of Dementia
You may already know that avoiding processed foods, favoring a Mediterranean diet and exercising lower your risk of dementia. There are other relatively simple, meaningful steps you could take to lower your risk, too.
1. Beware of High Copper Levels in Your Water
You need traces amounts of the heavy metal copper to survive because it’s vital for bone, hormonal and nerve health. Too much of a good thing, though, could be bad for your brain. A 2013 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that copper can trigger the onset of Alzheimer’s and fuel the disease. In fact, the study found that copper in drinking water at levels one-tenth of the water quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency caused a toxic accumulation of the pro-Alzheimer’s protein amyloid beta. (4)
2. If Possible, Avoid Allergy Drugs and Other Pills Linked to Dementia
Drugs linked to dementia include common allergy and sleep medications, including popular medications like Benadryl, Dramamine, Advil PM and Unison, among others. These pills are known to have anticholinergic effects, something researchers are increasingly linking to dementia.
A 2016 study published in JAMA Neurology is a unique one that used brain imaging to detect how anticholinergic drugs impact the brain. By utilizing MRI and PET scan imaging technology, the researchers were able to show how people taking anticholinergic drugs experienced lower brain metabolism and higher brain atrophy. Participants taking the anticholinergic drugs also tested worst on memory tests. (6)
University of Washington scientists also found the chronic use of certain anticholinergic sleep aids and hay fever meds increased a person’s risk of dementia. The study only found the link for people taking these drugs for three or more years. (7)
Find out if your drugs possess anticholinergic properties. Aside from older allergy drugs and some sleep medications, certain antidepressants, COPD and asthma medications, along with drugs for overactive bladder issues, could . If they do, find if safer options are available, or work with your health care provider to possibly work more natural treatments into your healing plan.
For instance, learning to use essential oils for allergies could ease your symptoms. A 2010 study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology suggests peppermint oil acts as a relaxant and exhibits antispasmodic activity, inhibiting contractions that causes you to cough. (8) (Peppermint oil isn’t a good choice for children under 30 months because it can impact the heart, lungs and circulation in dangerous ways.) (9) 3. Sleep in This Brain-Friendly Position
Sleep positions matter. Most people — and wild animals — sleep on their sides. Now, we may better understand the brain-friendly reason this is the case. In 2015, researchers found that sleeping on your side could improve one of the brain’s waste-clearing processes, lowering the risk for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The link between certain types of dementia and sleep are well-established, but a recent study took a closer look at how the way you sleep impacts drainage of harmful substances in the brain. The Journal of Neuroscience study found that the brain’s glymphatic pathway, a complex system that clears wastes and other harmful chemicals from the brain, worked most optimally when people slept on their sides, as opposed to belly or back sleepers. Similar to the how the body’s lymphatic system clears waste from organs, the glymphatic pathway is responsible for filtering cerebrospinal fluid through the brain and exchanging it with interstitial fluid to clear waste like amyloid ² (amyloid) and tau proteins, chemicals that negatively affect brain processes if they build up. (10, 11)
4. Avoid Brain-Damaging Pesticides
It’s increasingly clear that dementia isn’t solely a genetic issue and that environmental triggers are often present. Such is the case with DDT, the insecticide once thought “safe” but later banned in the 1970s. Research led by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences shows that people with higher levels of DDT in their blood are much more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. People with Alzheimer’s had, on average, 3.8 times higher levels of a DDE, a DDT breakdown product, in their blood compared to people who did not have Alzheimer’s disease. (12)
As for chemicals currently in use? We don’t necessarily know the long-term impact they’re having on our brains. Emerging research suggests many approved pesticides are having brain-damaging effects. For instance, a 2015 study found people who ingested food treated with acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, complained of symptoms like memory loss, finger tremors and headache, among other things. Certain neonicotinoid insecticides are also blamed for the unprecedented die-off of bees and bats. (16) To avoid the 12 most pesticide-laced foods, always buy organic versions of the produce items on the dirty dozen list.
5. Live a Life of Purpose
Researchers from Rush University Medical Center uncovered an interesting connection between a person’s sense of purpose and dementia risk. Study participants who reported the highest scores on the life purpose test were 2.4 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s compared to people with the lowest scores. Living a life full of purpose, as defined by this study, involved things like having a sense of direction and purpose in life and feeling good when thinking about past accomplishments and hope for things to accomplish in the future. (17)
This means finding something that makes you happy (volunteering about something you’re passionate about or learning how to play an instrument are great examples) and sticking with it can do wonders for your brain. As an interesting side note, correcting forward head posture is scientifically proven to make you happier, so consider fixing faulty posture while you’re at it, too.
6. Beware of Low Vitamin D Levels
In 2015, U.K. researchers published a study in Neurology suggesting that people severely vitamin D deficient (less than 10 ng/mL) face a 122 percent increased risk of dementia. Those who were just “deficient” (less than 20 ng/mL) experienced a 51 percent higher risk of all-cause dementia. (Note, some vitamin D test results come in nmol/L form, so a conversion to ng/mL may be necessary.) (18)
To figure out your baseline vitamin D levels, ask your doctor for a 5-hydroxyvitamin D or 25(OH)D blood test. Be sure to get the actual test result number, too. Your test may come back as “normal” if it’s above 30 ng/mL, but the truth is many functional medicine doctors and researchers believe minimum levels of 60 or even 80 ng/mL are needed to prevent many health problems. Once you know your levels, you can increase vitamin D, if needed, by getting sensible sun exposure and working vitamin D-rich foods into your diet. If you need to supplement, make sure it’s with the vitamin D3 form, which is more readily available to your body than D2.
7. Be a Stickler for Good Oral Health
Taking care of your teeth and gums also helps protect your brain. A large study investigating the dental habits of about 5,500 older people over an 18-year period found a strong link between people with poor oral hygiene and the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Those who reported brushing their teeth less than once a day were up to 65 percent more likely to develop dementia compared to people who brushed twice a day. (19) Gum disease bacteria may find its way to the brain, setting off an inflammatory process that causes brain damage, the study author noted. (20)
In addition to brushing your teeth, Ayurvedic practice of oil pulling with coconut oil can also improve oral health. And believe it or not, you can actually reverse cavities naturally using diet. (Dr Grundy recommends oil pulling with good Olive Oil. Horse)
8. Walk 3 Times a Week
A 2017 study analyzed vascular cognitive impairment, the second most common form of dementia worldwide, and how exercise affects patients. Generally, in brain-scan studies, people with vascular cognitive impairment show increased neural activity in the parts of their brains that are involved with memory, decision-making and attention. This means their brains had to work harder than healthier brains.
To see if exercising could help the brain work less, researchers recruited 38 older people who had been diagnosed with a mild, early form of vascular cognitive impairment. None exercised at the time. Researchers measure participants’ brain activity and then began the exercise regimen: three supervised one-hour sessions a week. Supervisors instructed participants to move briskly enough to raise their heart rates to about 65 percent of their maximum capacity.
By the end of the study, walkers generally had lower blood pressures than the control group. Plus, their brains were working differently. The walkers’ brains showed less activity in portions of the brain required for attention and rapid decision-making. (21)
A 2018 study further confirmed this by examining if cardiovascular fitness in middle-aged women decreased dementia risk. The study examined Swedish women aged 38 to 60 and revealed that women who participated in high fitness delayed dementia by at least five years compared to those that participated in medium fitness. The findings concluded that overall participation in cardiovascular health can assist with preventing dementia. (22)
From these studies, we can conclude that walking and overall cardiovascular-focused exercises improved brain function and thinking skills, and while there are many more questions to be answered about the connection between exercise and dementia, taking a walk around the block seems like a viable first step to a healthy brain.
Dementia doesn’t happen overnight and is characterized by gradual changes and damage in the brain. Here are different types of dementia and root causes: (25)
Vascular Dementia
Whether it comes on suddenly with a stroke or more slowly over time with atherosclerosis, vascular dementia occurs when the brain is not getting enough blood. This causes brain cell death that leads to brain damage.
Alzheimer’s
The most common type of dementia, Alzheimer’s affects the cerebral cortex and is characterized by “plagues” and “tangles” that result in the loss of brain cells and ensuing brain shrinkage.
Neurotransmitter chemicals lose their ability to healthily relay messages between brain cells in this form of dementia.
Dementia with Lewy Bodies
An autopsy found that the brain of late actor Robin Williams was afflicted with this type of dementia. This condition is characterized by small, circular lumps of protein that develop inside of brain cells. There’s still much we don’t know about this disease, but it’s possible it impacts the chemical messengers dopamine and acetylcholine.
Frontotemporal Dementia
This type of dementia is characterized by damage and shrinking in the temporal and frontal lobes. It’s a more common type of dementia in people younger than 65 years old; about 20 percent of cases have an inherited genetic mutation from their parents.
Much Rarer Causes of Dementia
The following triggers of dementia or dementia-like symptoms are considered treatable, or at the very least, they don’t progress like traditional forms of dementia:
depression
brain tumors
head injury
vitamin B deficiency
infections like encephalitis or HIV
thyroid hormone deficiency