Your “Healthy” Diet Could Be Quietly Killing Your Brain

[Highmark]

Simply amazing how wrong all the "experts" have been over our history.  Still today our govt experts push low fat diets.  FUBAR.    

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-optimalist/201310/your-healthy-diet-could-be-quietly-killing-your-brain

I recently stumbled onto a book that opened my eyes in many ways to the misinformation plaguing Americans regarding healthy eating, particularly where it concerns brain health. The book, Grain Brain, by Dr. David Perlmutter, is mind-blowing—no pun intended—and disruptive to some long-standing beliefs about what our bodies require for optimal health.

 

"The brain thrives on a fat-rich, low-carbohydrate diet, which unfortunately is relatively uncommon in human populations today," he says. Carbohydrates typically thought of as healthy, even brown rice, 100 percent whole grain bread, or quinoa—mainstays of many of the most health-conscious kitchens—cause disorders like dementia, ADHD, chronic headaches, and Alzheimer’s, over a lifetime of consumption.

 

By removing these carbohydrates from the diet—harbingers of inflammation, the true source of problems that plague our brains and hearts—and increasing the amount of fat and cholesterol we consume, we can not only protect our most valuable organ, but also potentially, undo years of damage.

Cholesterol, for example, long vilified by the media and medical community, actually promotes neurogenesis (the birth of new brain cells) and communication between neurons, to the degree that studies have shown that higher levels of serum cholesterol correlates to more robust cognitive prowess.

 

The book is also not without serious consideration for the cardiovascular system, citing study after study to reaffirm that it’s not fat and cholesterol, but carbohydrates and certain fats—and not the fats that you would think—that are the true enemies of heart and vascular health.

Guidelines to eating for above-average health and longevity are not without nuance, but Grain Brain lays out an easy-to-understand roadmap packed with the latest science in a colloquial writing style, never once doubting the ability of its audience to keep up.

 

As the only doctor in the country who is both a board-certified neurologist and Fellow of The American Board of Nutrition, he deftly covers a topic rarely discussed: How what we eat affects the health of our brain. And considering that deaths from Alzheimer's increased 68 percent between 2000 and 2010, the timing of Grain Brain couldn’t be better.

 

After reading it, I couldn't wait to sit down with him for this Q&A:

You’ve stated that carbs of any kind, from natural sugars in fruit to the complex carbs in quinoa and a whole-wheat bagel, are detrimental to the brain — to the point that the most serious degenerative brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, are now being referred to as “Type 3 diabetes." What’s the science behind this?

 

Carbohydrate consumption leads to blood sugar elevation obviously in the short term, but also, in the long term as well. Persistently challenging the pancreas to secrete insulin to deal with dietary carbohydrate ultimately leads to insulin resistance, a condition directly associated with increased risk for dementia.

What’s worse, insulin resistance is the forerunner of type 2 diabetes, a condition associated with a doubling of Alzheimer’s risk. In a recent report in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Mayo Clinic researchers showed that individuals favoring carbohydrates in their diets had a remarkable 89 percent increased risk for developing dementia as contrasted to those whose diets contained the most fat. Having the highest levels of fat consumption was actually found to be associated with an incredible 44 percent reduction in risk for developing dementia.

 

[Steve753]

Eggs were bad for you as well I remember.  Everyone's body reacts differently.

Processed foods are the real killer.

[Highmark]

5 minutes ago, Steve753 said:

Eggs were bad for you as well I remember.  Everyone's body reacts differently.

Processed foods are the real killer.

No doubt and processed low fat food they put more "sugar" in them. 

[ArcticCrusher]

8 minutes ago, Steve753 said:

Eggs were bad for you as well I remember.  Everyone's body reacts differently.

Processed foods are the real killer.

Eggs are healthy for you.  Processed foods esp sugar are the killers, buy hey trust the science.

 

[BadaBing444]

I have lost almost all faith in our healthcare system.  Most new cases of diabetes could be prevented with the proper diet.  Proper as in Eggs, meat, and low carb foods, which is exactly what the FDA doesn't recommend you eat!

Edited February 27, 2023 by BadaBing444

[Rod]

You need to eat fats… it’s about the only thing that can repair your brain matter. A fat free diet has been linked to Alzheimer’s IIRC 

[Mainecat]

I like pie 🥧 

[toslow]

22 minutes ago, Mainecat said:

I like pie 🥧 

It must be true, considering your posts are lacking any kind of context 

[Mainecat]

16 minutes ago, toslow said:

It must be true, considering your posts are lacking any kind of context 

Pie hating Canadian

[Highmark]

1 hour ago, Mainecat said:

I like pie 🥧 

Your metamorphosis all makes sense now.    

Edited February 27, 2023 by Highmark

[Cold War]

2 hours ago, ArcticCrusher said:

Eggs are healthy for you.  Processed foods esp sugar are the killers, buy hey trust the science.

 

Disgusting and wrong.  

[Cold War]

They were talking on the news this morning how low salt intake is bad for your heart.