GRAIN BRAIN

GRAIN BRAIN

Hello Health Seekers!

There has been so much about gluten in the diet and whether to include it in your way of eating.  Dr. David Perlmutter Associate professor at the University of Miami School of Medicine has written a book called Grain Brain and it has been on the New York Times best seller list for over 15 weeks including a stint on the top spot.

Alzheimer’s is an epidemic and 5.4 million Americans including one in eight people aged 65 and over are living with the disease. In the next 20 years, it is projected that Alzheimer's will affect one in four Americans, rivaling the current prevalence of obesity and diabetes.  And if that is not bad enough did you happen to see the 60 Minutes show the other week about 90+?  How so many more of us are living to 90 and beyond and that our chances of demetia at that point skyrockets!

Preventing Alzheimer’s might be easier than we think!  There is research that shows our brains have more plasticity than we thought and that we have some control through diet and lifestyle choices.

Dr. Perlmutter has looked at the impact of gluten and casein, or wheat and dairy primarily, on autoimmune diseases. In his book,  he reveals his findings, the cornerstones of which are the powerfully toxic role of glucose (sugar) and carbohydrates in one's diet.

He also stresses that gluten sensitivity is involved in most chronic disease, including those affecting the brain, because of how gluten affects your immune system. Unfortunately, many people, physicians included, still believe that if you don't have celiac disease, gluten is fair game and you can eat as much of it as you like.

Full-blown Celiac disease, which is gluten sensitivity affecting your small intestine, affects an estimated 1.8 percent of people in Western cultures. But  gluten sensitivity may actually affect as much as 30 to 40 percent of all people. This is because we all create something called zonulin in the intestine in response to gluten. This protein, found in wheat, barley and rye, makes your gut more permeable, which allows proteins to get into your bloodstream that would otherwise have been excluded. That then sensitizes your immune system and promotes inflammation and autoimmunity. This kind of gut permeability is also promoted by things like antibiotics and chlorinated water.

It's important to realize that, despite what the media tells us, our brain are not "programmed" to shrink and fail as a matter of course as we age. We know that everything we do, such as exercise, diet and the food we eat, the supplements we take, our personal relationships, our emotional state, and even our sleep patterns, all dramatically influence us every moment and have a physiological effect on all of our systems.

So what strategies can we use to help our brains??? You already know about them and they are simple steps to follow.

Exercise

Reduce overall calories eaten

Definitely reduce the amount of carbs you eat especially processed food and grains

Increase consumption of healthy fats like avocado and coconut oils

Increase the amount of Omega three you consume

These are pretty simple strategies and very easy to do.

So get off your butts, get outside and go to the local Farmer’s market get some good veggies and make a healthy salad and enjoy life today and long into your 90’s.  Get those processed grains out of your diet and you will no longer have grain brain, but you will have a longer lasting, greatly improved brain well into your 90’s.

If you want to talk more about this topic I am available for nutritional consults.  Give me a call or send me an email.

Dr. Nina Pregont, D. N.

224-333-6501

drnina@nenaprapathy.com