saturated fat related to Alzhiemers? page 2

[j3nn]

There has been evidence to be contrary: ketogenic diets rich in saturated fats and MCT oils, such as coconut oil, may offer great improvement to someone suffering dementia or Alzheimer's or other brain impairment. When the brain can no longer be fueled by glucose, ketones serve as a wonderful backup source. Of course, ideally, we'd want to take measures beforehand to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's, coconut oil is a powerful and affordable tool in this arena.

[BestBetter]

This is another situation where there is evidence supporting both sides, and you need to do some critical thinking to determine what makes the most sense.

Shortly after I was diagnosed with MS, for example, I did a ton of research on the links with diet (of which there is very, very little) and what I could find all pointed toward limiting saturated fat to under 15g/day. In fact, the one and only longitudinal study ever done found that capping saturated fat this low (and combining with it a vegetarian or extremely low meat diet) kept 95% of people from progressing with any MS symptoms 30+ years later.

This way of eating really never sat right with me, but this was the very limited evidence available to me, and so I decided to follow it rather than risk life in a wheelchair. After a few years, I wanted to know if this way of eating was really the only way, so I slowly started increasing my sat fat and added some coconut oil to my diet, at some points eating almost a 100% meat and fat diet for several weeks and never had any new symptoms as a result of all this experimentation.

Research can be used to prove just about anything, so I think the burden ends up being on us to find what makes us feel good and what makes sense. Maybe you are someone who feels great eating the way this particular doctor advocates. In that case, go for it! However, following the newest nutrition trends is not always the best thing to do. Saturated fat is abundant in nature and has been consumed probably since the beginning of time (although there is a lot of leaway to experiment with how much or little you require) while refined industrialized 'heart healthy' seed oils are a freakish modern invention that showed up around the time a ton of modern diseases made their debut. You make the call.

[EagleRiverDee]

My studies have shown just the opposite of the OP- that lack of saturated fat in the diet has caused the massive upswing in Alzheimers cases. The brain is made of cholesterol- all these low cholesterol diets aren't good for it and neither is the inflammation from all the sugar and additives in processed foods.

[slowcooker]

I have an Alzheimer allele (Apoe-4). My Oma passed recently from Alzheimer's so this concerns me a lot.

Read "Feed your brain, lose your belly". It explains a lot.

Since I went hardcore on the MCT Oil (4 tablespoons a day) and went ketogenic the difference in my thinking as dramatic. More concentration, more "endurance" for thinking, more ability to remember facts and events. I really can't overstate how dramatic th difference is.

My Oma had type 2 diabetes, they are describing Alzheimer's as Type 3 diabetes now. So controlling insulin and blood sugar makes sense.

That's great that you are having success.

[sroelofs]

That's great that you are having success.

Thanks

[calee]

My mom had Alzheimer's, celiac and was "pre diabetic". She never weighed more than 120. She ate corn meal mush, yeah, i know, lean meats, veggies, some fruit, fat free cheese, very little fat, no sugar. At 86 she had a stroke and died two years later. She would not have survived it without the feeding tube the docs talked my father into. I thought it was medically cruel to keep her alive because her brain was fried.

I bet she would have done far better over the years dumping the corn meal and adding fats.

Please continue adding articles. Obviously these "hereditary" diseases concern me. My moms celiac is what convinced me to try the Primal grain free approach to eating. While being low carb I still slipped into flour at times and want to minimize those slips.

[KimchiNinja]

As soon as anyone in the United States claims anything on health (especially the government, doctors, media, and "scientists"), I do the opposite. Sorry, but they have been 180 degrees off on everything.

Enough is enough.

[primal_alex]

As soon as anyone in the United States claims anything on health (especially the government, doctors, media, and "scientists"), I do the opposite. Sorry, but they have been 180 degrees off on everything.

Enough is enough.

Sad, but true.