Alzheimers: Losing Your Mind for the Sake of a Burger

[Guest guest]

Alzheimers:

Losing Your Mind for the Sake of a Burger

by Jeff Nelson

 

Source >

http://www.vegsource.com/articles/alzheimers_homocysteine.htm

 

Headlines have been made by one, lone review of data

in Hawaii, purporting to suggest a relationship

between soy consumption and Alzheimer's disease. Major

news outlets covered the story, 20/20 jumped on it in

its usual tabloid style, and the few big anti-soy

sites out there have had a field day sensationalizing

it. (I've discussed some problems with this study in a

previous article

[http://www.vegsource.com/articles/soy_update.htm].)

A 1993 study found that subjects who ate meat,

including poultry and fish, were nearly three times as

likely to become demented as their vegetarian

counterparts.

 

There is a great deal more compelling research,

however, showing that Alzheimers correlates with the

consumption of . . . meat and dairy. So why isn't

20/20 and the rest getting this information out?

 

Between 6 and 8% of the population over 60 has

Alzheimer's disease, and the rate has been increasing

steadily.

 

Can we really do anything nutritionally to impact our

chances of avoiding this disease? What does the

scientific literature have to say about Alzheimers and

diet?

 

Avoid Aluminum

 

The most striking relationship found in a search of

Medline is the association between aluminum and

Alzheimer's. The National Library of Medicine shows

488 articles in respected medical journals discussing

the link between the metal and the disease. As far

back as 1978, scientists reported that Alzheimer's

patients' aluminum levels were 1.4 times higher than

those in healthy people. [biol Psychiaty, 13:709-718,

1978] Later studies found that aluminum concentrations

were particulaly high in the internal type of neuron

lesion, the nerve " tangles. " [Ciba Found Symp,

169:217-227, 1992] Another study found that aluminum

levels in the blood were three to four times higher in

patients with dementia than in healthy volunteers [J

Inorg Biochem, 69:171-176, 1998], while yet another

reported that hip-fracture patients with Alzheimer's

showed signifcantly higher concentrations of aluminum

in their bones than did their healthy counterparts.

[Actua Orthop Scan, 68:511-512, 1997] This is just a

sampling of the hundreds of medical studies

demonstrating that high levels of alumninum contribute

to Alzheimer's.

 

The takehome message: don't take chances, avoid

aluminum in your diet at all costs -- don't cook with

aluminum cookware, avoid baked goods prepared with

aluminum-containing baking powders (particularly

commercial baked goods), minimize or eliminate other

dietary sources of aluminum such as American cheese,

chocolate-flavored pudding and beverages in aluminum

containers -- and chewing gum. Certain drugs,

particularly antacids, contain significant amounts of

aluminum, as do many cosmetics. One of the most widely

used sources of aluminum are antiperspirants -- avoid

deodorants with the active ingredient aluminum

chlorohydrate.

 

 

Avoid Animal Protein

 

The next most striking aspect in a review of studies

published during the past two years sheds significant

light on another central risk factor in Alzheimers --

high levels of a blood substance called homocysteine.

 

Homocysteine is an amino acid, and amino acids are the

building blocks of proteins. The only source of

homocysteine for use in our bodies is that which is

formed by the liver after the ingestion of another

amino acid, methionine. Methionine is found in protein

foods -- and animal protein contains two to three

times the amount of methionine as does plant protein.

 

Among recent studies looking at the significance of

elevated homocysteine levels and Alzheimer's are:

 

1) Miller JW; Homocysteine and Alzheimer's disease.

Nutr Rev, 1999 Apr, 57:4, 126-9

 

" In a recent case-control study of 164 patients

with clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease (AD),

including 76 patients with the AD diagnosis confirmed

postmortem, mean total serum homocysteine

concentration was found to be significantly higher

than that of a control group of elderly individuals

with no evidence of cognitive impairment. "

 

2) Clarke R, et al; Folate, vitamin B12, and serum

total homocysteine levels in confirmed Alzheimer

disease Arch Neurol, 1998 Nov, 55:11, 1449-55

 

" Elevated homocysteine levels were associated with

Alzheimer's Disease. "

 

3) McCaddon A, et al; Total serum homocysteine in

senile dementia of Alzheimer type Int J Geriatr

Psychiatry, 1998 Apr, 13:4, 235-9

 

" Senile dementia of Alzheimer type patients have

significantly elevated homocysteine. "

 

This study, also confirming the link between

homocysteine and Alzheimer's, was done in the UK.

 

4) Gottfries CG, et al; Early diagnosis of

cognitive impairment in the elderly with the focus on

Alzheimer's disease. J Neural Transm, 1998, 105:8-9,

773-86

 

" We found serum-homocysteine to be an early and

sensitive marker for cognitive impairment. In patients

with dysmentia (mild cognitive impairment), no less

than 39% had pathological serum-homocysteine levels. "

 

This study, conducted in Sweden, not only showed blood

levels of homocysteine to correlate strongly with

Alzheimer's disease -- but showed elevated levels of

homocysteine were useful in *predicting* who might get

Alzheimer's.

 

In another study, reported at the World Alzheimer's

Congress in July 2000, researches looked at 5,395

individuals aged 55 and over who were free from

dementia. After examining subjects in 1993 and again

in 1999 researchers reported the following:

 

" On average, people who remained free from any

form of dementia had consumed higher amounts of

beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E and vegetables

than the people in the study who developed Alzheimer’s

disease. "

 

The researchers also noted that in this study, family

history or the presence of a genetic marker called the

ApoE4 allele (both considered risk factors for

Alzheimer's) did not alter their findings. In other

words, high consumption of vegetables appeared to

offset one of the other known risk factors for

Alzheimer's.

 

So How Can You Lower Your Risk for Alzheimer's?

 

In addition to avoiding dietary and cosmetic sources

of aluminum, maintain a low homocysteine level by

greatly reducing consumption of the homocystein-

producing amino acid methionine -- through minimizing

or avoiding meat and dairy consumption.

 

And if you're eating one of those high-protein fad

diets, just be aware that along with the extra pounds

you may temporarily lose, you may just lose your mind,

too, by setting the later stage for becoming an

Alzheimer's casualty.

 

We already know from a 1993 study that subjects who

ate meat, including poultry and fish, were nearly

three times as likely to become demented as their

vegetarian counterparts. [Neuroepidemiology, 12:28-36,

1993]

 

Another recent study showed that subjects who adopted

a vegan diet had their homocysteine levels drop

between 13% and 20% in just ONE WEEK. [Preventive

Medicine 2000;30:225-233.]

 

Recent research has found that statin drugs -- which

reduce the blood level of cholesterol from animal

foods -- appear to significantly lower the risk (by

73%) of Alzheimer's and dementia risk. [Archives of

Neurology 2000;57:1439-1443]

 

In another report, researchers observed the dietary

habits of nearly 8,000 men and women free of dementia

upon enrolling in the study. When re-examined six

years later, those who ate foods rich in vitamins E

and C (plant foods) were less likely to have developed

Alzheimer's disease. [Mulnard RA, Cotman CW, Kawas C,

et al. Estrogen replacement therapy for treatment of

mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: a randomized

controlled trial. Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative

Study. JAMA 2000;283:1007-15.]

 

The clear message if you're concerned about

Alzheimer's? Lose the meat and dairy, eat fruits and

veggies.

 

Marker for Heart Disease, Too

 

Several large, well designed studies have shown a

clear association between homocysteine levels and

heart attack and stroke. Not only does meat and dairy

consumption raise cholesterol, it raises homocysteine,

which is now widely seen as a separate risk marker for

heart disease.

 

Vitamins and supplements are not as effective as diet

in lowering homocysteine levels. This led the American

Heart Association last year to make the following

statement: " Fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than

vitamin supplements, are the best line of defense

against raised homocysteine levels, an indicator of

heart disease. "

 

Help Prevent Heart Disease, Cancer -- and Alzheimers

-- via Diet

 

We'll wait to see if any further research materializes

to back up the one curious study purporting to show a

relationship between Alzheimers and soy consumption.

 

In the meantime, the available scientific data are

already plentiful to show that you can reduce your

risk of being an Alzheimer's victim the same way you

can lower your risk of certain cancers and heart

disease -- by eating a healthy plant-based diet, rich

in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and

legumes.

 

See related study: Veg Diet Gives Protection Against

Alzheimer's