Upgrade Your Brain To Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk
I know brain fog is a common occurrence at menopause, but so also is the concern it could be something more serious.
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Nutritionist Patrick Holford has some interesting information on Alzheimer’s which I wanted to share with you.
Risk for Alzheimer’s, which makes up two thirds of dementia, can be picked up in mid-life. That sounds like bad news, but it isn’t, because most people can cut their risk by two thirds just by making a few relatively simple diet and lifestyle changes in mid-life.
Alzheimer’s isn’t ‘in the genes’ – less than one in every hundred Alzheimer’s diagnoses are attributed to genes. Nor is it an inevitable consequence of ageing.
“It is largely a preventable disease, and we know quite a lot about what people need to do to help prevent it.” says Professor David Smith, former Deputy Head of the Faculty of Medical Science at the University of Oxford, who is one of a team of world-leading prevention experts at the Food for the Brain Foundation.
Less sugar, more activity, fish oil and B vitamin supplements may halve your dementia risk.
The Food for the Brain charity focuses on helping people make simple, positive changes that will give your brain and memory an upgrade and dementia-proof your diet and lifestyle in the future.
So here are the six most common, and most effective, changes you can make:
1. Eat less sugar and refined carbs
The first simple step is to eat less sugar, sugary junk food, sweetened drinks and white, refined bread, rice and pasta. A US study this year reported that having a blood sugar level in the high end of the normal range, at age 35, increased a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life by 15 per cent.
Sugar levels at age 35 predict Alzheimer’s risk later in life, so cutting back on sugar is the first of six simple changes that can cut your risk.
Have more beans, fish, chicken, and less rice, pasta and potatoes. Eat eggs for breakfast or yoghurt, nuts, seeds and berries. Have oats instead of sugary cereals and oat cakes instead of bread.
Our sugar expert Professor Robert Lustig, from the University of California, showed that sweet-toothed teenagers already have shrinking brains and worsening memory. It starts that young!
2. Eat fish and omega-3 fish oils
The next simple step to cut your risk is to eat fish and supplement omega-3 fish oils. A study of almost half a million people from the UK’s Bio Bank found that those taking fish oil supplements had a 7 per cent lower risk of dementia. The same was true for those with higher blood levels.
Eating three servings of fish a week cuts Alzheimer’s risk by a third.The best fish are salmon and mackerel but sardines, anchovies, herring and kippers are also excellent.
3. Supplement B vitamins
The first study that showed a reversal in the rate of brain shrinkage in people with pre-dementia gave a supplement of vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid.
Folic acid is critical during pregnancy for the development of a baby’s brain and nerves. Also essential for brain and nerve function. The study showed that the B vitamins halved the rate of brain shrinkage, cut the shrinkage in the Alzheimer’s areas of the brain by nine times. The best drug to date has cut brain shrinkage by 2 per cent with virtually no clinical benefit.
B vitamins are needed to help attach omega-3 into your brain. The next big breakthrough came when Professor David Smith’s group at Oxford University showed that the omega-3 fats don’t work nearly so well without B vitamins – and the B vitamins don’t work in people with low intake of omega-3. You need both.
“In those with sufficient omega-3 status B vitamins resulted in up to 73 per cent less brain shrinkage and slowed memory decline.” says Professor Smith. One in three ended the trial with no clinical signs of dementia at all.
Two other trials, in Holland and Sweden have confirmed that omega-3 and B vitamins are a dynamic duo, slowing down cognitive decline when both are sufficient.
The three critical B vitamins are vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid or folate which is found in green foods (think foliage). We recommend older people supplement at least 10mcg of vitamin B12 a day, but the study gave 500mcg.
Why? Because many older people absorb B12 less well. It needs stomach acid so those on antacid drugs often end up lacking B12.
The US National Institutes of Health researchers attribute 32 per cent of risk to inactive lifestyle, 22 per cent to smoking, 22 per cent to lack of seafood or omega-3 and another 22 per cent to a raised blood homocysteine, an amino acid found in the blood.
Elevated levels of homocysteine have been associated with narrowing and hardening of the arteries
4. Increase antioxidant found in fruit and veg
Your brain spends a lot of energy thinking. This makes ‘exhaust fumes’, called oxidants, which age the brain. That’s why smoking is a big risk factor.
Fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices and cacao are rich in brain-friendly antioxidants and polyphenols which improve circulation in your brain and help keep it young.
So, while eating five servings of fruit and veg is good advice, having a handful of berries a day (blueberries being the best), and at least four servings of vegetables is better.
Cacao in chocolate is also brain-friendly but the sugar isn’t. Having a cocoa drink, made with cacao powder (without sugar) is the best of both worlds. Spices such as turmeric, cumin and chilli, cayenne or paprika are also great sources of polyphenols.
5. Have an active lifestyle
In the online test at foodforthebrain – see Helpful Information below – we assess your ‘active mind’, ‘active body’ as well as ‘sleep and calm’. Your brain needs exercise.
“For many people, the worst thing they can do for their brain is to retire” says exercise expert Tommy Wood, Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. He has shown that your muscle mass predicts brain volume.
“Exercise, especially resistance exercise, is important because it makes the brain do things that keep it healthy, such as growth and repair”, he says. “When they aren’t stimulated, the health of brain tissues deteriorates, with a knock-on effect on memory and thinking.”
A study on trainee London taxi drivers learning ‘The Knowledge’, which involves memorising 26,000 streets, found that those who passed, compared to those that failed had literally built more brain tissue and connections.
“For many people the worst thing they can do for their brain is to retire”, says Wood. “They lose much of the stimulation that kept it healthy.” It’s especially good to learn things you’re bad at. Those taking up learning musical instruments did better than professional musicians.
We also benefit from the mental exercise involved in activities like solving puzzles or learning a new language.
6. Sleep well and stay calm
Just as you need a period of rest after exercise for muscles to recover, your brain needs sleep after a period of cognitive activity. The quantity and quality of sleep makes a big difference. Sleeping only 5 hours, or 9 or more hours, doubles dementia risk.
The optimal sleep duration is 7 hours and the optimal time for going to sleep is 10pm. ‘Owls’ – who go to sleep late – have higher risk. Also, the least disrupted sleep, the better. Stress also takes its toll.
Helpful Information
Brain fog is a common symptom at Menopause so knowing whether you are at risk from something more serious can only be a good thing.
Women do benefit from having good progesterone levels to help with brain fog, and if you think your diet could be making brain fog worse then this article can help.
https://anna.blog.wellsprings-health.com/brain-fog-heres-what-not-to-eat/
For a more in-depth look, you could look at Patrick Holford’s book “The Alzheimer’s Prevention Plan” from his website. There is also a free on-line test available that not only shows how your brain is working, but helps identify the key changes that will make the most difference to dementia- proofing your future.
https://foodforthebrain.org/the-cognitive-function-test/
References
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