Health Research

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), The New Brain Diabetes

Alzheimer's DiseaseThe start of everyone’s morning food routine is more than just a ritual it’s a requirement for good health. Some people fall prey to fake sweeteners and starchy breads, while others strive for low fat alternatives or nothing at all. Likewise, what you choose to ingest during that window of opportunity impacts thought patterns, hormones, memory, balance, and even emotions.

Ever wondered why some people are more tired than others? When you’re thinking hard, your brain is pulling simple sugars into your cells via important protein transporters. Fast forward to lunchtime, where your hand is struggling to hold up your coffee mug, you can’t remember whose birthday it is that day, and the crucial project you aimed to finish is still resting on top of your desk. In fact, filling up on processed sweets, simple carbohydrates, and empty liquid calories, which triggers an insulin-like disruption, may lead to the destruction of fragile nervous system networks resulting in long term brain deterioration.

Now let’s take a closer look at how sugar is the real elephant in the room, because it feeds cell damage, interferes with protein absorption, and increases cholesterol, but more importantly, sugar decreases human growth hormone. Human growth hormone, otherwise known as HGH, is a substance that helps renew tissue, restore cell damage, and keep our bodies looking young. A rise in sugar causes levels of HGH to plummet, which happens to be one of the key elements noted in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Ultimately, you must monitor your sugar intake to reduce insulin resistance, hopefully before low levels of growth hormone causes a shrinkage in brain tissue. According to research, people who suffer from diabetes have a 65% higher incidence of Alzheimer’s disease than those who are non-diabetic. Speaking of which, our brains actually manufacture insulin. Neurons, nervous system tissue that transmits chemical signaling, need insulin to survive.

Along with a healthy exercise plan and personalized vitamin regiment, it’s important to focus on eating organically sourced, low carb, minimally processed meals with an emphasis on healthy fats to preserve optimal brain health. To further summarize, introducing large amounts of sugar into ones diet causes special proteins, called glucose transporters, to inactivate. That’s a problem, because sugars are now stockpiled in the blood causing DNA strands (genetic information) to break, depletion of antioxidant levels, decreased energy, brain fog, and a buildup of oxidative stress. If you are following a highly refined diet and suspect high blood glucose levels in the presence of brain fatigue, consider taking an oral glucose tolerance test with insulin(OGTT). The process takes no more than 3 hours and is the most comprehensive way of determining sugars total impact on the body. And because your brain is at the heart of all healthy bodily functions, it’s imperative to follow a diet that is sustainable and truly sugar free.