Indian Spice Cuts Dementia Risk by 40%

The AHA! Team — Mon, 13 May 2024 08:01:26 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – By age 60, you have a 50/50 chance of having a clinically enlarged prostate. And it only gets worse every year. When your prostate isn’t functioning properly, it’s hard to enjoy life. There is a new study from Harvard University that demonstrates the power of special plant compounds called flavonoids. It reinforces the advice I’ve been giving my patients for more than 30 years… Increasing your intake of specific nutrients can head off – and even reverse – early signs of memory loss. The Harvard researchers came to this conclusion after tracking the dietary habits and cognitive outcomes of 78,000 study participants for 20 years. They found that those with a high intake of certain flavonoids were almost 40% less likely to experience cognitive decline.1 While it’s not entirely clear how flavonoids protect your memories, researchers believe the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of these plant metabolites are in play. But what is clear is that dementia and other forms of cognitive decline are not due to the “Alzheimer’s gene” (APOE-e4) or any other aspect of your DNA. It’s another strong indication genes aren’t to blame for the 110% increase in Alzheimer’s that’s projected to happen by 2050. As a regular reader, you know Big Agra’s endless production of processed carbs is the key cause of Alzheimer’s. Our bodies simply weren’t designed for the industrial, grain-based foods modern humans eat. This starchy diet touches off an inevitable cascade of insulin resistance, inflammation, weight gain, and cellular damage. And it’s one reason a growing number of researchers are beginning to refer to Alzheimer’s as “type 3 diabetes.”2 But I see a bright side to the Harvard study. It supports the message I’ve been sharing with my patients for years now… With the right nutrients, you CAN protect yourself from this terrible disease. Why Your Brain Wants You to “Eat the Rainbow” I encourage my patients to “eat the rainbow.” Flavonoids give fruits and vegetables their bright, rainbow-like colors. Think of red and green peppers, purple grapes, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, carrots, oranges, grapefruit, and so forth. Other food sources of flavonoids include onions, celery, artichokes, and broccoli – as well as spices like parsley and oregano. But given the increasingly alien environment we live in, there’s one brain-protective flavonoid that stands above the rest. And I recommend all my patients include it in their diet. I’m talking about curcumin. Curcumin is the bright compound that gives turmeric it’s unique golden color. Studies show it contributes to significant memory improvement and stronger cognitive function. Turmeric is the ingredient that gives curry its savory, earthy taste. It’s a member of the ginger family. Some researchers believe the heavy curry consumption in rural India explains the low incidence of dementia there. It’s only about a third of the rate seen in Europe and the United States.3 Protect Your Brain with Indian Curry My family loves to make curry. Here’s one of our favorite recipes: Ingredients: 1 teaspoon coconut oil 4 boneless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces 2 cups diced yellow onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons fresh ginger 6 two-inches pieces of fresh turmeric root, peeled and grated 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 1 can (13.6) ounces of coconut milk 1 cup chicken stock 1/2 teaspoon garam masala 4 cups cubed butternut squash 1 tablespoon lime juice Instructions: Sauté chicken in coconut oil until cooked, then remove and set aside. Sauté the onion until it begins to soften. Then add ginger and garlic. Add remaining spices and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the butternut squash, coconut milk, and broth. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt to taste along with freshly squeezed lime juice. Add chicken and serve. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS References: 1. Yeh, Tian-Shin, et al. “Long-term dietary flavonoid intake and subjective cognitive decline in US men and women.” Neurology. 2021 Sept;97(10):e1041 – e1056. 2. de la Monte S, and Wands R. “Alzheimer’s disease is type 3 diabetes: Evidence reviewed.” J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2008 Nov; 2(6): 1101–1113. 3. Chandra V, et al. “Incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in a rural community in India: The Indo-US Study.” Neurology. 2001 Sep 25;57(6):985-9. To read the original article click here.

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UCI-led Meta-analysis Identifies Hypertension Medications That Help Ward Off Memory Loss

AHA Publisher — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 07:00:23 +0000

University of California, Irvine via Newswise – A large-scale meta-analysis led by University of California, Irvine researchers provides the strongest evidence yet of which blood pressure medications help slow memory loss in older adults: those that can travel out of blood vessels and directly into the brain. The findings, published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, will be of interest to the 91 million Americans whose blood pressure is high enough to warrant medication, as well as the doctors who treat them. Elevated blood pressure in middle age is known to increase the risk of dementia later in life. Previous studies have shown that some hypertension medications can help stave off dementia in individuals who are already hypertensive. However, which medications and how have been a mystery. “This wasn’t an examination of one specific drug or even one class of drugs; it was a property of the drug – whether it gets into the brain. If physicians were convinced that this property is valuable, it wouldn’t require a dramatic change to their prescribing practice. They could simply choose another drug within the same family that crosses the blood-brain barrier,” said corresponding author Daniel Nation, associate professor of psychological science at UCI. The meta-analysis by Nation and lead author Jean Ho was 10 times larger than any prior work isolating the blood-brain-barrier-crossing characteristic of hypertension drugs. It included more than 12,800 people over the age of 50 in 14 separate studies carried out across six countries. The meta-analysis, published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, found that older adults who took blood pressure medications that cross the blood-brain barrier had less memory loss over three years. Courtesy of Hypertension Two classes of popular blood pressure medications were examined: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers. But rather than sorting the drugs by type, the researchers categorized them by whether or not they cross the blood-brain barrier. They found that people who took hypertension medications that cross the blood-brain barrier experienced less cognitive decline over three years than those who used blood pressure drugs that stay only in the bloodstream. Individuals had to take the medication for at least six months to be included in the study. The meta-analysis covered a range of cognitive tests, but the aspect with statistically significant benefit was word list recall, which Nation said is a strong indicator of overall memory abilities. “If a medication can have an effect on someone who has only mild memory changes in a relatively short period, like three years, that could change their trajectory over the long run,” said Ho, a postdoctoral scholar at the UCI Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders. Other cognitive parameters looked at included learning, language skills and executive function, but no measurable differences in effect were found between the two medication types. One surprising result: The cohort that took drugs that do not cross the blood-brain barrier had better outcomes on attention. Ho and Nation point out that while cardiovascular disease tends to negatively affect attention, such deficits are not a common sign of dementia. The two are pursuing new studies to better understand that finding. Although there is not widespread agreement on which drugs cross the blood-brain barrier, the UCI researchers put the following in that category: ACE inhibitors captopril, fosinopril, lisinopril, perindopril, ramipril and trandolapril, as well as the ARBs telmisartan and candesartan. To read the original article click here.

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Indian Spice Cuts Dementia Risk by 40%

UCI-led Meta-analysis Identifies Hypertension Medications That Help Ward Off Memory Loss