Hello Everyone!
I’m sure it must be frightening to hear you have the genetic markers for Alzheimer’s disease. However, please be assured that this doesn’t automatically mean that you will develop the condition.
Why? Because you have the power to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
It’s a bold statement, I know, but as with any inflammatory condition (which Alzheimer’s Disease is), you can use diet and lifestyle to minimize your risk of developing it.
In this article, I will tell you some facts about Alzheimer’s disease and explain how you can optimize your brain health and protect against cognitive decline.
Please share this post with anyone you know who is fearful of developing Alzheimer’s and anyone who cares for someone who has early signs of it. It might make a world of difference to their lives.
Alzheimer’s and Inflammation: The Facts
Lifestyles Drive Alzheimer’s Risk
Alzheimer’s Disease and Gut Health
Sleep and Neuroinflammation
Movement Affects Our Brains
Stress Response and Inflammation
How Long Does Protection Against Alzheimer’s Take?
Reverse Early Onset Dementia
Alzheimer’s and Inflammation: The Facts
Let’s establish some of the facts about Alzheimer’s disease:
- Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. There are an estimated 5.8 million people in the U.S. with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Around 200,000 of these are under the age of 65.
- Women are nearly twice as likely to be affected by Alzheimer’s than men.
- The inflammation and cellular damage that leads to Alzheimer’s begins years before any symptoms appear.
- There are many underlying causes of Alzheimer’s, which is why the search for a single drug cure will never work.
Alzheimer’s is characterized by the appearance of amyloid plaques and knots of tau protein in brain tissue. However, this type of damage occurs in healthy brains as they age and doesn’t explain why some people develop Alzheimer’s and others don’t.
Scientists then discovered that chronic inflammation in the brain drives the progression of Alzheimer’s. It seems to be this combination of chronic inflammation alongside amyloid plaques and tau protein fibers that leads to Alzheimer’s.
Lifestyles Drive Alzheimer’s Risk
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are more prevalent now than 100 years ago. This is because our diets and lifestyles are radically different:
- We are exposed to more environmental toxins and chemicals in food. These toxins alter the gut microbiome and drive inflammation.
- We do less exercise and movement.
- We have less good quality sleep.
- We eat junk foods that lack essential vitamins and minerals.
All these factors combine to create a state of chronic inflammation that damages brain tissue, leading to dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s Disease and Gut Health
To understand the origins of Alzheimer’s we need to look at gut health. Gut bacteria have a direct effect on brain health and inflammation. What we eat affects the balance of good and bad gut bacteria and can increase our risk of inflammation in the brain.
If we choose ultra-processed foods filled with refined sugar, processed fats, and chemical additives, we are choosing to damage the gut, promote inflammation, and increase our risk of developing dementia.
If we opt for anti-inflammatory foods that provide brain-healthy nutrients, then we are choosing to nourish our gut bacteria, minimize inflammation, and protect our brains against Alzheimer’s.
Sleep and Neuroinflammation
How well we sleep influences our risk of developing neuroinflammation. Good quality sleep is vital for brain cell “housekeeping” and clearing away amyloid plaques in the brain. If you regularly get less than 7-9 hours’ sleep a night you are depriving your brain of the time it needs to do this repair work.
The Eat Burn Sleep lifestyle supports and promotes healthy sleep and we have specific advice for Insomnia. You might also like to read: What Happens If You Don’t Sleep Enough?
Movement Affects Our Brains
Exercise and movement stimulate blood flow and oxygen circulation to the brain. Brain cells get more nutrients and metabolic waste can be cleared away.
Our program includes a whole series of exercise and movement videos designed to improve your strength without increasing inflammation. Many regular forms of exercise are too strenuous. They spike your cortisol levels which then causes more inflammation.
Stress Response and Inflammation
Stress is a massive factor in chronic inflammation and dementia. We each have the power to reduce the effects of stress and improve our resilience. Regular relaxation is crucial for cognitive wellbeing and we have a library of guided meditations for you to enjoy.
How Long Does Protection Against Alzheimer’s Take?
In a matter of weeks, you can dramatically change your genetic expression and reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. If you are as consistent as possible (I advise an 80/20 on this lifestyle), you give yourself the best protection possible.
Start the 6-Week Reset, and then follow Daily Goals and the monthly planner in the Reboot & Revive section under Lifestyle Guide to make your meals, meditations, exercises, and snacks for each day as easy as possible. Remember that the recipes are family-and-friends-friendly!
Reverse Early Onset Dementia
If you have signs of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or early onset dementia, you can slow the progression and dramatically change the outcome with the Eat Burn Sleep lifestyle. Give yourself proper rest, daily movement, interesting activities to stimulate your brain, and an anti-inflammatory diet, and you will give your brain the best chance to fight dementia.
My final advice is to start protecting yourself as soon as possible. Don’t live with that fear anymore. You can protect yourself against developing inflammatory conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and look and feel years younger by doing so!
Want to find out how? Look at the Eat Burn Sleep program and find out about our membership options now.
You might also like:
How Does Sleep Help With Inflammation?
Brain Food for Studying and Focus
Signs of Inflammation That May Surprise You
With love and excellent health, as always!
Yalda x
Yalda Alaoui is a qualified Naturopathic Nutritionist (with a foundation in Biomedicine) who studied with the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London. She has spent over a decade performing groundbreaking research in chronic inflammation and gut health.
