Carbs - A cautionary Tale

Dear god...oh dear god...

So agree with you! Really 190,000 thousand years ago.... Really?!?!

People can talk all day about what caused a disorder and what helps or doesn't. The facts are not facts at all, just opinions based on various studies with widely different results. Alzheimer's type dementia is a devastating illness that cannot be fully confirmed until autopsy and is NOT curable. A lot of other illnesses mimic Alzheimer's. Metabolic disorders, vascular illness, Parkinson's... all of these have been misdiagnosed as early onset Alzheimer's.
Regardless of what you are suffering from, good luck to you and your family. Spend time now with them writing your future healthcare and financial wishes down and ( if you normally take care of your household financials) sit down with your loved one and make a list of all your account numbers, passwords and bill needs so they are not left blind if you do not get better.
This is not being morbid or uncaring. I just have seen too many families devastated by dementia who wish their loved one had done this for them before the illness completely took over.
Again, good luck. I wish you well.

I'm not going to go on a pro-Paleo or pro-Atkins crusade, but start reading medical journals - that's where I try to get most of my info from. Paleo is a healthy way to low-carb, because you're getting your nutrients from natural sources. But hey, to each their own.

If you truly are going through Alzheimers, my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. Good luck.

I followed a low carb diet once, under 100g a day for almost 11 months and felt great. BUT my hair did thin quite a bit. That was the only draw back for me.

I followed a high carb diet for a year and my hair thinned as well...but I think that is because I got a year older...

Yeah cause all Paleo man ate a low carb diet, oh wait...

Eaton et al. Paleolithic nutrition revisited: A twelve-year retrospective on its nature and implications. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1997) 51, 207±216

http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/EvolutionPaleolithic/Eaton Paleo Nutri Review EJCN.pdf

From your reference paleo man ate 205 grams of carbohydrates per day with an estimated 100 grams of fiber that makes 105 grams of carbs a day. For some this wouldn't be low carb but no where near the 300-400g the typical "modern" man is eating now.

Okay, but think about how many more total calories the modern man is eating now.

Yeah cause all Paleo man ate a low carb diet, oh wait...

Eaton et al. Paleolithic nutrition revisited: A twelve-year retrospective on its nature and implications. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1997) 51, 207±216

http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/EvolutionPaleolithic/Eaton Paleo Nutri Review EJCN.pdf

From your reference paleo man ate 205 grams of carbohydrates per day with an estimated 100 grams of fiber that makes 105 grams of carbs a day. For some this wouldn't be low carb but no where near the 300-400g the typical "modern" man is eating now.

Okay, but think about how many more total calories the modern man is eating now.

Seems to be a relation there...

Let us know if eating more carbs reverses your Alzheimer's, if you remember.

If you don't agree with what the op says then fine but there's no need to get nasty!

What the ****? How is this nasty? I eat over 300g of carbs a day, and I think paleo is bull****...



What the hell is wrong with the people on these forums, attacking everyone saying they're rude and nasty all the damn time? Stop. It's ****ing annoying.

How the fu@k can you say "how is this nasty"........................did you not read the comment???? ( Let us know if eating more carbs reverses your Alzheimer's, if you remember )..........IF YOU REMEMBER.........!!!! There's the nasty comment!!!....duh!!!

The OP had a Snickers bar for lunch Friday. Hope your high carb theory is correct!

Just looking at your food diary, you are really carb heavy and light on protein. I don't think any nutritionist would condone that.

That said, no one on here ever changes their belief system. So, all this talk is rather pointless.

I followed a low carb diet once, under 100g a day for almost 11 months and felt great. BUT my hair did thin quite a bit. That was the only draw back for me.

I followed a high carb diet for a year and my hair thinned as well...but I think that is because I got a year older...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Going back through your food diary, I would not say you eat low carb. You eat over 150 carbs a day, sometimes in the 200's. I'm sorry to hear you have Alzheimer's, but I highly doubt carbohydrates are the cause.......

Yeah, I was looking through his food diary and if anything I would say it was too low in good fats! And since your brain is made of fat... no, no relation there right.

Going back through your food diary, I would not say you eat low carb. You eat over 150 carbs a day, sometimes in the 200's. I'm sorry to hear you have Alzheimer's, but I highly doubt carbohydrates are the cause.......

Yeah, I was looking through his food diary and if anything I would say it was too low in good fats! And since your brain is made of fat... no, no relation there right.

What constitutes a good or bad fat?

I hear trans fats are good for ya! :happy:

Alzheimers, as opposed to other dementias (dementia is an umbrella term covering a number of conditions of cognitive decline and impairment) is marked specifically by the presence of amyloid plaques neurofibrillary tangles. The only way to 'specifically' diagnose Alzheimers in contrast to other dementias is actually post-mortem.

Early onset dementia is particularly marked by gene expression - so attributing diet to this, and specifically low carbohydrate levels seems pretty illogical.

Many things are related to cognitive decline and impairment - even transitory phases of such. I assume your GP as taken into account assessments of stress or depression. Diabetes can also affect cognitive function, so try not to worry too much - there may be a different underlying source.

Good luck and don't worry about carbs

Dr Newports blog:
http://coconutketones.blogspot.com.au/

http://www.coconutketones.com/

http://www.healthy-eating-politics.com/support-files/ejim01.pdf
"Alzheimer's disease is a devastating disease whose recent increase in incidence rates has broad implications for rising health care costs. Huge amounts of research money are currently being invested in seeking the underlying cause, with corresponding progress in understanding the disease progression. In this paper, we highlight how an excess of dietary carbohydrates, particularly fructose, alongside a relative deficiency in dietary fats and cholesterol, may lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease. A first step in the pathophysiology of the disease is represented by advanced glycation end-products in crucial plasma proteins concerned with fat, cholesterol, and oxygen transport. This leads to cholesterol deficiency in neurons, which significantly impairs their ability to function. Over time, a cascade response leads to impaired glutamate signaling, increased oxidative damage, mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction, increased risk to microbial infection, and, ultimately, apoptosis. Other neurodegenerative diseases share many properties with Alzheimer's disease, and may also be due in large part to this same underlying cause.
© 2011 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved."

Do try coconut oil. this doctor put her husband on it:
https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/physician-prescribes-coconut-oil-and-successfully-cures-alzheimers-disease-before-its-news/

"Dr. Newport, a physician who runs a neonatology ward in a Florida hospital, became determined to help her husband after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The report hosted on CBN.com stated that “insulin problems prevent brain cells from accepting glucose, their primary fuel…there is an alternative fuel, ketones which the cells easily accept. Ketones are metabolized in the liver after you eat medium chain triglycerides which are found in coconut oil.”

Ketones are only created when glycogen is depleted. The type of fat you eat doesn't matter, ketones are a byproduct of being in ketosis, they aren't made just by eating coconut oil. Plus the brain doesn't use ketones for energy until after at least 48 hours of being in a ketogenic state.

Coconut oil is different.

Most dietary fat is made of molecules called long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). However, medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs)—made from fatty acids with shorter carbon chains than LCTs—are more ketogenic. A variant of the classic diet known as the MCT ketogenic diet uses a form of coconut oil, which is rich in MCTs, to provide around half the calories. As less overall fat is needed in this variant of the diet, a greater proportion of carbohydrate and protein can be consumed, allowing a greater variety of food choices.[2][3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet