Alzheimer's Disease and the Paleo Diet

sapalee
sapalee Posts: 409 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Here is an interesting article on the effects of the paleo diet on brain health, particulary with regard to carbohydrates and cholesterol. There are multiple links within the article to the original research papers if you care to read deeper.

Not trying to start a big discussion here on the benefits or risks of paleo, just thought it was an interesting article and wanted to share. Especially with regard to the protective nature of fats and cholesterol for those that are still fearful of fat.

http://paleodietnews.com/2263/alzheimers-disease-and-the-paleo-diet/

Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    The actual research isn't not talking about paleo per se, only a diet high in fat and low in carbs, and considering a paleo diet is only low carb if you design it that way, it could be any diet that's low in carbs. Anyway the basic research material is interesting and there's also alot of research with omega 3/6 balance and alzheimers.
  • sapalee
    sapalee Posts: 409 Member
    The actual research isn't not talking about paleo per se, only a diet high in fat and low in carbs, and considering a paleo diet is only low carb if you design it that way, it could be any diet that's low in carbs. Anyway the basic research material is interesting and there's also alot of research with omega 3/6 balance and alzheimers.

    Right, low carb, low sugar, and high fat. And paleo is going to be inherehently higher fat, lower carb and sugar than a traditional diet. Of course you can do this without calling it paleo.

    The article was simply summarizing the research within a paleo frame work since it was an article on a paleo website.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    The actual research isn't not talking about paleo per se, only a diet high in fat and low in carbs, and considering a paleo diet is only low carb if you design it that way, it could be any diet that's low in carbs. Anyway the basic research material is interesting and there's also alot of research with omega 3/6 balance and alzheimers.

    Right, low carb and high fat. And paleo is going to be inherehently lower carb than a traditional diet.

    The article was simply summarizing the research within a paleo frame work since it was an article on a paleo website.
    Yup. Anyway, the paleo diet is designed by default to bring our omega balance closer to the one we have inherently been accustomed to, so it's difficult to say whether much of the improvement is from high fat or a better omega balance. Low carb/high fat generally improves omega balance if grain oils are also removed and replaced with more natural occuring fat like tropical oils, and rendered animal fats.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    The actual research isn't not talking about paleo per se, only a diet high in fat and low in carbs, and considering a paleo diet is only low carb if you design it that way, it could be any diet that's low in carbs. Anyway the basic research material is interesting and there's also alot of research with omega 3/6 balance and alzheimers.

    Right, low carb, low sugar, and high fat. And paleo is going to be inherehently higher fat, lower carb and sugar than a traditional diet. Of course you can do this without calling it paleo.

    The article was simply summarizing the research within a paleo frame work since it was an article on a paleo website.

    I have posted saying this before under my old username and people just want to argue because they will never get over being fearful of cholesterol and fat, particularly saturated fat - even though the proof is there for both saturated fat and cholesterol being protective in nature in the body.

    I believe the low fat trend is a major reason as to why we see how much more Alzheimers and Dementia now days.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    The actual research isn't not talking about paleo per se, only a diet high in fat and low in carbs, and considering a paleo diet is only low carb if you design it that way, it could be any diet that's low in carbs. Anyway the basic research material is interesting and there's also alot of research with omega 3/6 balance and alzheimers.

    Right, low carb and high fat. And paleo is going to be inherehently lower carb than a traditional diet.

    The article was simply summarizing the research within a paleo frame work since it was an article on a paleo website.
    Yup. Anyway, the paleo diet is designed by default to bring our omega balance closer to the one we have inherently been accustomed to, so it's difficult to say whether much of the improvement is from high fat or a better omega balance. Low carb/high fat generally improves omega balance if grain oils are also removed and replaced with more natural occuring fat like tropical oils, and rendered animal fats.

    Exactly.

    I see some people eating a high ratio of vegetable and grain oils compared to animal fats and coconut oil and they are complaining of joint pains and such.

    The Omega 3:6 ratio is very important.
  • Barbellsandthimbles
    Barbellsandthimbles Posts: 205 Member
    The actual research isn't not talking about paleo per se, only a diet high in fat and low in carbs, and considering a paleo diet is only low carb if you design it that way, it could be any diet that's low in carbs. Anyway the basic research material is interesting and there's also alot of research with omega 3/6 balance and alzheimers.

    Right, low carb, low sugar, and high fat. And paleo is going to be inherehently higher fat, lower carb and sugar than a traditional diet. Of course you can do this without calling it paleo.

    The article was simply summarizing the research within a paleo frame work since it was an article on a paleo website.

    I have posted saying this before under my old username and people just want to argue because they will never get over being fearful of cholesterol and fat, particularly saturated fat - even though the proof is there for both saturated fat and cholesterol being protective in nature in the body.

    I believe the low fat trend is a major reason as to why we see how much more Alzheimers and Dementia now days.

    ^^ Yep, agreed. If I bring this up with certain family members I get "So, I can eat twinkies and it's good for my body because of the fat?" (sarcastic tone). Healthy fats people...healthy. I've also read that the damage takes place up to 30 years before we start seeing symptoms of Alzheimers (wish I could find where I saw that). That in itself is scary...the sooner we start trying to do everything we can to get healthy, the better.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    I know that some indiginous peoples like the Okinawans, Kitevans, Cretians etc that consume diets high in omega 3's (fish) natural occuring fats and lots of vegetable intake also have lower degenerative diseases.
  • sapalee
    sapalee Posts: 409 Member
    The actual research isn't not talking about paleo per se, only a diet high in fat and low in carbs, and considering a paleo diet is only low carb if you design it that way, it could be any diet that's low in carbs. Anyway the basic research material is interesting and there's also alot of research with omega 3/6 balance and alzheimers.

    Right, low carb, low sugar, and high fat. And paleo is going to be inherehently higher fat, lower carb and sugar than a traditional diet. Of course you can do this without calling it paleo.

    The article was simply summarizing the research within a paleo frame work since it was an article on a paleo website.

    I have posted saying this before under my old username and people just want to argue because they will never get over being fearful of cholesterol and fat, particularly saturated fat - even though the proof is there for both saturated fat and cholesterol being protective in nature in the body.

    I believe the low fat trend is a major reason as to why we see how much more Alzheimers and Dementia now days.

    There is a direct paragragh from one of the research papers about your last sentence:

    "Cell membranes need constant maintenance to repair and replace fats and cholesterol subsequent to oxidative damage. The strong influence of Ancel Keys [31], beginning the the 1960's, has led to dietary avoidance of fats and cholesterol along with over-zealous prescription of cholesterol-reducing medications over the same decades in which there has been a parallel rise in AD prevalence. Although this epidemiological coincidence is not proof, it gives weight to underlying research showing a possible link between cholesterol depletion and neuronal failure. [32]." Seneff

    http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/EJIM_PUBLISHED.pdf
  • sapalee
    sapalee Posts: 409 Member
    After reading the China Study and watching Forks Over Knives my grandma has gone vegan and is hell bent on getting her overall cholesterol below 150. She has eliminated avery source of fat in her diet, vegan or otherwise, to work towards this goal. She believes this will greatly lower her cardiovascular risk but I have to wonder at what cost.

    If I had to choose I'd rather drop dead of heart disease a few years younger than go through dementia or Alzheimer's with a perfectly healthy heart. I lean towards quality of quantity.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    The actual research isn't not talking about paleo per se, only a diet high in fat and low in carbs, and considering a paleo diet is only low carb if you design it that way, it could be any diet that's low in carbs. Anyway the basic research material is interesting and there's also alot of research with omega 3/6 balance and alzheimers.

    Right, low carb, low sugar, and high fat. And paleo is going to be inherehently higher fat, lower carb and sugar than a traditional diet. Of course you can do this without calling it paleo.

    The article was simply summarizing the research within a paleo frame work since it was an article on a paleo website.

    I have posted saying this before under my old username and people just want to argue because they will never get over being fearful of cholesterol and fat, particularly saturated fat - even though the proof is there for both saturated fat and cholesterol being protective in nature in the body.

    I believe the low fat trend is a major reason as to why we see how much more Alzheimers and Dementia now days.

    There is a direct paragragh from one of the research papers about your last sentence:

    "Cell membranes need constant maintenance to repair and replace fats and cholesterol subsequent to oxidative damage. The strong influence of Ancel Keys [31], beginning the the 1960's, has led to dietary avoidance of fats and cholesterol along with over-zealous prescription of cholesterol-reducing medications over the same decades in which there has been a parallel rise in AD prevalence. Although this epidemiological coincidence is not proof, it gives weight to underlying research showing a possible link between cholesterol depletion and neuronal failure. [32]." Seneff

    http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/EJIM_PUBLISHED.pdf
    Probably why there's study after study showing higher cholesterol levels in aging population is protective of degenerative diseases.
  • pixelish
    pixelish Posts: 54
    Hmmm....although the research is interesting, I wonder why the United States is #3 in the world for Alzheimer's deaths in comparison to countries with diets traditionally lower in fat, like China (#112), India (#116), Japan (#130). It does seem like those high on the list are known for more saturated fats.

    http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/alzheimers-dementia/by-country/
  • relayfire
    relayfire Posts: 2
    On worldrankings, the US is also very low compared to most nations as far as coronary disease and hypertension, despite a relatively high fat diet.

    One has to wonder how much genetics and adaptation come into play. Seemingly more than most admit to.
  • relayfire
    relayfire Posts: 2
    that's worldhealthrankings.com
  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
    After reading the China Study and watching Forks Over Knives my grandma has gone vegan and is hell bent on getting her overall cholesterol below 150. She has eliminated avery source of fat in her diet, vegan or otherwise, to work towards this goal. She believes this will greatly lower her cardiovascular risk but I have to wonder at what cost.

    If I had to choose I'd rather drop dead of heart disease a few years younger than go through dementia or Alzheimer's with a perfectly healthy heart. I lean towards quality of quantity.

    Let her know that there are no vegan sources of cholesterol! All non-animal products are naturally cholesterol-free :) there are plenty of healthy vegan fats she can choose from.
  • freerange
    freerange Posts: 1,722 Member
    Hmmm....although the research is interesting, I wonder why the United States is #3 in the world for Alzheimer's deaths in comparison to countries with diets traditionally lower in fat, like China (#112), India (#116), Japan (#130). It does seem like those high on the list are known for more saturated fats.

    http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/alzheimers-dementia/by-country/

    Because for the most part "we" eat Hydrogenated fats, instead of "real" fat. Corn is not a real fat :) just saying.
  • freerange
    freerange Posts: 1,722 Member
    After reading the China Study and watching Forks Over Knives my grandma has gone vegan and is hell bent on getting her overall cholesterol below 150. She has eliminated avery source of fat in her diet, vegan or otherwise, to work towards this goal. She believes this will greatly lower her cardiovascular risk but I have to wonder at what cost.

    If I had to choose I'd rather drop dead of heart disease a few years younger than go through dementia or Alzheimer's with a perfectly healthy heart. I lean towards quality of quantity.

    OMG, the China study is so full of lies, do a search on it and let your Grandma read the truth. She is headed for a greater health risk by cutting out all fats, than she ever was before.
  • MissMaggie3
    MissMaggie3 Posts: 2,464 Member
    Just to let you all know, a few of us have started a group: Alzheimer's prevention and support: New members welcome.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8476-alzheimer-s-prevention-support

Categories