Covid-19 & Health Update: Brain Loss Begins 30 Years Before Symptoms

RVAchironeuro • April 20, 2022

Hello again everyone:

As you know from previous blogs, inflammation causes, perpetuates, or aggravates every known human chronic condition…from brain health to immune capabilities. Thus, it is important to consider that the early signs of Alzheimer’s can begin as early as 30 years before being diagnosed. Did you know that AD (Alzheimer’s Disease) has some estimating that it is the third leading cause of death…or that half of those that reach 85 will have dementia? If you are a baby boomer, your rates are expected to triple? AD is known to have a significant inflammatory component that has multiple drivers that at some point are mediated through the immune system.

As you know, as of today there is no official treatment for AD. We know a lot about it, and the area that has the greatest success has been shown to be functional medicine approaches. These are comprehensive lifestyle measures that may include adding or subtracting specific foods, intermittent fasting, supplements, sleep optimization, stress reduction, blood flow and oxygen normalization, blood sugar balancing, getting rid of toxins, getting rid of any latent or hidden infections, balancing hormones and more.

What do these all have in common? The reduction of inflammation and optimization of our immune system…not only to protect your brain but protect your health during the pandemic…it all works together!! One thing you can do now is to start and stay on an anti-inflammatory food plan!! Please read this brief article on inflammation, it is worth the quick read to really get the fact that getting a handle on inflammation is critical.

Bottom Line:

What you eat really matters a lot! It is NOT too early to consider adopting lifestyle strategies to lower your risk of AD or any other dementia. If you want a more comprehensive look into this, I recommend the following book by Dale Bredesen, M.D.: “The End of Alzheimer’s Program: The First Protocol to Enhance Cognition and Reverse Decline at Any Age”

Another study revealed those that ate green leafy vegetables daily had the cognitive abilities of a person 11 years younger than those that consumed none.

Another study showed that aging women who consumed fruit and green vegetables declined significantly slower than those with low intake.

Here are some foods and herbs that are especially brain friendly and beneficial (all of these should be organic only!)

  • Coffee
  • Blueberries
  • Greens (think kale, arugula, spinach, chard, broccoli, etc.)
  • Turmeric
  • Green tea
  • Omega-3 sources: walnuts, chia, flax, hemp hearts, algae, fish oil, legumes of all types
  • Gingko, Ginseng, Bacopa and Rhodiola rosea and Red Sage supplements
    • Do not start these supplements if on blood thinning medications: check with your prescribing physician first!

 

 

 

 

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Hello everyone: I think I have mentioned inflammaging before but never really focused on it. So, let’s dig into this interesting topic. Inflammaging is when chronic, low-grade inflammation develops with age as dietary and environmental stress accumulates, contributing to the development of all of the various age-related diseases and health issues. It results from a loss of control over systemic inflammation, which tends to come from an unbalanced and dysregulated immune system. One of the key drivers of inflammaging is diet…which means that one of the key tools to slow and reduce aging is our what we eat as well as what we don’t eat. In this paper, the authors reveal that the typical Western Diet (what science calls the Standard American Diet or S.A.D.) is the best example of a pro-inflammatory diet pattern. “ Conclusion: Inflammation is a key physiological process in immunity and tissue repair. However, during aging it becomes increasingly more chronic. In addition, we found that certain foods such as saturated fats have pro-inflammatory activity. Taking this into account, in this review we have proposed some dietary guidelines as well as a list of compounds present in foods with anti-inflammatory activity. It must be taken into account that the amounts used in the studies that detect anti-inflammatory activity of these compounds are very high, and the intake of a single food to achieve its anti-inflammatory power is not feasible. (My Comment: what this means is that it is the overall dietary pattern that matters the most.) However, the combination of foods rich in compounds with anti-inflammatory activity could exert beneficial effects during aging and in pathologies associated with inflammation and in reducing the detrimental effects of foods with pro-inflammatory activity. Therefore, we can conclude that the compounds in our diet with anti-inflammatory activity could help alleviate the inflammatory processes derived from diseases and unhealthy diets and thereby promote healthy aging. Thus, we can use diet not only for nourishment, but also as medicine.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8389628/ anti-inflammatory diet and health aging https://www.healthline.com/health/5-minute-guide-to-inflamm-aging Bottom Line: We all must age, and how we do so is largely under our own control. To create an anti-inflammatory lifestyle is not that difficult, especially if you put it all together in stages. Start with a clean, whole-food, unprocessed plant-based food plan. And to begin, first focus on what you can add into your menus and use those additions to sort of crowd out the things that are more inflammatory…sugar, refined grains, processed and pre-packaged things. Set realistic goals such as going plant based one or two days a week, or even one meal…just start and gradually work up. It has to be doable so don’t stress. Next, start moving and doing regular exercise at least three times a week…and find what you enjoy doing and focus on that. Then add activities that de-stress you, whether that is socializing, church, meditation, prayer, yoga, etc. Overall, shift your attention to giving love to things that love you back. Sugar, drive-thru and processed food like thingies do not love you back but apples or kiwis or berries or veggies do. Sitting around does not love you back but going for a short walk after a meal does love you back. Hang out and give love to the people you really like to be with, they will most always love you back. Create a love you back lifestyle and see how you feel.
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