Words matter. These are the best David Perlmutter Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
Dementia is our most-feared illness, more than heart disease or cancer.
Inflammation is the cornerstone of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis – all of the neurodegenerative diseases are really predicated on inflammation.
Mental fitness is served by consciously redirecting our attention away from the constant bombardment from the media whose reason to be seems to be focused on keeping us in a state of constant alert.
Fat is your friend. The brain thrives on a fat-rich, low-carbohydrate diet.
A fundamental premise in cancer therapy is trying to identify how the metabolism of cancer cells differs from normal tissue. When differences are identified, it often paves the way for treatments that will disrupt the cancer’s metabolism while sparing normal tissue.
People are getting to this place of understanding that their lifestyle choices actually do matter a whole lot as opposed to this notion that you live your life, come what may, and hope for a pill.
Two forms of fat that are vitally important for brain health are cholesterol and saturated fat.
The food we eat goes beyond its macronutrients of carbohydrates, fat and protein. It’s information. It interacts with and instructs our genome with every mouthful, changing genetic expression.
When we are exposed to a real or perceived threatening situation, powerful things happen in the brain to memorialize aspects of the event, including all manner of associated circumstances like where, when and how it occurred.
The science supporting the relationship between carbohydrates and dementia is quite exciting, as it paves the way for lifestyle changes that can profoundly affect a person’s chances of remaining intact, at least from a brain perspective.
Saturated fat is a fundamental building block for brain cells. It’s certainly interesting to consider that one of the richest sources of saturated fat in nature is human breast milk.
Antioxidants are chemicals that break down or neutralize the damaging effects of free radicals – chemicals produced as a byproduct of normal cellular metabolism.
The best diet for overall health, and specifically for heart, brain, and cancer risk reduction, is a diet that’s aggressively low in carbohydrates with an abundance of healthful fat, and this is the central theme of ‘Grain Brain.’
The human brain is at particularly high risk for damage by free radicals because of its high degree of metabolism compared to other tissues, while lacking the levels of antioxidant protection found elsewhere in the body.
The story of gluten as it relates to the brain throws a wide net, so much more encompassing than the inflammation of a small section of the small intestine that characterizes celiac disease.
Even slight elevations in blood sugar have been shown to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
It may seem draconian, but the best recommendation I can make is to completely avoid grains.
Most grain foods, whether we’re talking about quinoa, amaranth, the very popular grains of the day – the reality is they still are associated with a carbohydrate surge.
The Mediterranean diet is rich in fruits and vegetables while low in sodium. It is also enriched with olive oil, high in antioxidants as well as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
So-called ‘complex carbs’ may actually represent a more significant threat to health than simple sugar in that they may not only raise blood sugar, but keep it elevated for a more prolonged period of time.
Carbs are devastating for the brain.
As a practicing neurologist, I place central importance in applying current science to the notion of disease prevention.
From the earliest moments of life, children begin to learn the fundamentals of language. The most powerful influence for effective language development are the verbal interactions with caregivers.
Parkinson’s is described as a progressive idiopathic neurodegenerative disorder, a brain disease that will worsen with time for which no cause has as yet been identified.
While the hippocampus itself doesn’t store memories, it serves to triage our experiences based upon their survival significance.
Alzheimer’s is a disease for which there is no effective treatment whatsoever. To be clear, there is no pharmaceutical agent, no magic pill that a doctor can prescribe that will have any significant effect on the progressive downhill course of this disease.
The biggest issue by far is that carbohydrates are absolutely at the cornerstone of all of our major degenerative conditions.
Making changes in the fast food that makes up such a significant part of the American diet, even if the numbers aren’t impressive, will have important health up sides.
Bad things happen. And the human brain is especially adept at making sure that we keep track of these events. This is an adaptive mechanism important for survival.
Food is medicine. We can actually change our gene expressions with the foods we eat.
Increase your consumption of healthful fats like extra virgin olive oil, avocado, grass-fed beef, wild fish, coconut oil, nuts and seeds. At the same time, keep in mind that modified fats like hydrogenated or trans fats are the worst choices for brain health.
When a child is watching television, he or she is not involved in play, not socializing with other individuals, and most importantly, not receiving feedback as to the actions or consequences of his or her behavior.
Shoot for a total of no more than 80 grams of carbs in your daily diet. This means favoring vegetables that grow above ground like kale, broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower as opposed to those that store carbohydrate in the form of starch like potatoes and beets.
As a practicing neurologist, I can tell you first hand that working with Parkinson’s patients offers clinical challenges. But from an emotional perspective, this disease can border on overwhelming.
Our ancestors relied upon their advanced brains to survive during times of food shortage, and fortunately, the human brain is able to utilize body fat as an extremely efficient fuel to sustain function when glucose-providing food is unavailable.
