As many of you may already know the subject of Alzheimer’s is important to me—my father died from it. So, I’m always on the lookout for new information regarding this disease. There was an exciting article in Nature Neuroscience.
As reported by the BBC, “Scientists from Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and the University of California looked at fatty acids in the brains of normal mice and compared them with those in mice genetically engineered to have an Alzheimer’s-like condition.
They identified raised levels of a fatty acid called Arachidonic acid in the brains of the Alzheimer’s mice.”
What’s the big deal about that? We can control the production of Arachidonic acid through diet. And, as a bonus, by making these dietary changes we end up with less pain!
The key is reducing [or, better yet, eliminating] grains from our diets. Yes, grains. That means bread, pasta, cereal, etc. Grains, seeds and seed oils give us Linoleic acid, which is transformed into Arachidonic acid in the body. Arachidonic acid is then transformed into pro-inflammatory chemicals. Inflammation means pain. And according to this study, those same substances impair brain function.
Also from the BBC article: Dr Rene Sanchez-Mejia, who worked on the study, said, “The most striking change we discovered in the Alzheimer’s mice was an increase in Arachidonic acid and related metabolites [products] in the hippocampus, a memory centre that is affected early and severely by Alzheimer’s disease.”
He suggested too much Arachidonic acid might over-stimulate brain cells, and that lowering levels allowed them to function normally.”
Sounds like a good time to make some dietary changes, doesn’t it? Dr. H, Dr. Lee and myself have been on the soapbox about reducing pro-inflammatory substances from the diet [once again, grains & seeds] and adding anti-inflammatory supplements [fish oil and other omega-3 oils] to your daily routine. This is just one more reason to take charge of your health. If you would like any additional information about this all -important topic, all you have to do is ask.
