Too many times in recent years have I seen friends go on super healthy diets, quit smoking, give up harmful habits, and begin exercising only after they've been diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or some other dreaded disease. Better late than never, I suppose.
But it begs the question, Why do we wait to be sick before we start practicing a healthy lifestyle? This was on my mind as I read the new book by Harvard-trained neurologist Richard S. Isaacson MD and Columbia University nutrition expert Christopher N. Ochner PhD. In The Alzheimer's Diet: A Step-by-Step Nutritional Approach for Memory Loss Prevention & Treatment, these two leading Alzheimer's nutrition researchers present hard evidence that consuming a brain-healthy diet—while avoiding foods that have been shown to be damaging to the brain—can improve brain function, boost memory, and prevent age-related memory loss.
They've also compiled recent findings from top clinical studies around the world showing that nutritional interventions actually slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and improve memory function in people who have the pre-Alzheimer's condition known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
This latter finding is significant, say Drs. Isaacson and Ochner, because there are so many new drugs being developed and medical breakthroughs happening in the field of Alzheimer's treatment that any strategy that can buy a patient even a couple of years could potentially prove life-saving. As for patients with full-blown Alzheimer's, any improvement in memory function adds to the quality of their life and that of their caregiver.
This reader-friendly book starts off with some basics about Alzheimer's disease and explains, in layperson's language, how certain unhealthy food and lifestyle choices can damage the brain. The second section of the book lays out the components of the Alzheimer's Diet, along with science-based explanations of why they work. Section three puts the information into an actionable plan, complete with a nine-week daily menu plan, recipes, shopping and eating-out strategies, tracking worksheets, and even tips for staying motivated when faced with parties, peer pressure, and other common challenges.
What is the Alzheimer's Diet? It starts with proportioning our "macronutrients" so that 25% of our total daily calories come from heart-healthy fat (olive and other nut/seed oils, certain nuts and seeds, seafood that's rich in omega 3, and avocados); 30-45% from complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables and whole foods that are low on the glycemic index); and 25-35% from high-quality lean protein.
To oversimplify it, the Alzheimer's Diet is a Mediterranean-style low-carb diet that emphasizes lean protein and lots of vegetables. It also emphasizes foods that are rich in certain vitamins and beneficial compounds, such as omega 3–rich seafood, antioxidant-rich berries, and unsweetened dark cocoa; anti-inflammation foods such as turmeric, onions, and mushrooms; and coffee. That's right—coffee, one to three cups a day, has been shown in clinical studies to benefit the part of the brain involved in memory. Hooray!
Article comments
1 - Lorenzo Mejia
Thanks for the interesting review. We deal with Azheimer's patients. I have seen the dietary guidelines you summarize in other articles as well. Since the strength of the diet is the "Mediterranean" aspect, it would be interesting to know if certain areas of the world, such as the Mediterranean region, experience lower incidence of this disease.