By Dean L. Jones
It was a grim situation at the start of 2015 when a Haitian-American man became separated from his chaperone at an international airport in New York City. For the reason that this man, at 51 years of age, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and his offspring decided it was best for him to move back to his native Haiti to be cared for by close relatives. Unfortunately, one way or another his difficulty in remembering made it possible for him to wander off before boarding the plane, until being found alive by local police three days later, some multiple miles from his original airport location.
It was not too long ago where Alzheimer’s and dementia were associated with the extreme aging population, but an estimated 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s and strikingly people less than 65 years of age account for 10% of Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease cases. This means that one in nine seniors over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s, and the disease is now thought to be the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA, right behind heart disease and cancer.
This is why a lot of people are persistently asking how to prevent or at least slow memory lost and the other associated symptoms of dementia. Aside from exercise, science is reporting to avoid toxic foodstuff that limits the development of memory loss. That is because consuming too many complex carbohydrates, processed foods and added sugars set into motion inflammation and an upsurge of plaques in the brain. Subsequently, toxins impair mental abilities that apply to people of all ages, not just seniors.
In the common American diet there is an overload of poor foodstuff items that hamper cognitive brain functions. Such as white breads, white sugar, white rice, pasta, cheeses (American, mozzarella sticks, including Cheez Whiz, and Laughing Cow, to name a few), processed and smoked meats have all been linked to Alzheimer’s disease from spiking insulin production and sending toxins to the brain. Some research is now showing how even whole grain breads are as bad as white breads because they spike blood sugar, which causes inflammation.
Five years ago the Alzheimer’s disease was cautiously dubbed “type 3 diabetes” when researchers discovered that in addition to our pancreas organ, the brain also produces insulin, and this brain insulin is necessary for the survival of brain cells. Insulin in the brain helps with neuron glucose-uptake and the regulation of neurotransmitters that are crucial for memory and learning.
This goes toward one reason why people living with type 2 diabetes that get up in age frequently lose more brain gray matter than others, by this means adding to a contributing factor for acquiring dementia. In view of that, a long life is only as good as the quality of one’s health, so live SugarAlert!
www.SugarAlert.com
Mr. Jones is a marketing strategist with the Southland Partnership Corporation (a public benefit organization), sharing his view on mismanagement practices of packaged foods & beverages.