Obesity and Alzheimer’s have been escalating
on parallel trajectories in North America for the last 40 years. No
program or treatment has been able to make
a dent in the galloping incidence of either. New research shows why.
The two diseases are both caused by specific brain damage that
intimately links them together. To treat either one effectively, you
have to treat the other too.
Obesity, (declared a disease in 2013 by the US National Institutes of Health) is the major cause of the metabolic syndrome, which includes insulin resistance, and adult-onset diabetes. Since 1975, prevalence of obesity in the United States has increased 75%. One third of all American men and women are now obese(1,2).
After decades of incubation, Alzheimer’s shows as irreversible brain damage to memory and cognition, such that sufferers can no longer care for themselves. From 2013, Incidence of Alzheimer’s is projected to double, to afflict 14 million people in the United States by 2050 (3).
Until recently medical scientists viewed obesity and Alzheimer’s as separate because research focussed on different regions of the brain. Obesity is clearly linked to damage of appetite controls in the hypothalamus.(4) Alzheimer’s is clearly linked to damage of memory controls in the hippocampus. (5,6) Now we know that both diseases are clearly linked together to poor nutrition.
Processed carbohydrates and saturated fats are the principal components of the typical American diet. Both promote excess eating and weight gain.(7). Recent studies also link high intake of processed carbs and saturated fats to increased incidence of Alzheimer’s (8) and other dementias.(9)
Commerce has made processed carbs and saturated fats as attractive as possible to human senses of taste and smell. But, this development alone only partly explains why most people overeat them. How much we eat depends on multiple brain controls that match energy intake with energy needs. New research shows that people with obesity and damage to appetite controls in the hypothalamus, also have damage to glycemic memory controls in the hippocampus. Essentially, the hippocampus can no longer remember clearly how much the body has eaten, and psychological cravings run rampant.
High intake of saturated fats undoubtedly damages the hippocampus.(10) In a six-year series, Morris and colleagues reported that high intakes of saturated fats increases risk for Alzheimer’s (11). In the most thorough longitudinal study, Eskelinen and colleagues followed subjects for 21 years. They found that high saturated fats in the diet predicted later memory decline.(12)
Processed carbs (starches and sugars) are equally at fault.(13) Even In healthy subjects, one meal of these foods leads to poorer memory performance, in both children (14) and normal weight college students(15).
Processed carbs are also a major factor in obesity and insulin resistance.(16,17) Recent studies confirm that insulin resistance is strongly linked to damage of the hippocampus.(18) MRI scans show that obese subjects who have defective memories also have reduced brain volume in the hippocampus. Thus it is likely that insulin resistance leads to hippocampal atrophy and likely damages its memory controls for food intake.
I can only sketch a smidgeon of the evidence in this short piece. But, one more thing. Food giants know the writing is on the wall. They do everything now to transfer the blame for obesity from their foods to individual eating choices. They will go to any lengths to protect their investment against the charge of brain damage.
Do not trust any food advertising. I will note only one of the class action lawsuits against false advertising piled on my desk. It is against Kashi, which I was sorry to see, because the former owner produced excellent products before he sold out to Kellogg’s. The lawsuit states (italics theirs):
“Kashi’s so called “All natural” GoLean Shakes are composed almost entirely of synthetic and unnaturally processed ingredients” (Here follows a long list of processed chemicals.). “In many of the Defendants’ products, unnaturally processed and synthetic ingredients constitute the primary ingredients in these fraudulently-labeled “all natural” foods.”(19)
I trust you have not reached the stage where the brain damage from bankrupt foods compels you or your children to eat them. Dump all processed foods while you still can. Stay lean, and keep your marbles lifelong.
Obesity, (declared a disease in 2013 by the US National Institutes of Health) is the major cause of the metabolic syndrome, which includes insulin resistance, and adult-onset diabetes. Since 1975, prevalence of obesity in the United States has increased 75%. One third of all American men and women are now obese(1,2).
After decades of incubation, Alzheimer’s shows as irreversible brain damage to memory and cognition, such that sufferers can no longer care for themselves. From 2013, Incidence of Alzheimer’s is projected to double, to afflict 14 million people in the United States by 2050 (3).
Until recently medical scientists viewed obesity and Alzheimer’s as separate because research focussed on different regions of the brain. Obesity is clearly linked to damage of appetite controls in the hypothalamus.(4) Alzheimer’s is clearly linked to damage of memory controls in the hippocampus. (5,6) Now we know that both diseases are clearly linked together to poor nutrition.
Processed carbohydrates and saturated fats are the principal components of the typical American diet. Both promote excess eating and weight gain.(7). Recent studies also link high intake of processed carbs and saturated fats to increased incidence of Alzheimer’s (8) and other dementias.(9)
Commerce has made processed carbs and saturated fats as attractive as possible to human senses of taste and smell. But, this development alone only partly explains why most people overeat them. How much we eat depends on multiple brain controls that match energy intake with energy needs. New research shows that people with obesity and damage to appetite controls in the hypothalamus, also have damage to glycemic memory controls in the hippocampus. Essentially, the hippocampus can no longer remember clearly how much the body has eaten, and psychological cravings run rampant.
High intake of saturated fats undoubtedly damages the hippocampus.(10) In a six-year series, Morris and colleagues reported that high intakes of saturated fats increases risk for Alzheimer’s (11). In the most thorough longitudinal study, Eskelinen and colleagues followed subjects for 21 years. They found that high saturated fats in the diet predicted later memory decline.(12)
Processed carbs (starches and sugars) are equally at fault.(13) Even In healthy subjects, one meal of these foods leads to poorer memory performance, in both children (14) and normal weight college students(15).
Processed carbs are also a major factor in obesity and insulin resistance.(16,17) Recent studies confirm that insulin resistance is strongly linked to damage of the hippocampus.(18) MRI scans show that obese subjects who have defective memories also have reduced brain volume in the hippocampus. Thus it is likely that insulin resistance leads to hippocampal atrophy and likely damages its memory controls for food intake.
I can only sketch a smidgeon of the evidence in this short piece. But, one more thing. Food giants know the writing is on the wall. They do everything now to transfer the blame for obesity from their foods to individual eating choices. They will go to any lengths to protect their investment against the charge of brain damage.
Do not trust any food advertising. I will note only one of the class action lawsuits against false advertising piled on my desk. It is against Kashi, which I was sorry to see, because the former owner produced excellent products before he sold out to Kellogg’s. The lawsuit states (italics theirs):
“Kashi’s so called “All natural” GoLean Shakes are composed almost entirely of synthetic and unnaturally processed ingredients” (Here follows a long list of processed chemicals.). “In many of the Defendants’ products, unnaturally processed and synthetic ingredients constitute the primary ingredients in these fraudulently-labeled “all natural” foods.”(19)
I trust you have not reached the stage where the brain damage from bankrupt foods compels you or your children to eat them. Dump all processed foods while you still can. Stay lean, and keep your marbles lifelong.
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