Alzheimer's Disease. Michelle Deetken
other processed and refined starch products behave more like simple carbohydrates because their long chains of glucose have been broken down and stripped of their fiber and nutrients. As a result, they digest quickly, causing a surge in blood glucose levels. When you consume a meal, all of these simple and complex carbohydrates will be broken down so that the glucose can be used for energy immediately—anywhere in the body—or stored in the liver and muscles, ready to release their supplies when blood glucose levels drop between meals or during physical exercise or work. Any excess glucose goes into longer-term storage. This storage happens after a few modifications are made to glucose to become fat and then placed into fat (adipose) cells for future energy needs.
The Link between Diabetes and AD
Diabetes is the major metabolic condition involving glucose, with the hormone insulin being at the core of the problem. Excessive glucose consumption along with a diet high in protein can lead to type 2 diabetes. Why? Protein and carbohydrates regulate each other. This balance is maintained when consuming a meal of plant proteins and complex carbohydrates—for example, brown rice and beans. The balance becomes lopsided when consuming too much meat, a highly concentrated protein, which causes a sugar craving as the metabolism attempts to reestablish its protein/carbohydrate balance. Additionally, consuming a great deal of glucose increases the desire for more protein to retain the balance; and as this cycle continues, overeating and obesity may occur. Maintaining this balance when there is too much glucose in the system may cause the pancreas to produce a large amount of the hormone insulin, which regulates glucose. The over-production of insulin causes the body cells and the brain neurons to become less sensitive or resistant to the insulin, triggering glucose levels to rise even more. This rise in glucose levels stimulates the pancreatic cells to make even more insulin, eventually exhausting the pancreas and its ability to function at all. Obesity and insulin resistance have recently been associated with cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. The growing prevalence of obesity today, especially among younger people where it is estimated that one third of the population is obese, raises the possibility that AD and other dementias may activate at earlier ages (Hildreth, Van Pelt, and Schwartz, 2012).
One characterization of Alzheimer's disease is a decrease in glucose metabolism and brain metabolic activity in some areas of the brain due to inadequate levels of glucose. These areas also have numerous neurofibrillary tangles. This feature suggests that an altered energy balance may induce tau to become abnormal, which makes the neuronal cytoskeletal system more prone to oxidation. Consequently, the death cycle begins because the cell is starving from a lack of glucose (Planel, E., et al., 2001).
Cortisol—Another Friend and Foe
Cortisol, the so-called “stress hormone” since it is involved with the “fight-or-flight” response, is another chemical that may become unbalanced, causing a metabolic condition. Cortisol also regulates glucose. Too much glucose means the body has to generate a great deal of cortisol to control the glucose. Couple this work to control glucose with a stressful lifestyle that is constantly generating cortisol because of the fight-or-flight response, and a biochemical disaster is in the making. This increase in cortisol has negative effects on many systems; in particular, it increases blood pressure and blocks important inflammation messengers that disrupt the immune system. The reason for the increased blood pressure is that cortisol puts the body on high alert so that it is ready to fight or flee in response to what it perceives as a threat. This response means that the body needs more energy, which is why cortisol helps to regulate glucose. Cortisol not only shuts down the immune system but also impairs the digestive system. Both of these systems use a great deal of energy that the body might need in order to fight or run (take flight) from a threat. Cortisol is a necessary hormone during times of physical danger such as our ancestors might have experienced when confronted by an angry bear or a ravenous lion. Unfortunately, it is also activated whenever we experience any stress, ranging in degree from being late to an appointment to worrying about a loved one who must go off to war.
Limit Your Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs)
In diabetes, or whenever refined sugar is consumed, another metabolic condition may occur, which is the glycation of proteins (Munch, Deuther-Conrad, and Gasic-Milenkovic, 2002). Glycation happens when blood sugar levels are too high, triggering glucose to bind to a protein. Glycation generates abnormal proteins that may do enormous damage when incorporated into cell and tissues. During the glycation process, free radicals are generated, known as “advanced glycation end products” (AGEs). These AGEs are a possible source of oxidative stress. This type of oxidative stress occurs particularly in people with a diet high in refined sugars and starches or, in the case of diabetes, in people with insulin resistance and/or pancreas malfunction. The glycation of proteins and their free radical AGEs have an external source, as well. Whenever meats are subjected to high heat, such as being grilled, fried, or overcooked, glycation and AGEs are generated. The high heat oxidizes the proteins, and then they bind with the glucose in the meat. When these foods are consumed, most of the abnormal proteins are not utilized and are discarded before they are digested, but the AGEs are still there, increasing the body's oxidative stress. And as previously stated, oxidative stress is considered to be a causative factor in AD.
The Fat Problem
Another health issue that has become identified in the last twenty years is the potential harm to our bodies produced by some of the fats and oils in our diets. We now realize that not all fats are created equal: some fats are “bad” and some fats are not only “good” but also necessary and even essential for our health and well-being. This knowledge was unrecognized until recently when scientists started researching fats during the 1970s. The problem began during the industrial age when it became easier to obtain butter and lard around the turn of the century. Several decades later, health officials began to correlate high levels of cholesterol in the blood with the occurrence of heart disease. In the 1950s, a campaign was launched to direct the American diet away from butter and lard toward other fats that were supposed to be healthier (like margarine and other inexpensive vegetable oils that did not contain cholesterol). One of the most unfortunate shifts was the recommended use of margarine. Margarine was produced with hydrogenated vegetable oils to make it solid so that it behaved like butter or lard. This shift in fats resulted in a whole host of biochemical problems that will be discussed in chapter three.
A Whole Food Revolution
Some people started to notice these problems in the 1980s, and they wanted an alternative. These individuals started demanding organic fruits, whole grains and vegetables, organic cold, expeller-pressed vegetable oil, organic free-range fowl, and pasture-fed meat and dairy products. This trend prompted the term “whole foods” to become used in the 1990s. Along with this movement, people wanted to “buy local” so that the foods they bought did not have to be shipped from faraway places and would therefore retain most of their nutrients. There was also the desire to lessen the environmental impact of these shipped products. Farmers’ markets have sprung up all around the country, allowing people to purchase fresh and locally grown foods as well as products like honey or cut flowers. At present, there are many opportunities to enjoy organic products in restaurants and from mail order sources or specialty grocery stores, and most regular grocery stores carry some organic produce along with other organic products. The next phase of this movement will be to serve children healthier meals at school, to lower the cost of organic products so that they become a better choice than less expensive but overly processed products, and to encourage people to start gardening in order to grow their own nutritious, whole foods. Another excellent idea is the neighborhood garden party where neighbors exchange their gardens’ overabundance with each other and then share a meal where everyone contributes a specialty item made from the garden or farm. Many food banks currently accept items grown in local gardens, helping the gardener who has an overabundance of fruits and vegetables as well as the food bank's recipients who welcome more fresh foods.
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