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Ballabgarh in northern India has unusually low levels
of Alzheimer's disease. More than 820,000 people in the
UK are living with dementia, a number that is expected
to double by 2051. Is there anything that can be learnt
from this region to slow the trend?
Enjoying a chat, the elders are
still on the ball
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As the sun breaks through the morning mist in
Ballabgarh, the elders of the village make their way to
their regular meeting spot to exchange stories and share
a traditional hookah pipe.
These men are in their sixties and seventies, while
their faces bear the evidence of years of hard work in
the fields, their minds are still sharp.
In other parts of the world, people of their age would
be at some risk of developing dementia. But here,
Alzheimer's disease is rare. In fact, scientists believe
recorded rates of the condition in this small community
are lower than anywhere else in the world.
76-year-old Parshadi Lal says: "I feel good, I feel
healthy, I have a walk every morning, even though my
knees do now give me a bit of trouble." His friends nod
in agreement.
What is the reason?
A researcher had a chance meeting with a tiny old lady
in a care home. – and it literally changed
everything. Her name was Manisha, from Northern India,
and she was 107 years old. She was as a sharp and
alert as a teenager, and had a wicked sense of humor.
She that people should be eating what she ate every day.
She didn’t dare touch what the care home fed her.
“Why” I asked her...
“Because it keeps your mind young and your body healthy.
I come from a place where dementia and Alzheimer’s don’t
even exist, and it’s because of the food we eat.”“Where
do you come from?” he asked, excitedly.
“A small town in Northern India called Ballabgarh”,
replied Manisha.
Manisha was right. She did have the secret.
According to the article, researchers from the
University of Pittsburgh spent several years studying
the area, and concluded that “recorded rates of the
condition in this small community were lower than
anywhere else in the world.”
The main ingredient in their diet, coconut oil, and the
benefits of coconut oil on cognitive health. Could a
simple thing like coconut oil be the solution to
Alzheimers?.
Dr Mary Newport, a physician who runs a neonatology ward
at a hospital in Tampa, Florida. Her husband had been
diagnosed with severer Alzheimer's. Just days
after she began adding coconut oil to her husband’s
diet, she saw a stunning improvement, and some of his
symptoms were even reversed.
The coconut oil he'd taken seemed to "lift the fog",
said Dr Newport.
So why does this happen?
Well, here’s the thing...
New research from Brown University and Louisiana State
has shown that Alzheimer's occurs when brain cells have
difficulty metabolizing glucose, which is the brain's
principal source of energy.
Your brain actually manufactures its own insulin to
convert glucose into the fuel it needs, and these
discoveries proved that your brain can essentially
become “diabetic.”
As you may know, diabetes is the condition where your
body’s response to insulin is weakened due to “insulin
resistance”— where your body eventually stops producing
the insulin necessary to regulate blood sugar.
And just like with diabetes, your brain can become
insulin resistant too.
If this happens, your brain loses its ability to convert
glucose into energy, leading to a starvation state,
which results in brain atrophy.
And we now know that this is what happens to Alzheimer’s
patients...
Portions of their brain start to atrophy, or starve,
leading to impaired functioning and eventual loss of
memory, speech, movement and personality.
This is why diabetics have a 65% increased risk of also
being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease — because BOTH
conditions are tied to insulin resistance.
The purpose of the study, published in the Journal,
Neurobiology of Aging, was to reverse this process.
During the study, it was discovered that a diet rich in
coconut oil was able to promote the production of a
brain-boosting molecule called ketones, which is EXACTLY
what brain cells need to dissolve excess glucose and
convert it into energy.
In fact, in a study published in the journal,
Alzheimer’s and Dementia in 2014, a 63 year-old man with
advanced Alzheimer’s disease began consuming coconut
oil.
After just two months, his score on the Mini Mental
State Exam, a test of global cognitive function, shot up
from an extremely low 12 out of 30, to an impressive 20
out of 30.
This is incredible news.
It seemed that something as simple as coconut oil could
actually begin the process of repairing brain atrophy,
reversing memory loss, and curing devastating brain
diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Of course, things in this world are seldom simple. A
complete long term cure to Alzheimer's requires a
proper diet, mental training and exercise. But why not
not start with coconut oil?
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