The Connection between Alzheimer’s and Processed Foods 

July 16, 2018

Dementia and Alzheimer’s are an epidemic in America today.  A staggering 5.7 million adults currently hold an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. That number is only expected to rise, to a projected 14 million Alzheimer’s patients by 2050 in the U.S. alone.1 

Of note, less than 1% of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are genetically predisposed to the disease. As with cancer, much of the risk is linked to behavior and lifestyle choices.  That’s why researchers at the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical took a keen interest in a recent large-scale study that found a 10% increase in ultra-processed foods led to a 12% increase in overall cancer event.2 These findings line up with their research on Alzheimer’s, including linking diet and risk of Alzheimer’s,3 underscoring the importance of lifestyle changes in delaying or even avoiding the onset of the disease. 

The belief among researchers is that over one third of all Alzheimer’s cases could be prevented by lifestyle improvements. Chief among them: eliminating processed foods from our diets. To be clear, if the food in question is not a whole, unadulterated food found in nature, it is processed. These mass produced and manufactured products — all packaged foods, breads, confections, sodas, juices, cold cuts, chicken nuggets, soups, processed cheese, margarize, creamers, frozen or shelf stable ready-made meals — contain stabilizers, preservatives and hydrogenated oils (a/k/a trans fats) that prolong their natural state. For example, the natural, organic chicken breasts you buy at the store are not processed, but the drumstick shaped nuggets you find in the freezer (yes, even the organic ones) most definitely are. 

These are the foods that triggered an increase in cancer cases in the study mentioned above. And it is these same foods whose consumption increases risk of cognitive decline and dementia. To further this point, in an epidemiological study,4 people who ate as little as two grams a day of trans fats had twice the risk of those who ate less than two grams. What’s most alarming is the majority of the subjects in this study ate more than double that dose on a regular basis. In the compelling book, “Dying for a Hamburger: Modern Meat Processing and the Epidemic of Alzheimer’s Disease,” the authors argue for an increasing need to monitor the meat supply closely to avoid prions, if like Mad Cow Disease, Alzheimer’s is triggered by the malformed proteins found in tainted meat.

We have made the leap of becoming aware of the role nutrition plays in regards to cancer. Now it’s time to treat Alzheimer’s and dementia-related illness in the same way. While the Alzheimer’s and dementia statistics are alarming, it’s encouraging to realize it’s within our power to reduce these numbers dramatically.  

Knowledge is power. In 2003, as a result of studies proving the health risks from trans fats, the government made labeling of products containing trans fat ingredients mandatory. Here’s the rub: it’s up to each individual to actually make the right choices. The good news is the recent clarion call to overhaul the standard American diet (SAD) has made making healthy nutritional choices, based on real, whole foods, much more accessible. The benefit can only be healthier bodies, and most importantly, healthy, resilient minds.  

 1https://m.alz.org/facts-and-figures.asp 

2com/content/360/bmj.k322″>https://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k322 

3 https://qz.com/1234901/the-road-to-alzheimers-disease-is-lined-with-processed-foods/ 

4https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15136684

 

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