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How to naturally prevent Alzheimer's disease.

I have a problem I want to share with you, or should I say “had” a problem. I woke up early yesterday morning and was preparing my brain and body for the day ahead. Something I like to do first thing when I get up is spend some quality time with my kids. This serves as both meditation and relaxation time (despite how loud they can be in the mornings..)

My eldest sons Birthday is fast approaching and as I sat with him around the breakfast table I got to thinking about myself getting older.

I will make an assumption about you and bet that you know how to look after yourself; the basics are just that .. basic. Eat your fruit and veg, get some protein, avoid sugars, salts and saturated fats. Exercise regularly and drink plenty of water. Get enough sleep and avoid stress when possible.

All great tips, and these practices can ward against heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer if you keep your body clean. But then I remembered reading some disturbing facts about alzheimer's last week.

Did you know that there are over 850,000 people living with Dementia / Alzheimer's in the UK Today.

And that this number is expected to rise to over 1,000,000 by 2025.

So the question my brain immediately asked itself was HOW DO I PREVENT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE … NATURALLY?

The health of our brain is something we often take for granted. We say to ourselves that it will always be there, ticking away and keeping us going.

But as you get older, you may notice you become more forgetful. Like trying to hold a handful of water, things seem to spill too easily.

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But thanks to my recent revelation, I started to look into ways to protect our precious grey matter. And I would like to share what I discovered with you in this article.

Exercise and Brain Health
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Numerous scientific studies have found a link between exercise and brain health. Our cognition (our awareness, perception, reasoning and judgement) is more likely to be maintained, if we exercise throughout our lives. Impaired cognition is what we associate most with the symptoms of dementia.

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A study I found while researching this article demonstrates the effect of exercise well. At the start of the study the cognitive ability of all the participants was tested. The participants would then come in for semi-regular check-ups over a 12 year period of their lives. Around half of the participants stated they regularly exercised while the other half were more sedentary.

I bet you can guess where this is going ….

After the 12 years, those who exercised regularly showed 38% less chance of displaying weakened cognition. Even low to moderate exercise was shown to have a 35% decrease in risk of impaired cognition.

The conclusion of this study was: ANY level of physical activity will have a “significant and consistent impact against the occurrence of cognitive decline”. [1]

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What does that mean for us? To put it simply:

As physical activity goes up, the risk of dementia goes down. [2]

It’s not just about BRAIN HEALTH:

There is more to exercise than just the health of your brain. Regular exercise keeps your stability and strength up as you age. This means there is a much greater chance of falling.

This is highly relevant to dementia as people who are less mobile tend to stay home more. And they miss out on even more physical and social activity by staying in. This only further increases the risk of developing issues in the brain.

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The Role of Inflammation
The link between inflammation and dementia has been a hot topic with scientists for many years now[3]

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Despite what you mean think, Inflammation is a part of our natural functions. It’s the response of the immune system when it detects invaders or trauma. These invaders might be a bacterial infection or even a physical object, like a splinter in the finger. When we have an infection, we get a temperature. This is part of the immune response, or inflammation, helping the body to fight the attacker.

Example: If you cut yourself, the area goes warm and red.

The issue is when inflammation becomes chronic. To put it simply, it’s when the body “over does it”. In these cases the immune system is ringing every alarm bell it can and mobilising all it’s troops… which can lead it to attacking healthy parts of the body.

If the immune system isn’t in good health, it won’t be able to switch off the immune response, and gradually, chronic inflammation can occur.

How is chronic inflammation linked to Alzheimer's?
There are many conditions that can result from chronic inflammation. These include rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, atherosclerosis (the furring of the arteries) and, crucially, Alzheimer’s disease.

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Recent research has found “compelling evidence” that inflammation plays a role in dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. [5]

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Reducing Weight = Reducing Inflammation = lower risk of Alzheimer's.
Eating clean food and exercising regularly actually helps keep the immune system in check. And when the immune system is in check you are far less likely to suffer from chronic inflammation. Which means you are avoiding a whole host of potential health issues, including Alzheimer's.

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The counter is having excess body fat and being obese. This leads to metabolic stress, which in turn increase the levels of inflammation in the body, which (contrary to the above) raises your risk of developing health complications [4]

Reducing Inflammation With Diet to Help Prevent Dementia
Part of keeping away excess fat is maintaining a healthy diet. The Mediterranean diet is thought to be one of the healthiest diets in the world. This kind of diet is heavily reliant on fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and good fats from olive oil and avocados. It’s very low in meat and dairy products. Numerous studies have linked this diet with low levels of inflammation. One, back in 2009, concluded that a Mediterranean diet is “associated with a reduced risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease”. [6]

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Fruits and vegetables are high in polyphenols and other antioxidants, which look after the immune system and help keep inflammation under control. Fish, particularly oily fish, is high in brain boosting omega 3 fatty acids. As are walnuts and flax seeds.

Other low inflammatory foods include dark chocolate, green tea and even an occasional glass of red wine. Some of you are probably high fiving yourself right now. They’re all high in flavonoids, plant compounds that help reduce inflammation when eaten as part of a healthy diet. Make sure you keep your fibre intake high too. Beans, whole grains, berries and green leafy vegetables help keep inflammatory markers low.

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Finally, let’s talk about Curcumin.
Curcumin is the active ingredient of Turmeric. And various studies have been conducted recently in the use of compounds naturally found in plants to help reduce inflammation and protect against the development of chronic inflammatory diseases including Alzheimer’s disease.

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One study is currently underway that is exploring the beneficial effects of curcumin on Alzheimer’s. With results due very soon, it’s certainly an area we here at Turmeric Vitality are watching with interest. [7]

It’s known that Alzheimer’s is linked to a buildup of amyloid plaques in the brain. A study in 2016 looked at the effects of curcumin on human brain cells. This study found evidence that curcumin had a protective effect against the components and mechanisms by which these amyloid plaques build up. The study concluded with a suggestion that “curcumin is a promising drug molecule to treat Alzheimer’s disease patients”. [8]

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So after all my research, my conclusion was that leading a healthy active lifestyle actually DOES help protect against dementia.

A summary for you: