Worried about brain health? Your diet may hold the key!

Around 4.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer disease. One in every eight person above the age of 65 suffers from Alzheimer. Yet recent breakthrough research in Alzheimer disease suggests that the brain has great plasticity. This essentially means that you can actually control your brain health through your diet and lifestyle choices. In other words, the key to optimal brain function lies somewhere in your gut, and may be as simple as eliminating gluten and sugar.

According to RAND Corporation, around $200 billion is spent each year on treatment of Alzheimer disease. Unfortunately this is largely preventable. Over the last 40 years, people have become more accustomed to eating foods that contain gluten. Gluten in combination with carbohydrates (sugar) is linked with dementia and many other common neurological problems. It is a known fact that inflammation is the basis for Alzheimer disease and multiple sclerosis. In fact all of the neurodegenerative disease is in one or the other ways linked to inflammation. Dr. Perlmutter, certified neurologist and a fellow of the American College of Nutrition, wrote in his book that diet is fundamentally important in reducing the degeneration of the body, especially the brain. He goes on to label gluten as a “modern poison”. Alzheimer is a disease that is primarily based on life style choices, especially with consumption of high amount of carbohydrate that western culture has got so used too.

That’s because gluten affects your immune system. According to Dr. Alessio Fasano at Massachusetts General Hospital, full blown celiac disease (gluten sensitivity) affects around 1.8percent people in Western culture. Zonulin is produced in our intestine in response to gliadin which is a protein found in wheat, rey, barley and makes our gut more permeable making it easy for the protein to get into our bloodstream which would otherwise have been excluded. This sensitizes our immune system and promotes inflammation and autoimmunity. Even antibiotic and chlorinated water causes this kind of gut permeability.

Several brain disorders are directly associated with gluten and sugar. Patients have seen dramatic improvements on a gluten free diet. Though gluten primarily impacts gut performance, it has severe effects on the brain. Many cases of neurological illness are linked to gluten consumption, known as gluten sensitive idiopathic neuropathy. Rather than starting the day with a gluten-containing bagel and a glass of orange juice, it makes much sense to start the day with healthy breakfast that includes eggs, nuts, seeds, avocados and the foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids that protect the brain.