Would you like to lose some extra pounds this year, improve your memory, mood and vascular health, and reduce your risk for diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cancer? If so here is one simple step you can take to help you achieve all of these. This isn’t very hard (if you put your mind to it), won’t cost extra money and it doesn’t even require exercise. All you have to do is stop eating extra sugar!
Recently I saw the wife of old friend of mine in her mid 60’s. I knew she’d been struggling with some depression and weight issues. So I was glad to see her out in public looking great! I noticed she had lost a considerable amount of weight, so I asked how that had happened. Her secret: “I just stopped eating sugar, and within just a few weeks I’d lost more than 10 lbs. Now after 3 months I’ve lost more than 35 lbs.”
Wow, think of that, simply by avoiding just those spoonfuls of sugar, she was able to make her scale weight go down, and see her energy levels go up, in a most delightful way! (Why yes I did see Saving Mr. Banks New Years Eve, why do you ask? :)
Last month in my article on diabetes and Alzheimer’s I noted that this month I would share a number of ways to reduce insulin resistance, which we now know increases risk for Alzheimer’s. Well, again the first and perhaps easiest step to take there, is to simply cut excess sugars (and empty calories) out of your diet, anywhere you can. And just yesterday I received some new insight into why this is so important.
You may recall that when we have too much sugar in our system, and it can’t get into our cells, it roams around until it can be stored as fat. But in that process, if it comes into prolonged contact with proteins it can cause mutations and fragmentation is a process called glycation. Not only does this process render that protein or enzyme incapable of performing it’s job, but this process results in a myriad of floating fragments or dangerous rogue peptides, that may include beta amyloid. At least we know these can block insulin absorption leading to more free radicals and cell damage.
Now I always thought of beta-amyloid (or A-beta) as the basic material in Alzheimer’s plaque. And we now know that plaque is not as bad as we once thought. In fact it can have a protective effect. But prior to this plaque formation these beta amyloid bits are like tiny tooth picks or tacks that actually puncture holes in our brain cells, causing leaks, cellular disruptions, dysregulations, and eventually cell death or Alzheimer’s.
Fortunately, our body can protect itself against this damage if it has the right tools (nutrients). Two of the most important protectors are carnosine or gastrodin. Carnosine is an amino acid proven to protect other proteins from glycation caused by sugars. Click here to read more about it.
For those who want to have their cake and ice cream too, Life Extension has a product called Mitochondrial Energy Optimizer. This contains high levels of carnosine, as well as benfotiamine a form a B-1 that’s especially effective in helping the body handle sugar and alcohol, and also helps prevent damage to proteins. Plus several other nutrients found to help in the repair and regeneration of brain cells. The only problem is that it’s a bit pricey – but you can learn more about it by clicking here.
As note, this is a fairly expensive formula, but if you know someone who has lost cognitive abilities due to this process – a diabetic for example, who is now having memory problems, cataracts or neuropathy, this product/combination is extraordinarily effective, not only for preventing damage from glycation, but also for promoting nerve cell growth and mitochondrial regeneration.
One client of mine, after trying many other therapies noted this was the first thing to ever effect an improvement in his neuropathy. And generally we have found that seniors with a “sweet tooth,” seldom make much improvement in their memory with other formulas, until they first address the underlying damage with this product. And of course, if that can save them from further decline and institutional care it’s certainly worth that price.
The other new product is called Brain Shield. It contains an extract from the root of orchids called gastrodin. For thousands of years, Chinese doctors have used gastrodin, to treat a range of cognitive problems ranging from vertigo and headaches to paralysis and seizures.
We are learning that issues with blood flow are critical for brain health. And as I noted last year, vascular issues and insufficiency are likely a much greater contributor to dementia than is Alzheimer’s (AD). In fact new evidence shows it to be a significant contributor to AD. (More on that in my next blog in a couple of weeks.) But many do not realize that brain blood flow is also reduced by elevated blood sugar.
There are several new findings regarding gastrodin that have researchers excited. The first is the finding that gastrodin improves insulin sensitivity. This enables glucose to enter our cells mitochondria to be converted into energy, thus ridding the blood of excess glucose (which also reduces body fat), thus improving both blood flow and energy production. But it also has been found to protect the brain from strokes, rebalance neurotransmitters, and facilitate the regeneration of brain cells. All of these of course contribute to renewed brain health improved memory and mood. And oh yes, it also reduces the risk for migraine headaches as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. In short, gastrodin provides unparalleled, multi-factorial brain protection in both extreme and everyday conditions. And it only costs $25! If you know anyone concerned about TIA’s or strokes, or vascular dementia this seems like a wise investment to me.
But again the easiest and least expensive measure to take is to simply cut back on sugars, both natural and artificial. Now that the holidays are over you can cut out the soft drinks, the evening ice cream, cakes, cookies, pies, syrups, milk chocolate, jelly beans, etc. and just see what a difference that can make. You’ll save money and you might just save your brain in the process! Try it, you may like it!
Oh, so what if you “crave sugar?” As many do. Well Life Extension has another product , made from Saffron, that’s not expensive, but it can help take care of that as well.
Click here to learn more.
*Note the purchase of any of these products helps support this website.
PS Wanna be more successful and happier with your new resolutions! Watch this: http://drlynnjohnson.com/success-with-resolutions/
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