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DENVER, Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent study funded by the National Institute on Aging from the Mayo Clinic and published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease has found that people 70 and older who eat food high in carbohydrates have nearly four times the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, and the danger also rises with a diet heavy in sugar. The study found that people who consume more protein and fat relative to carbohydrates are less likely to become cognitively impaired.
Is that gratifying, or what?
Participants whose diets were highest in fat — compared to the lowest fat intake— were 42 percent less likely to face cognitive impairment, and those who had the highest intake of protein had a reduced risk of 21 percent.
The red emphasis is mine, of course. This appears to verify my contention that adequate dietary levels of fatty acids/cholesterol, are needed in order to prevent the progressive damage to nerve sheaths in the brain that leads to loss of cognition/dementia.
The bottom line is that carbohydrates (and IMO, especially the carbs found in grains) not only damage the intestines, but they also damage the brain, and this damage can eventually become irreparable. Humans did not evolve to eat carbohydrates — they evolved to eat protein and fat.
I sincerely hope that this will become a wake-up call to mainstream medicine.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
It makes sense to me- glad the medical community is starting to catch on. Could you imagine the money that would be lost to the RX industry if people would actually change how they ate as a measure to improve health instead of reaching for a pill?
I have an acquaintance who was diagnosed with RA within the past 12 months. She was very angry with her sister who suggested that she should try some dietary changes (I am not sure what changes) to treat her RA. My acquaintance was clearly incensed by her sister's suggestion, seeming to interpret it to mean that her sister was trivializing her disease. From her perspective a serious disease like RA demands serious medical treatment (drugs) not dietary treatment, even though she has yet to find a drug that helps. Too many of us give our doctors too much power. Sometimes "ask your doctor" is not the best advice.
I want to go grain free so bad but rice is a staple for me right now. Without being able to eat but only a few veggies/fruits, no nuts, I'm pretty much stuck with some grains for now. I thought rice was anti-inflammatory which is why most of us eat a lot of it early on. I hope I'm not overindulging in it!
Terri
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis in July, 2012 then with Celiac in November, 2012.
I wouldn't worry about the effect for now. It's not like grains cause an overwhelming effect overnight. It surely takes many years to make any significant difference. Besides, there's probably a difference between the effects of individual grains. As you say, rice appears to be the least inflammatory grain, so it probably has the smallest effect, (if it has any effect).
Some day, researchers may get around to analyzing any differences that probably exist. There has to be a huge difference between grains, because wheat gluten (including the hordein in barley and the secalin in rye), for example, clearly causes major brain damage that results in obvious neurological symptoms, and so far at least, those symptoms haven't been reported for other grains.
I've never stopped eating rice, and I don't intend to stop eating it, unless something really earth-shattering is discovered about it. I don't have a problem with corn, either, though some people do. Remember that probably over 99% of the people who were studied in that research project have been eating wheat all their lives, and they continue to eat it.
To put this into perspective, in my opinion, wheat trumps virtually everything else in the diet, as far as long-term health risks are concerned. IOW, for someone who eats wheat regularly, there's a good chance that any health risks due to any other grains in the diet are probably insignificant, from the viewpoint of a statistical average.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Thanks, Tex. Glad to know you are eating rice without issues. Apparently, we all don't have to go grain free to heal our guts! I haven't done Enterolabs just yet, but if I find out I do not react to rice, I will definitely keep eating it. I hope to one day eat brown rice again. Right now I've added Jasmine rice as it has more flavor.
Terri
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis in July, 2012 then with Celiac in November, 2012.
@Jean,
FWIW, my longtime friend who was diagnosed with RA last year mostly stopped eating gluten, and has been trying to eat anti-inflammatory foods, and had had significant relief, and has been able to avoid meds. She also sees a naturopath, in addition to a rheumatologist, and feels very positive about how she's managing her RA. Making dietary changes isn't trivializing the disease. though that's certainly the mindset that the Pharma companies would like us all to have. Too bad your acquaintance isn't more willing to listen to her sister.
IMO, it's the choice to take drugs (without any dietary changes), that trivializes a disease, (if a dietary remedy is available). "Why?", you ask. Because anyone can take a drug — taking drugs requires no special skills, no special knowledge, and no significant amount of will power. It's the easy way out, and it doesn't require that we change our lifestyle.
On the other hand, changing one's diet requires special knowledge, skills, dedication, and will power. In many cases, we have to actually make major changes in our lifestyle, in order to accommodate the diet. Anyone can swallow a pill — it's as easy as falling off a log, but diet changes are rarely easy to do. To the contrary, they involve will power and a lot of hard work. But the reward is that using diet changes is also virtually always much healthier than taking a drug, and it eliminates the risk of side effects, or other adverse health consequences.
The bottom line is, we have to take a disease very seriously before we are willing to change our diet in order to control the symptoms, when we could simply pop a pill, instead. So how could any thinking person actually believe that controlling a disease by diet changes could amount to trivializing the disease?
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
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