From: hound23x@gmail.com   
      
   Interview with Dr. Christopher Ochner of The Alzheimer's Diet   
      
   October 21, 2013Brain Health Nutrition Tips/ DementiaJana Helms1 Comment   
      
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   With so many fad diets force fed to us through TV, newspapers and social   
   media, it's hard to know which eating regimen is best for our individual   
   needs. For those who have a family history of Alzheimer's and/or are concerned   
   about brain health you must    
   wait no longer. Harvard-trained Neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson and Columbia   
   Alumni Dr. Christopher Ochner have created an eating itinerary and guidebook   
   called The Alzheimer's Diet that is catered just for you.   
   The Alzheimer's DietFilled with tips, techniques, recipes and even a   
   brain-healthy weekly menu, The Alzheimer's Diet is a 228-paged book written   
   especially for patients, caregivers, family members and allied healthcare   
   professionals. All the information    
   in the book is based on empirical research and a summation of the science   
   behind Alzheimer's nutrition and the experience that both authors have gained   
   from their studies and applying the knowledge in their practice for the past   
   15-years.   
   Recently APFM had the opportunity to interrupt Dr. Ochner's very busy schedule   
   for a conversation about his latest publication. His advice and explanation of   
   what eating a brain-healthy diet can do for your body will have you ordering   
   his book stat. [   
   Check out the end of the interview for "10 Alzheimer Diet Recommendations"   
   taken straight from the book!]   
   APFM: How did you find your way into nutrition and the Alzheimer's community?   
   DR. Ochner: I'm a nutrition guy, that's how I've spent the majority of my   
   career.  I have a PhD in a clinical psychology with a focus on clinical   
   research, especially nutrition, weight loss and obesity. That's my area of   
   expertise. My coauthor is a    
   colleague, friend and collaborator of mine. He is the Alzheimer's expert,   
   though we both have expertise in both areas.  A couple of years ago we both   
   started to notice that there was a lot of research out about nutritional   
   preventions for Alzheimer's.    
   And not only were they shown effective in empirical research, but they were   
   showing effects as large or larger than current FDA-approved medication, which   
   is sort of amazing. Sure we knew eating healthy is probably better for the   
   body but didn't know it    
   was that big of a deal. Turns out it is a really big deal, especially for   
   those with Alzheimer's. We wanted to put that information out to help people,   
   and that's how we came up with the book.   
   What makes The Alzheimer's Diet different than any other diet?   
   The obvious is that it is optimized for brain health. There's nothing else out   
   there right now that is specifically for brain health. There have been studies   
   done on The Mediterranean Diet, which has good supporting data for prevention,   
   but it's not    
   completely optimized for brain health. What we've done is look at all the   
   literature out there, all the studies of nutritional provisions for protecting   
   and regenerating memory, put them together. The Alzheimer's Diet is sort of   
   like 'The Greatest Hits'    
   for your brain, with elements from Mediterranean, low-carbohydrate,   
   low-glycemic and low-saturated fat diets.   
   Which kind of diet do you partake in?   
   Both my coauthor and I follow the diet, probably him more than me because he   
   has a family history of Alzheimer's on both sides of his family. So he very   
   strictly adheres to The Alzheimer's Diet, including our tips and techniques.   
   For example caffeinated    
   coffee has shown to have a strong neuroprotective effect along with dark cocoa   
   powder.  So every morning Dr. Isaacson will have a cup of caffeinated coffee   
   with dark cocoa powder.   
   I also follow the diet because what's good for the brain is good for the heart   
   and body, and vice versa. We have heard back from people who have followed The   
   Alzheimer's Diet and the results have been things like losing weight, feeling   
   better about    
   yourself, and so on. So we try to practice what we preach, for sure.   
   Is this a diet that people must stick to for the rest of their lives or more   
   of just a 1-2 year plan?   
   Great question.  It's definitely not a diet. In fact I don't love using that   
   word. "Diet" implies it's something you go in order to reach some kind of goal   
   and then you're over it. That's not what we advocate and that doesn't work. If   
   we look at obesity    
   literature people go on "diets" all the time. Then they go off of the diet and   
   wind up right back to where they started.   
   We want people to start a new, healthy relationship with food. We provide a   
   lot of ideas for people in the book, and we don't expect or even want everyone   
   to do everything. We are strong advocates for doing what works for the   
   individual. If someone feels    
   like they're in dietary jail they're not going to stick to it. It's not going   
   to work. We want it to work. We would rather have people do one or two things   
   than nothing at all.   
   The other thing we try to do is encourage people to continue to eat the foods   
   they love, but in a brain healthy way. For example, if you like pizza. Don't   
   go down to the shop and get it, make it at home using our recipe. I personally   
   have the taste buds    
   of a 5-year-old so I love this kind of food. And based on the increases in   
   obesity in America I think there are a lot of other people out there like me   
   too. People don't need to and shouldn't stop eating this kind of food, but   
   instead find ways to make    
   it healthy.   
   If there are foods that help prevent Alzheimer's are there foods that can   
   bring on the disease?   
   Absolutely. There are foods that can exacerbate the disease and help bring it   
   on, particular high carbohydrate, high sugar and high glycemic foods. You may   
   not have heard this but a lot of people are referring to Alzheimer's as   
   Diabetes III because    
   eating sugary foods can cause insulin resistance in the brain.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)