How To Give Yourself Alzheimer’s

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It was when I was sitting on the couch with a bag of potato chips during my undergraduate studies that I first realized I was on the track to giving myself Alzheimer’s disease and that it was very likely that what my grandma was going through (and what her mom went through) could have been entirely prevented.

That’s when I first read The End of Alzheimer’s by Dr. Dale Bredesen.

Since then, I’ve gone down many a rabbit hole learning everything I can about what causes Alzheimer’s.

That’s what I’d like to share with you today.

Let’s dive right in.

What Exactly Is Alzheimer’s?

It turns out that what we call Alzheimer’s actually begins as a protective process that the brain launches in response to a threat.

Yes! The very biochemical process that eventually turns into Alzheimer’s is actually there to protect you. That’s what amyloid is. It’s a molecule made to protect the nerves from being damaged by whatever the threat is.

So what happens is that these threats (because there is often more than one) never go away or get addressed. In turn, the brain keeps making amyloid, it congregates to form plaques, and eventually begins to impair nerve functioning instead of just protect it.

That’s how people with Alzheimer’s end up losing their memory and such.

These processes, on average, go on for fifteen to twenty years before any official diagnosis is made.

That’s a lot of opportunity to reverse those processes and prevent Alzheimer’s altogether. More on that later.

What Causes Alzheimer’s?

At this time, there are 36 known factors that can become a threat to the brain leading to the need for protection, and ultimately Alzheimer’s disease.

While that may seem overwhelming, they can all be divided into three basic categories:

Inflammation
Suboptimal levels of supporting molecules
Toxic substances

Inflammation can be caused by many things including infection, diet, poor sleep, stress, an unhealthy gut, and more. The supporting molecules include things like nutrients and hormones. Toxins might be metals, mold toxins, or even plastics.

What I’ve found is that our bodies are incredible and are actually designed to handle many of the threats I listed above. It only becomes a problem when those threats occur chronically, several occur at the same time, they don’t go away, and become intense. Then your body’s defenses also occur chronically, many occur at the same time, they don’t go away, and can become very intense – even to the point of causing harm to your body.

This is how Alzheimer’s happens.

Can Alzheimer’s Be Prevented Or Reversed?

In short, yes. Alzheimer’s can be prevented and, in many cases, reversed – depending on how far you or your loved one’s cognitive decline has gotten.

So let’s dive into how to do that.

How To Prevent And Reverse Alzheimer’s

When you understand that Alzheimer’s is a protective response to a threat, the solution is pretty straight forward. Take away potential threats and, if the Alzheimer’s disease process has already begun, remove the amyloid and rebuild the nerves that were destroyed.

Let’s get more specific.

Please note that there are ways to begin now with all three of the threat categories. However, some of the potential threats may require testing to see if they are something you need to target or not. For this, you’ll need a partner trained to do and interpret such testing. If this is something you’re interested in doing, click the button below to see how we might work together.

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Inflammation

The body produces amyloid in response to inflammation so it won’t damage the nerves. You’ll want to figure out what of the many causes of inflammation may be an issue for your body and remove them (not simply put a bandaid on the inflammatory symptoms).

Potential causes may include:

Infections (short-term or long-term such as cold sores, Candida overgrowth, SIBO, or Epstein-Barr virus)
Dietary factors (trans fats, gluten, dairy, grains, or others)
Insulin resistance
Blood sugar imbalance
Stress
Poor sleep
Gut dysfunction
Dysbiosis (imbalance in your gut bugs)
And more

To start now, look at what you’re eating, build some stress-combating habits, and create a good sleep routine. I’ll be writing an entire post on each of these things, so be on the lookout and subscribe to my newsletter so you don’t miss anything.

Supporting Molecules

Your body will make amyloid in response to low levels of brain-supporting nutrients. These often need further testing to optimize.

Some of the big ones include:

Hormones (thyroid, cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone)
BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and other trophic factors
Nutrients (such as vitamin D and magnesium)

Toxins

This is where you can really see that amyloid is there to protect you. It actually binds toxins in the brain to keep them from damaging your nerves!

Potential toxins that you may need to address include:

Heavy metals
Environmental toxins (such as plastics)
Mold toxins
And more

This is another category you can start with today. Eat detoxifying foods such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cilantro. Drink plenty of water. Sweat!

Bringing It All Together

Your goal in preventing or reversing Alzheimer’s should be to identify which of all the above threats may be an issue for you, remove them, and give your body the tools and nutrients it needs to fend off any other threats that may come up or that you don’t have much control over.

You do not have to be perfect at everything to prevent or reverse Alzheimer’s. Your brain and body are really resilient! Your brain will be able to function at near optimal levels even if not everything is ideal. To make sure that happens though, it is still best to address as many of your potential threats as possible. This will help you correct the imbalance between things that destroy your nerves and those that preserve and heal them.

The goal for today was to help you understand that every single one of the above causes of Alzheimer’s can be changed. If they are not at a healthy level for you right now, that’s okay because you can influence them so that they return to healthy, even optimal, levels.

The Earlier You Start, The Better.

The sooner you begin addressing the many potential factors that can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease, the better your chances are of complete prevention or reversal.

You’ll see the best success if you address as many potential threats as possible, stick to it, and follow-up regularly to ensure you’re continuing to optimize your body’s functioning.

Remember that it can take 3-6 months to see initial improvement, especially if you’re already experiencing some cognitive decline. This is because the biological processes that I talked about earlier have been happening for years, perhaps decades. Reversing years of damage does not happen overnight.

You can start reversing or preventing Alzheimer’s today by looking at the above potential threats and figuring out which ones may be problematic for you.

Again, if you’d like to go beyond what I’ve suggested you start out doing here, let’s see what it would look like to work together. Click the button below to learn more.

LEARN MORE

If you’d like to read The End of Alzheimer’s, click here to get a copy for yourself.

You can prevent Alzheimer’s. You can reverse Alzheimer’s. There’s no need to be afraid anymore!

So let’s beat Alzheimer’s together.

To get a jump start on addressing some of the most common contributors to Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline, I created a FREE GUIDE on my top three tips for preventing and reversing Alzheimer’s. Seriously, it’s free! Just fill out the form below and I’ll send it right over.

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