Eat Small All Day Long
Contrary to what we believe, we do not need 3 main meals a day. Research shows that there is no major differences between 3 regular meals a day, 2 large meals a day or 5 little ones. In fact 5 little meals can help to regulate steady blood pressure which is an added bonus.
If you can only get your parent to eat small amounts, thats not a problem as long as this is at regular periods throughout the day. Its all about finding what works best for you.
Eating smaller portions can also benefit people living with dementia who have difficulty swallowing. Difficulty swallowing is a symptom of some types of dementia, including Alzheimers and Lewy Body Dementia.
Superfoods To Help Prevent Alzheimers Or Dementia Separating Myth From Fact
There is still no definite answer as to what causes Alzheimers disease, and Alzheimers disease and its risk factors are not completely understood but researchers have found links between compounds in the foods we eat, and a decreased rate of Alzheimers and other types of dementia. In fact, some researchers believe that food and nutrition should be a key focus in the investigation of ways to prevent and treat the disease.
While there is no solid proof that maintaining a certain diet will prevent Alzheimers, many experts in the field believe that maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and incorporating what is known as superfoods may help you avoid type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol both conditions that have been linked to Alzheimers and dementia. But unfortunately, superfoods cannot prevent Alzheimers from developing in an individual.
Unicity Healthcare would like to share information about the myths and facts surrounding superfoods and the ways they may impact those who are at risk for developing Alzheimers or related dementias.
Additional Resources For Dementia And Eating Issues
Read and download the NHS helpful Dementia Care Guide Support with eating and drinking . This guide talks about the common problems those living with dementia can have at meal time, and offers some tips to resolve them.
Another great tool that carers can use is The DMAT . The DMAT enables carers to assess, select interventions and generate a person centred care plan to support mealtime eating abilities and meal behaviours in people with advancing dementia. You can learn more about the DMAT and its benefits on their website.
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Practical Tips To Help Someone With Dementia To Eat More
People living with Alzheimers or dementia often eat less than they used to. This can be due to medical problems associated with chewing, swallowing or digesting food.
Sometimes people just lose interest in food. This can happen for a long list of reasons including loss of taste, the ability to smell, memory loss, and thinking they have already eaten. Certain medications can also affect appetite.
The ability and want to eat tends to get worse as the disease progresses and ensuring someone living with dementia eats a nutritious meal, or eats enough, can become a real practical and emotional issue for the carer. We have compiled a list here of 8 practical tips for helping someone with dementia to eat more.
Consider Primehealths Prevention Program
We stand behind Dr. Dale Bredesens revolutionary KetoFLEX 12/3 diet program for patients with cognitive decline. We have seen it work wonders, particularly in combination with other beneficial lifestyle changes.
As more research is published on the KetoFLEX 12/3 diet, we cant wait for more professionals to hear about this super effective diet plan.
How can you reverse dementia naturally? You can reverse dementia naturally with simple lifestyle and dietary changes. This mainly works in the very early stages of dementia and cognitive decline.
Let PrimeHealth create a plan to put that knowledge into practice. With our Prevention Program, we will work side-by-side to create an individualized plan for slowing and reversing cognitive decline.
Schedule a free phone consultation with us to learn more.
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What Do We Know About Diet And Prevention Of Alzheimer’s Disease
Can eating a specific food or following a particular diet help prevent or delay dementia caused by Alzheimers disease? Many studies suggest that what we eat affects the aging brains ability to think and remember. These findings have led to research on general eating patterns and whether they might make a difference.
The Mediterranean diet, the related MIND diet , and other healthy eating patterns have been associated with cognitive benefits in studies, though the evidence is not as strong as it is for other interventions like physical activity, blood pressure and cognitive training. Currently, researchers are more rigorously testing these diets to see if they can prevent or delay Alzheimers disease or age-related cognitive decline.
Fish Helps You Think And Keeps Your Thinking Strong
What did the researchers find? Fish was the single most important dietary factor in lowering the risk of cognitive impairment. Vegetables were second best, and all other foods showed smaller, insignificant effects. Moreover, of all the foods evaluated, only fish was associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline. Eating fish lowered the risk of both cognitive impairment and cognitive decline.
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Eat These Foods For A Healthy Brain
August 26, 2019 By Sarah Eastin
While we might not realize it while were young and healthy, the decisions we make throughout our entire life can greatly affect the health of our brain later in life. I wrote this post a few weeks ago about how we can protect our memory, and in todays post Id like to cover some of the best foods we can eat to help keep a healthy brain throughout our entire lives. With a family history of dementia myself, brain health is something I take very seriously, and you should too, especially if cognitive decline and impairment is something that has affected someone in your family.
One of the best things we can do for our overall health, disease prevention, to keep our memory sharp and help us feel our very best, is eliminate inflammatory foods which include: gluten, sugar, dairy, meats, fast and processed foods, fried foods, pastries, alcohol, food additives, and preservatives. Instead turn the focus of your diet onto eating more fruits, veggies, nuts, beans and especially greens, lots of healthy, whole foods, plant-based fats and foods low on the glycemic index.
There are many plant-based foods that have proven especially beneficial for dementia prevention and treatment.
Foods That Help Prevent Or Slow Down Dementia
Diet is an important factor that plays a role in preventing or delaying the onset of Dementia. However with growing age it is not easy to change dietary patterns, and healthy dietary habits are best adapted at a young age.
Experts have suggested a healthy diet especially a Mediterranean diet could help reduce the risk of developing the disease. Eating a nutrient-rich diet, particularly one that has lots of fruits and leafy vegetables, berries and dark skinned fruits, coffee and chocolates, extra virgin olive oil and cold pressed coconut oil will help maintain the health of both our heart and brain.
Can diet prevent or slow down Dementia? Can the food we eat really reduce our risk of developing dementia?
There is no evidence suggesting that diet can prevent dementia. However research does indicate that adopting a healthy lifestyle can help lowering the risk of developing dementia as one ages. It can also prevent cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and heart attacks, further reducing the risk of getting vascular dementia.
If a person has dementia, can their diet or use of supplements influence as they experience of dementia or its progression?
Researcher has begun to focus on the specific combination of diet and its impact on cognitive function and risk of dementia. As one grows old, it becomes important to track levels of certain nutrients and vitamins to ensure healthy functioning of the brain and body. The following are some of these vitamins and nutrients:
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What Foods Fight Dementia
If you want to prevent dementia or rescue your memory, choosing the right foods is one of the most important strategies. Your brain uses 20-30% of the calories you consume. If you eat a junk-food diet, you will have a junk-food mind that is less capable of quick thinking and sharp decision-making. A number of studies have found that a healthy diet is associated with significantly lower risks of severe memory problems, such as Alzheimers disease.
The Mind Diet: 10 Foods That Fight Alzheimer’s
Doctors have been saying for years that what you eat can affect the health of your heart. Now there’s growing evidence that the same is true for your brain.
A new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago shows a diet plan they developed — appropriately called the MIND diet — may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by as much as 53 percent.
Even those who didn’t stick to the diet perfectly but followed it “moderately well” reduced their risk of Alzheimer’s by about a third.
Diet appears to be just one of “many factors that play into who gets the disease,” said nutritional epidemiologist Martha Clare Morris, PhD, the lead author of the MIND diet study. Genetics and other factors like smoking, exercise and education also play a role. But the MIND diet helped slow the rate of cognitive decline and protect against Alzheimer’s regardless of other risk factors.
The study, published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, looked at more than 900 people between the ages of 58 and 98 who filled out food questionnaires and underwent repeated neurological testing. It found participants whose diets most closely followed the MIND recommendations had a level of cognitive function the equivalent of a person 7.5 years younger.
The MIND diet breaks its recommendations down into 10 “brain healthy food groups” a person should eat and five “unhealthy food groups” to avoid.
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Help You Determine Next Steps
As your loved ones disease advances, you may be unsure about what the next best steps are in their care. Your VNS Health home health aide can help monitor your loved ones condition and is trained to recognize any changes that should be brought to a nurses or doctors attention.
Eventually, you and your family may need to decide whether in-home care is still the best option for your loved one. The decision to move your loved one to a nursing home or to make the transition from in-home care to hospice care can be a tough one. VNS Health can help you look at your options and determine when a change in your loved ones level of care may be best.
The Connection Between The Digestive System And The Brain
Researchers are learning how the biochemical processes of food intake and digestion interact with changes in the brain. They are finding that the gut microbiome the community of viruses, bacteria and other microbes in the digestive system may influence the onset and progression of Alzheimers disease.
Studies in mice and humans show that the composition of the gut microbiome in Alzheimers and mild cognitive impairment is different from that in cognitively normal beings.
Changes in the gut microbiome as people age have been linked to disruptions in the immune system, persistent inflammation and chronic diseases, including neurological disorders such as Alzheimers. Researchers are exploring how these changes are related to each other and to brain changes related to Alzheimers, including neurodegeneration and the accumulation of toxic proteins beta-amyloid and tau.
Identifying the good and bad gut microbes associated with Alzheimers could help scientists learn more about the biology of the disease and develop a new way to predict and potentially treat it.
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Other Guidelines For Cognitive Health
Again, while there is no real way to prevent Alzheimers disease, taking care of your health starting at a younger age is always recommended. Here are some other tips that researchers in the field of dementia suggest that we all strive to maintain:
- Keep your blood pressure low ideally below 120/80 or lower
- Keep your weight in a healthy range: obesity can be a risk factor for Alzheimers disease
- Total cholesterol below 200 mg/d. and an LDL of 70 mg.
- Consume Alcohol in moderation
- Exercise increases blood flow to the brain aim to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily
- Watch your sugar lower your risk factors for diabetes as it has been know to aid in developing Alzheimers
- Avoid trans fats
Alzheimers Vs Dementia: Whats The Difference
Both Alzheimers disease and dementia involve cognitive decline, but not all dementia patients have Alzheimers. Dementia is one of the main symptoms of Alzheimers. Alzheimers is the most common type of dementia.
Alzheimers disease is caused by misshapen protein structures in the brain . Over time, the malformations kill the brain cells theyre in, limiting cognitive function.
Because Alzheimers is defined by these microscopic changes in the brain, doctors cant say for certain whether a person has Alzheimers without performing an autopsy.
The early symptoms of Alzheimers disease include:
- Confusion
- Difficulty finding the right words when speaking or writing
- Getting lost easily
When a patient starts to develop noticeable symptoms, Alzheimers medications may help. However, making diet and lifestyle changes seems to be just as effective, if not more so.
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Foods To Fight Dementia And Boost Brain Health
Dementia doesnt refer to a single condition but describes the loss of cognitive function that results in memory impairment, behavioral problems, and so on. It is perhaps one of the most feared risks of aging, as it is most common in the aged population. This, however, does not mean that dementia cannot begin earlier in life or that it is inevitable with old age. Dementia is most commonly associated with Alzheimers disease, as well as conditions like Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, and frontotemporal disorders. It can also develop as a symptom of Parkinsons disease in the more advanced stages. While some risk factors are beyond our control, there are steps that you can take to lower the risk of dementia. Your diet has a significant role to play, with balanced diets that primarily include fresh whole foods being beneficial, while those that are high in processed foods tend to increase your dementia risk. In addition to your general diet, however, there are certain foods, herbs, and spices that are particularly helpful.
Should You Take Supplements
Proponents of vitamin and mineral supplements often tout them as a way of compensating for a less than optimal diet, but is there any evidence that they might help combat dementia?
A recent study gave older male rats a processed food diet high in refined carbohydrates and found that their learning and memory skills suffered. Another group of rats on the same diet but with omega-3 supplements showed no memory problems.
The authors of the study explained their findings in terms of the inflammatory response provoked by processed foods. Scientists know that omega-3 resolves inflammation, which might explain the effect in the rats who received it.
However, there is little other evidence to suggest that supplements affect dementia. The
26 studies , concluded that reducing heavy alcohol use could be an effective dementia prevention strategy.
However, they also noted that those who abstained from alcohol entirely had a higher dementia risk than those who drank in moderation.
Therefore, it is possible that drinking in moderation may have some protective effect, but no observational study can exclude all other factors. It may be that those who drink moderately have a better diet, do more exercise, or are generally in better health.
One study into the effects of moderate drinking in older adults in New Zealand controlled for socioeconomic status but found no evidence for a link between moderate drinking and better health.
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What Is The Mind Diet
The MIND diet combines two healthy diets to form one way of eating that is full of healthy fats, foods low in processed sugar, and foods that are known to help reduce chronic inflammation.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e
The first diet that MIND pulls from is the Mediterranean Diet, which is inspired by the lifestyle of people in Mediterranean regions like Greece, Crete, and Southern Italy.
The Mediterranean diet puts an emphasis on foods like legumes, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats from things like olive oil, fish, and nuts. Red meat and processed foods are consumed very rarely.
The second diet that MIND uses is the DASH diet . This diet was first created to improve heart health and very closely resembles the Mediterranean plan. The DASH diet focuses heavily on plant-based foods and whole grains, and strongly encourages the reduction of processed foods and saturated fats.
According to the National Institute of Aging, the MIND diet’s approach to combining these two eating plans has shown promising results in lowering the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s, as well as delaying age-related cognitive decline.
Nuts Whole Grains Legumes And Olive Oil
Nuts and seeds have been repeatedly linked to slower cognitive decline.
In one 2021 review of 22 studies on nut consumption involving nearly 44,000 people, researchers found that those at high risk of cognitive decline tended to have better outcomes if they ate more nuts specifically walnuts. However, the authors acknowledged some inconsistency among the studies and inconclusive evidence.
Another study, , looked at about 16,000 women ages 70 and up between 1995 and 2001. Researchers found that women who said they consumed at least five servings of nuts per week had better cognitive scores than those who did not eat nuts.
Whole grains, as well as legumes, like lentils and soybeans, also appear to have benefits for heart health and cognitive function. In one 2017 study of more than 200 people in Italy aged 65 and older, researchers found an association between consuming three servings of legumes per week and higher cognitive performance.
And olive oil, a main component of both the Mediterranean and MIND diets, has strong links with healthy cognitive aging. One 2022 study of more than 92,000 U.S. adults found that higher intakes of olive oil were associated with a 29 percent lower risk of dying from neurodegenerative disease and 8 percent to 34 percent lower risk of mortality overall when compared with those who never or rarely consumed olive oil.
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