Reverse Alzheimer's Disease?
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"Thinking, what have we got to lose, we
stopped at a health food store on the way home and picked up a quart of
100% 'virgin' coconut oil," Mary said in her recently published
case study. She based a dosage on what she'd found in published
studies, and gave Steve about 4 teaspoons of coconut oil a day.
To Mary's amazement, Steve responded within
hours. She noted distinct cognitive improvements that
were verified later during a return trip to Steve's physician. Dr.
Newport continued her case study for 60 days, treating Steve with the
same simple daily regimen and monitoring his cognition with standard
Alzheimer' tests.
The results where astonishing -- and
when she shared them with Dr. Veech, he wasn't surprised. In fact,
Mary's case study confirmed Veech's research with MCTs. What did
surprise him was that Steve made such fast progress on such a low
dosage.
Food for Thought
With a unique concentration of high fiber, vitamins, and minerals, the
palm nut Spanish explorers called "monkey face" (coco) has
long-held star status among exotic foods. It's ironic that coconut
oil was once attacked by nutritionists as dangerously unhealthy -- when
in reality it's a marvel of nature with "healthy fats" that
can . . .
The mystery starts with insulin. Our bodies
use insulin to convert glucose from foods we eat into usable energy.
For diabetics, problems kick in when the body stops responding to insulin
and slows its production. No insulin, no energy conversion, no fuel.
The body starts to shut down.
What research has recently discovered is that the
brain actually makes its own insulin, using it to capture glucose and fuel
its own needs.
The brain's localized energy conversion process
is the same as in the rest of the body. But localization opens the
door for the same problem that underlies diabetes. If the brain
stops manufacturing insulin, none of the glucose passing through will be
converted to fuel.
Without enough nourishment, the brain
literally "starves to death." In this way, the
Alzheimer's-afflicted brain atrophies and shuts down, just like a
diabetic's body. A direct link is unclear, but it comes as no
surprise that diabetics have a 65% higher risk for contracting
Alzheimer's.
An Alternative Fuel for the Brain
Fortunately, the brain has options. Glucose isn't the only raw
material for fuel. Another substance -- remember those ketone bodies
in coconut oil? -- makes an incredibly powerful brain food.
What Veech and his colleagues learned was that
the brain's metabolism of MCTs creates the ketone Beta-hydroxybutyrate,
which protects neurons and is converted to energy. As the body
metabolizes ketone bodies, blood flow to the brain also increases.
This synergistic process may well prevent degeneration and keep the
brain going strong.
Proof of coconut oil's protective qualities
continues to emerge. Researchers have discovered its powerful
antiviral action against a host of offenders including measles, herpes,
influenza, Hepatitis C, and even HIV. Other studies have pointed to
its antibiotic properties. And coconut oil has even been recognized
for inhibiting cancerous cell growth -- with studies of prostate cancer
showing especially promising results.
