Toxic Alzheimer's Part 2

In my last blog I discussed Dr. Bredesen’s Type 3 Alzheimer’s, or the Toxic Type. I listed the different toxins that we are all potentially exposed to in our air, water, food and skin care products and ways to avoid them. Today I want to address how to support your body in it’s efforts to detoxify what you are exposed to after you avoid known toxins as much as possible. 

From Dr. Bredesen: “In today’s world, it is impossible to avoid dementogens completely, so a combination of minimizing exposure and optimizing detoxification is the best approach.”

One source of food toxins that I didn’t cover in my last blog is related to how you cook your food. When we cook our food at high temperatures we can produce advanced glycation end products(AGEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and acrylamide (think-french fries and blackened or charred meat) The oil you cook with is also important. Olive oil is best for low temperature cooking and avocado oil or ghee for higher temperature cooking. 

Now that you know where toxins come from and ways to avoid them when possible, the next step is to optimize your ability to detoxify. 

Drinking filtered water, in adequate amounts such as 1 to 4 liters per day, can help flush out toxins into your urine. It’s hard to drink adequate amounts of water, since that requires easy access to a bathroom! Staying at home certainly helps that but when travel is necessary it is harder! Your water goal depends on your weight and activity level. There is an app called WaterMinder that can help you keep track.

Fiber in your diet helps absorb and eliminate toxins in your gut. Fiber is categorized as soluble or insoluble. A few examples of soluble fiber are broccoli, black beans, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes and apples and many more. Some examples of insoluble fiber are wheat bran, oat bran, whole grains, beans, flaxseeds, certain fruits and vegetables. As you can see, some foods have both types of fiber. It is recommended that we eat more than 30 grams of fiber each day, which most of us do not accomplish!

Sweat can remove toxins through your skin. Exercise or taking a sauna are two methods to stimulate sweat and eliminate toxins. It is a good idea to shower after sweating to remove any accumulated toxins so they are not reabsorbed back through your skin. 

Time outside, especially in forests, helps you avoid any indoor toxins that may be present in your home. As I write this, the west coast is on fire and the air quality in some places is super hazardous, so being outside is more dangerous than being indoors in those locations. 

Some people have what is called leaky gut that basically means that stuff is being absorbed through your intestinal lining that is not supposed to be in your blood stream. It is important to try to heal your gut if this is you, which means eating prebiotic foods such as jicama and Jerusalem artichokes as well as ingesting probiotics as a supplement or as fermented food. Healing your gut is not always a simple task, so seek out help from a knowledgeable medical practitioner to get some guidance in this area. 

We all produce our own detox chemicals in our bodies but some people have genetic mutations that limit the production of these chemicals. Glutathione is an antioxidant that helps the body in the detoxification process. If your glutathione is not optimal, you may need to supplement with liposomal glutathione or N-acetylcysteine to support the detoxification systems in your body.

Support your liver, the most important organ for detoxification. Avoid liver toxins such as tylenol and alcohol. Supplements that may help are milk thistle or curcumin. Foods such as cruciferous vegetables, salad greens, artichokes and fish oil can be anti-inflammatory. 

Support your kidneys since they are another organ that helps you eliminate toxins from your body. Dr. Bredesen mentions drinking beet juice as a method to increase blood flow to your kidneys as well as blueberries, ginko, gotu kola and magnesium citrate. 

Other methods to support detox are having a massage that can increase lymphatic flow, and managing your stress levels through mediation or prayer. 

Many of the above recommendations are preventive and geared more for those of us who have not yet been diagnosed with cognitive decline or dementia. If you or a loved one is dealing with more symptoms of cognitive decline, then more aggressive treatment may be indicated. If you have done testing and found that you have mold toxicity or heavy metal levels that are not healthy, then it is important to find a medical practitioner who can help you heal from those toxins. Dr. Bredesen has a program called ReCODE that looks at all possible exposures and then develops a plan for dealing with your individual issues. He also has a program called PreCODE to find potential issues before you have symptoms. 

Here are Dr. Bredesen’s websites for further information:  www.mycognoscopy.com or https://www.apollohealthco.com

The above information is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Seek out guidance from a medical practitioner if you have concerns about your cognitive health.