Is Alzheimer’s Disease Related To Diabetes?

How Does Alzheimer's Disease Effect You?

Alzheimer’s disease is associated with 50-80% of reported memory loss in people ages 65 and older. It affects the way you think and behave. However, many people diagnosed with AD fall in a much younger age range, 40-50.

Initially, it may affect how you learn and then gradually becomes more serious with complications. These can be forgetfulness and disorientation, changes in moods and behavior.

Learn More: What is Alzheimer's?

What Is The Relationship Between Alzheimer's Disease and Blood Sugar?

There is evidence that supports the relationship between Alzheimers' disease and blood sugar. In fact, experts now call AD Type 3 Diabetes¹.

Another study² supports the idea that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is not just genetic but may be directly related to defects in the brain's ability to metabolize glucose.

In this study, AD risk was identified using 3D images of metabolic activity in the brain.

The images showed similarities in metabolic brain activity in people who have a genetic predisposition (the Apo E4 gene increases the risk) for Alzheimers' Disease and in those who do not have the gene but had higher than normal fasting blood sugar (BS) levels.

The “higher” BS levels were not high enough to be classified as Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG), 100-125mg/dl. For this reason, you should always check fasting blood sugar levels during routine doctors' visits.

Lifestyle Tips To Normalize Blood Sugar and Reduce Alzheimers' Disease

You can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, avoid higher blood sugar levels and maintain normal brain activity through lifestyle changes. These are 3 important lifestyle tips that you can follow to accomplish this.

1. Often exercise helps bring the sugar out of the blood and delivers it to muscles. The muscle uses glucose to perform movements and activities. The glucose is used from the blood for muscle fuel. Because the sugar is used from the blood for the muscle, there is less sugar in the blood and less to flow to the brain. Therefore reducing the risk of Alzheimers' Disease.

2. High blood sugar, resulting from excess food or stress, it doesn't matter what the source, can raise the risk of Alzheimers' disease.More stress means higher blood sugar levels as a result of higher cortisol released from the adrenal gland. There are stress management techniques you can use to help reduce stress.

3. Directly lowering carbohydrate intake, will have the biggest impact on maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. One hundred percent of sugar or carbohydrate regardless of the source (wheat bread, whole grain cereal, fruit, rice, potato or desserts) converts to sugar in the blood. These foods no matter how "healthy" have a direct effect on blood sugar.

A Ketogenic Diet Can Help Prevent Alzheimers' Disease

The relationship between AD and fasting blood sugar gives us an opportunity to prevent a very debilitating disease in people with and are not diabetic.

Ketones are an effective fuel for the brain to utilize for energy and an ideal tool for diabetes management. This study² suggests that ketones can improve memory and cognition in patients with mild to a moderate AD.

What is a ketogenic? How can you start eating a ketogenic diet to help lower your risk of AD? Are you trying to improve symptoms of AD? Read my book The Stubborn Fat Fix to get a comprehensive understanding of the ketogenic diet, or use these blogs as a guide. While the ketogenic diet is most popular for weight loss, you can still eat a ketogenic diet and not lose weight while improving health.

Alzheimers Disease and Blood Sugar Wrap Up

So Alzheimer’s disease, or type 3 diabetes, is another malfunction in blood sugar. Using a ketogenic diet and lifestyle strategies can help prevent and improve AD-related symptoms.

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28049395.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23535495