September 4, 2024 • 19 mins
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Imagine transforming your fear of Alzheimer's into actionable steps for better brain health. Amy White takes you on a personal journey through the maze of genetic testing, specifically the ApoE gene, and how lifestyle choices can be game-changers in mitigating cognitive decline. By challenging the traditional view of Alzheimer's as merely a structural issue, she introduces groundbreaking research suggesting it's also a metabolic condition. Amy candidly shares her family's history with memory issues and how her professional expertise in holistic nutrition has reshaped her outlook on brain health.
Discover the power of nutrition, fasting, and stress management in optimizing your well-being. Amy offers practical tips like extending your overnight fasting window, eliminating processed foods, and adopting a low-carb diet to maintain metabolic health. She also highlights the significance of managing stress and monitoring blood sugar and ketone levels. Listen to Amy's strategies for achieving a healthier lifestyle without drastic changes and find out how you can get support through a free consultation. This episode promises to provide you with tools to become leaner, stronger, and healthier, all while keeping your brain in peak condition.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Simplicity of Wellness podcast.
I'm your host, board-certifiedholistic nutritionist and
professional life coach, amyWhite.
The purpose of this podcast isto share information that you
can use to become leaner,stronger and healthier by losing
weight, shedding inches,maintaining muscle and managing
(00:21):
your mind, all while living yournormal busy life in this modern
, sugar-filled world.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello simplifiers.
Are you frustrated by brain fogand worried that it could mean
bigger and badder things downthe road?
If so, this episode is for you,because we're diving into brain
health.
I'm going to start with brainhealth, cognitive decline and
Alzheimer's to be specific.
As the episode unfolds, I'llmention other medical conditions
that appear to be unrelated butactually have a common root
(00:54):
cause.
Toward the end of the episode,I'll outline the three big
lifestyle factors that you canmanage to help improve and
control your health now and asyou age.
I'll then finish by sharing asnapshot of what my real healthy
attempt at life looks like.
Back when I was 37 and notfeeling my best, I wanted to
lose weight, but I didn't wantit to be a quick fix that I then
(01:16):
had to repeatedly fix for therest of my life.
I wanted to focus on being ashealthy as I could be and for
weight loss to be the bonus thatI got for being healthy.
This is still how I approachbody weight for myself and my
clients.
One of the things pushing me toget healthy and stay healthy
was the fear of Alzheimer's.
I've seen relatives on mymother's side suffer with memory
(01:37):
issues.
It's pretty scary.
I don't know if they were everofficially diagnosed with
Alzheimer's or if it was justconsidered dementia, but in any
case, it was something that Iknew I didn't want.
Unfortunately, I also didn'tthink I had a choice.
To me, dementia and Alzheimer'sfelt like a crapshoot.
You're either destined to getit or not.
My thoughts about this havechanged.
(01:58):
I now believe there's more tothe Alzheimer's story than what
I used to believe.
Early on in my shift into thenutrition health world, I
learned about genetic testing.
You may have heard of this typeof testing.
A lot of people do this through23andMe.
Basically, you get your genomesequenced.
You can then take that raw dataand pay to have a report run
that shows all of your geneticvariation.
(02:21):
One of the companies that doesthe sequencing is called
StratGene by Seeking HealthS-T-R-A-T-E-G-E-N-E.
Way back when I first learnedabout genetic testing, I thought
it was the worst idea ever.
I would never do that.
Why would I want to find out ifI had bad or problematic genes?
(02:41):
You can't change your genes.
You get what you get.
My belief was that there wasnothing I could do about the
genetic hand I'd been dealt.
It was just a waiting game tosee which of the diseases of
aging would play out.
To tell you the truth, I wasn'treally worried about all of my
potential sketchy gene snips.
There was one in particular.
I was concerned about a genesnip called ApoE or
(03:04):
apolipoprotein E.
If you look up APOE, this iswhat it will say.
Variations in APOE affectcholesterol metabolism, which in
turn alter your chances ofhaving heart disease and, in
particular, a heart attack or astroke.
Variations in APOE are alsoassociated with altered odds of
having Alzheimer's disease.
(03:24):
That's what I was worried aboutHaving a gene snip that told me
I was going to have Alzheimer's.
I wasn't even worried aboutheart disease.
It was all about Alzheimer'sfor me, and it still is.
Even though I was unsure,alzheimer's officially ran in my
family.
I was convinced I was going tosuffer with it.
I didn't want to see the coldhard facts.
As I got further into mynutrition master's program, I
(03:46):
started to understand that ourgenes don't really tell the
whole story.
Yes, I have genetic variationwe all do.
Yes, I have certain genevariations that make me more
susceptible to certainconditions or diseases, but that
doesn't mean I'll for suresuffer with these issues.
The best way I've heard thiswhole gene thing described is
(04:08):
your genes load the gun, butyour lifestyle is what pulls the
trigger.
In other words, even if youhave a genetic variation that
makes type 2 diabetes orAlzheimer's or heart disease or
high blood pressure or cancer orwhatever other thing a
possibility, it doesn't mean itwill happen.
Yes, your genes are your genes.
(04:29):
They won't change.
But how you choose to live iswhat will dictate how your genes
express themselves.
Will your so-called bad genesactivate or stay dormant?
This brings me to Alzheimer'swhat I used to believe and what
I now believe dormant.
This brings me to Alzheimer'swhat I used to believe and what
I now believe.
Alzheimer's has long beendescribed as a two-branch
structural or anatomical problemin the brain.
(04:51):
Branch number one anaccumulation of plaques in the
brain that basically muck thingsup.
Branch number two tangled brainneurons that also muck things
up.
Basically, two types ofstructural problems that make
your brain stop workingcorrectly.
There are also two known issueswith this classic understanding
.
The first these diseaseidentifiers can't be confirmed
(05:15):
until after death.
You can only see thesestructural problems when the
brain is biopsied.
Brain biopsies happen aftersomeone has died, so there's no
early clinical marker of thedisease.
Number two the drugs that havebeen developed to target.
These structural issues don'tseem to have much of a positive
impact.
Research in animal models tendto confirm that the drugs don't
(05:36):
really help.
This brings me back to thatfeeling I had there was nothing
I could do but wait it out.
So why would I want to know?
As I got further into my lifeas a holistic nutritionist with
a better understanding of howthe body works, I realized I did
want to know.
Here's why Research hascontinued and more information
about the potential causes ofAlzheimer's is now available.
(05:57):
A new view of Alzheimer'ssuggests that it's not simply an
anatomical issue but ametabolic issue.
As a nutritionist whospecializes in healthy,
permanent weight loss, theprimary focus of what I do with
my clients is rebuild theirmetabolic health.
Alzheimer's, as a metabolicissue, is now a disease linked
to something you have the powerto manage the health and balance
(06:19):
of your metabolic hormones.
This means that reclaiming yourmetabolic health can help you
regulate your weight, but alsobe an intervention that helps
you improve and stop cognitivedecline and possibly even
Alzheimer's.
The hormone insulin is aclinical marker of how well your
body processes sugars.
Insulin also appears to be anaccurate clinical marker of
(06:42):
cognitive decline.
The new view of Alzheimer'ssuggests that it is a disease of
insulin resistance in the brain.
A study out of Finland thatfocused on several dozen
lifestyle variables found that aperson's fasting insulin was
more tightly correlated withtheir risk of Alzheimer's than
their age.
A Harvard Medical School paperentitled what's the Relationship
(07:05):
Between Diabetes and Dementiaaligned with this claim and
stated that the earlier youdevelop diabetes, which is a
metabolic condition, the greateryour risk of developing
dementia.
The paper was referring to type2 diabetes, which is a disease
of too much insulin.
When there's too much insulinin your body, the cells all over
your body, including the braincells in your hippocampus,
(07:28):
ignore insulin's message to takein glucose.
They close the insulin door onthe cells and block glucose from
being absorbed as fuel.
It's likely that Alzheimer'sisn't an immediate and pressing
problem for you, but what aboutbrain fog?
Remembering why you went to thegrocery store, finding your
cell phone after you just had itin your hand?
You know the normal stuff thatwe get frustrated by every
(07:51):
single day.
We're talking about that Beforesevere cognitive decline,
dementia and Alzheimer's.
There's mild cognitiveimpairment.
Could brain fog be consideredmild cognitive impairment?
Possibly, if high levels ofinsulin are related to the risk
for developing dementia andAlzheimer's.
It's also likely that highlevels of insulin are a factor
(08:14):
with everyday brain fog.
Your hippocampus the part ofyour brain where you learn and
store memories is a hybridengine.
It runs on two fuels glucoseand ketones.
Too much insulin means theglucose fuel isn't available.
Your hippocampus could beswimming in glucose, but if that
glucose can't get into the cell, it's as if it's not even there
(08:35):
.
In this situation, the brainwill easily and willingly switch
over to gobble up and burnketones.
But what if there aren't anyketones?
When insulin is high, the cellsof your body and brain can't
use glucose.
But there's another problemwith high insulin.
When your insulin ischronically high, your body
can't release fat and convert itto ketones.
(08:56):
Without glucose or ketones,your brain cells are starved for
fuel.
Cognitive impairment is whathappens when your brain cells
don't have the fuel to functionproperly.
If you want to be healthy andage well, I think it's important
to do what you can to help yourbody and brain out.
Regaining metabolic balance isthe number one thing you can do
(09:16):
to manage your risk of cognitivedecline and many other health
issues.
The high insulin willeventually cause brain cells to
stop processing glucose while atthe same time that high insulin
will keep your body frombreaking down fat to produce
ketones.
This is the situation that manypeople eating a standard
Western diet of mostly processedfoods are facing.
(09:37):
It's also a situation for a lotof people eating what they
believe to be a healthy dietthat includes healthified snack
foods.
Gluten-free foods are stillprocessed and have enough
carbohydrates to spike bloodsugar and cause high levels of
insulin.
Food choices have the power tostarve your brain.
At the beginning I mentionedthat there are medical
(09:59):
conditions that at first glanceappear to be unrelated, but when
you take a closer look, you seethat they all have a common
root cause that is, metabolicimbalance with chronically high
levels of insulin.
Some of these conditions areinfertility, as PCOS or
polycystic ovarian syndrome inwomen and erectile dysfunction
in men, fatty liver disease,hypertension, migraines and type
(10:23):
2 diabetes.
There's a very interestingstudy on PCOS by Stephen Cunane.
The study compared seven womenwith PCOS to 11 healthy female
controls who were of a similarage, education and body mass.
The PCOS group had a 10% higherfasting glucose and a 40%
(10:43):
higher level of insulinresistance than the control
group.
The results showed that severalregions in the brain of the
PCOS group resembled brainpatterns seen in aging and early
Alzheimer's disease.
More importantly, the resultsshowed that mild insulin
resistance and the brain'sinability to properly metabolize
(11:04):
glucose can exist in youngadults in their 20s who aren't
overweight or obese.
Pcos is the most common form ofinfertility in women, but at
its core, it's a disease of toomuch insulin.
I don't want any of this toscare you.
I want this to empower you.
The risk of cognitive declinedue to metabolic imbalance is a
(11:24):
problem that you have theability to manage.
So let's talk about what youcan do to manage your insulin
and blood sugar levels.
There are three big things tofocus on Diet, inflammation and
stress Diet.
Don't let food constantly spikeyour blood sugar and keep your
insulin high.
Stop eating five to six times aday.
(11:45):
Eat three meals or two mealsand a mini meal.
Stop snacking.
Let your blood sugar andinsulin come back to a normal,
healthy level before you shootit up again with more food.
What you choose to eat will havean impact.
How often you eat will alsohave an impact.
Focus on protein, healthy fatsfrom animals, avocado, olives
(12:05):
and coconut.
Enjoy carbohydrates, but makesure most of the time they are
unprocessed.
This means vegetables and fruit.
Make things super easy and letgo of anything made with grains.
This is the one super simplething you can do to regulate
your blood sugar.
When it comes to how often youeat, you want to have a minimum
of at least equal time fastedand feasted.
(12:28):
This means in a 24-hour period,you have a maximum 12-hour
eating window and a minimum12-hour fasting window.
If you stop eating at 8 pm,don't eat again until 8 am.
Everyone should be able to dothis.
I'm going to challenge you.
As a listener of this podcast,I know you're interested in your
general health and well-being.
You can do better than a12-hour overnight fast.
(12:49):
Shoot for 14 hours.
If that feels easy, do 16 hours.
That's it.
There's no need to do more than16 hours.
You also don't need to do thisin one day.
Work your way up to 14 hoursand once that's feeling really
easy every now and then see ifyou can go 16 hours because it
feels easy.
You're not hungry.
(13:10):
Eating right so that your bloodsugar and insulin stay in a
healthy range, and letting yourbody have fasted time will allow
you to burn body fat andnaturally create ketones.
Your brain loves ketones.
If there are ketones andglucose available, your brain
will go for ketones first.
I'm not saying go on aketogenic diet or try to live in
a state of ketosis.
You don't need to chase ketones.
(13:32):
Bring your metabolic hormonesinto balance.
Eat real, whole, unprocessedfoods most of the time.
Watch your sugar intake and getyour carbs from vegetables and
fruit.
That's all you need to do.
Ketone production is a naturalpart of a healthy metabolism.
The second thing I mentioned wasinflammation.
I'm talking about cellularinflammation, not inflammation
(13:52):
due to an acute issue like anopen wound, sprained ankle or
broken bone.
Food intolerances can causeinflammation.
Unaddressed food intoleranceslead to what's called leaky gut.
Leaky gut then leads to thebiggest cause of systemic
inflammation autoimmuneconditions.
Get rid of the garbageprocessed food.
Reduce the amount of grains youeat.
(14:14):
Ideally, get rid of all thegrains.
No cereal, pizza, pasta, bagels, crackers, pretzels, all that
stuff.
You'll thank me in about a weekbecause you're going to feel so
much better.
Notice which foods just don'twork for you.
What do you eat that makes youfeel kind of like ugh?
It took me 55 years to figureout that my body does not like
almonds.
It was a subtle thing.
(14:34):
It was just a heavy fullnessthat I would feel after eating
almonds, not even a lot ofalmonds.
The same thing happens when I'deat something made with almond
flour.
One day.
That moment of ugh clicked andI thought it's the almonds.
I was right.
Now I rarely choose to eatalmonds or things made with
almond flour, and my body is somuch happier.
(14:55):
The last thing is stress.
This can be tough.
There are so many things thatyou can't control, so focus on
what you can.
Fix your sleep.
Do what you can to get goodsleep.
One bad night of sleep will putyour body into a state of
insulin resistance.
A good night of sleep willcorrect this.
Regular bad sleep is going toincrease your insulin by raising
(15:17):
your cortisol.
The other thing that can createstress in your body is high
levels of the stress hormone,epinephrine, also known as
adrenaline.
One thing that can createstress in your body is high
levels of the stress hormone,epinephrine, also known as
adrenaline.
One thing that causes your bodyto produce epinephrine is
caffeine.
Bad sleep and caffeine tend tobe a vicious cycle.
You're raising two stresshormones cortisol and then
epinephrine.
Fix this, get good sleep andneed less caffeine.
(15:41):
Let me wrap this up by tellingyou more about my genetic test.
We all get two ApoE snips.
When I say ApoE, it's A-P-O andthen the letter E, apoe.
Remember, apoe is the snip forheart disease and Alzheimer's.
The ApoE4 is considered the badgene snip.
This is the snip correlatedwith higher risks of Alzheimer's
(16:03):
.
There's also APOE3 and APOE2,both considered to be more
neutral or good.
I have what's called APOE34,meaning I have one 3-SNP and one
of the scary 4-SNPs.
It could have been worse.
You can have APOE44, two of theso-called bad SNPs.
My ApoE 3-4 makes managing mymetabolic health a real priority
(16:25):
for me.
I got healthy and lost my extraweight years ago.
I'm living in maintenance, butfor me maintenance is a mostly
low sugar lifestyle.
It's very important to me tokeep my blood sugar balanced so
that my insulin can stay in ahealthy range and do the job
it's designed to do.
I want to give my brain all thehelp I can.
I eat two to three times a day.
(16:46):
I rarely snack.
I don't follow a keto diet.
I'm not trying to be in ketosis.
My carbs don't typically goover 100 grams in a day.
Those 100 grams come fromnon-starchy vegetables and some
fruit.
The purpose of my low-carb dietis metabolic health to keep my
insulin low so that I get thebonus of making ketones when I'm
(17:07):
fasting overnight and inbetween meals.
I do occasionally track myblood sugar and blood ketones.
I have a Keto-Mojo blood sugarand blood ketone testing device.
I tested my ketones before Iate my first meal today.
My ketones were at a 1.1.
Nutritional ketosis is definedas having blood ketones in the
(17:27):
range of 0.5 to 3.0.
As I mentioned, I'm notfollowing a ketogenic diet.
I'm not chasing ketones.
I don't keep my carbs under 30grams.
I'm also no food saint.
I do have what I call sometimesfoods that are higher in carbs.
These are occasionalindulgences.
Living this way still allows mybody to naturally make ketones,
(17:51):
which in my case, I believe isvery important.
Considering my ApoE status, Idon't want my brain to ever feel
starved for fuel.
When it comes to Alzheimer's,it's not one or the other, an
anatomical issue or a metabolicissue.
It's both.
My ApoE4 could indicate that Imay have more potential for
(18:12):
anatomical change in my brain.
This is one of the primaryreasons I want to do what I can
to support my brain health, andthat is to manage what I have
control over my metabolic health.
I hope you found this episodeinformative and helpful.
Remember the biggest way youcan improve your metabolic
health is to eat a healthy dietthat keeps your blood sugar and
(18:32):
insulin in a healthy range,while also reducing inflammation
and improving your sleep sothat you feel less overall
stress.
Enjoy your week.
I'll be back in the nextepisode.
Do you like the idea of eatingfor the body you want?
Is there a piece of you that'seager to learn how to become
leaner, stronger and healthierwithout having to overhaul your
(18:55):
entire life?
If this is you, then you're inluck, because this is what I do.
I can help you reconnect andwork with your body so that you
can enjoy the body, comfort andconfidence you deserve, eating
foods you love.
Click the free consult link inthe show notes.
Let's talk about where you are,what you want and how you can
(19:15):
get there.
Welcome to the Simplicity of Wellness podcast.
I'm your host, board-certifiedholistic nutritionist and
professional life coach, amyWhite.
The purpose of this podcast isto share information that you
can use to become leaner,stronger and healthier by losing
weight, shedding inches,maintaining muscle and managing
(00:21):
your mind, all while living yournormal busy life in this modern
, sugar-filled world.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello simplifiers.
Are you frustrated by brain fogand worried that it could mean
bigger and badder things downthe road?
If so, this episode is for you,because we're diving into brain
health.
I'm going to start with brainhealth, cognitive decline and
Alzheimer's to be specific.
As the episode unfolds, I'llmention other medical conditions
that appear to be unrelated butactually have a common root
(00:54):
cause.
Toward the end of the episode,I'll outline the three big
lifestyle factors that you canmanage to help improve and
control your health now and asyou age.
I'll then finish by sharing asnapshot of what my real healthy
attempt at life looks like.
Back when I was 37 and notfeeling my best, I wanted to
lose weight, but I didn't wantit to be a quick fix that I then
(01:16):
had to repeatedly fix for therest of my life.
I wanted to focus on being ashealthy as I could be and for
weight loss to be the bonus thatI got for being healthy.
This is still how I approachbody weight for myself and my
clients.
One of the things pushing me toget healthy and stay healthy
was the fear of Alzheimer's.
I've seen relatives on mymother's side suffer with memory
(01:37):
issues.
It's pretty scary.
I don't know if they were everofficially diagnosed with
Alzheimer's or if it was justconsidered dementia, but in any
case, it was something that Iknew I didn't want.
Unfortunately, I also didn'tthink I had a choice.
To me, dementia and Alzheimer'sfelt like a crapshoot.
You're either destined to getit or not.
My thoughts about this havechanged.
(01:58):
I now believe there's more tothe Alzheimer's story than what
I used to believe.
Early on in my shift into thenutrition health world, I
learned about genetic testing.
You may have heard of this typeof testing.
A lot of people do this through23andMe.
Basically, you get your genomesequenced.
You can then take that raw dataand pay to have a report run
that shows all of your geneticvariation.
(02:21):
One of the companies that doesthe sequencing is called
StratGene by Seeking HealthS-T-R-A-T-E-G-E-N-E.
Way back when I first learnedabout genetic testing, I thought
it was the worst idea ever.
I would never do that.
Why would I want to find out ifI had bad or problematic genes?
(02:41):
You can't change your genes.
You get what you get.
My belief was that there wasnothing I could do about the
genetic hand I'd been dealt.
It was just a waiting game tosee which of the diseases of
aging would play out.
To tell you the truth, I wasn'treally worried about all of my
potential sketchy gene snips.
There was one in particular.
I was concerned about a genesnip called ApoE or
(03:04):
apolipoprotein E.
If you look up APOE, this iswhat it will say.
Variations in APOE affectcholesterol metabolism, which in
turn alter your chances ofhaving heart disease and, in
particular, a heart attack or astroke.
Variations in APOE are alsoassociated with altered odds of
having Alzheimer's disease.
(03:24):
That's what I was worried aboutHaving a gene snip that told me
I was going to have Alzheimer's.
I wasn't even worried aboutheart disease.
It was all about Alzheimer'sfor me, and it still is.
Even though I was unsure,alzheimer's officially ran in my
family.
I was convinced I was going tosuffer with it.
I didn't want to see the coldhard facts.
As I got further into mynutrition master's program, I
(03:46):
started to understand that ourgenes don't really tell the
whole story.
Yes, I have genetic variationwe all do.
Yes, I have certain genevariations that make me more
susceptible to certainconditions or diseases, but that
doesn't mean I'll for suresuffer with these issues.
The best way I've heard thiswhole gene thing described is
(04:08):
your genes load the gun, butyour lifestyle is what pulls the
trigger.
In other words, even if youhave a genetic variation that
makes type 2 diabetes orAlzheimer's or heart disease or
high blood pressure or cancer orwhatever other thing a
possibility, it doesn't mean itwill happen.
Yes, your genes are your genes.
(04:29):
They won't change.
But how you choose to live iswhat will dictate how your genes
express themselves.
Will your so-called bad genesactivate or stay dormant?
This brings me to Alzheimer'swhat I used to believe and what
I now believe dormant.
This brings me to Alzheimer'swhat I used to believe and what
I now believe.
Alzheimer's has long beendescribed as a two-branch
structural or anatomical problemin the brain.
(04:51):
Branch number one anaccumulation of plaques in the
brain that basically muck thingsup.
Branch number two tangled brainneurons that also muck things
up.
Basically, two types ofstructural problems that make
your brain stop workingcorrectly.
There are also two known issueswith this classic understanding
.
The first these diseaseidentifiers can't be confirmed
(05:15):
until after death.
You can only see thesestructural problems when the
brain is biopsied.
Brain biopsies happen aftersomeone has died, so there's no
early clinical marker of thedisease.
Number two the drugs that havebeen developed to target.
These structural issues don'tseem to have much of a positive
impact.
Research in animal models tendto confirm that the drugs don't
(05:36):
really help.
This brings me back to thatfeeling I had there was nothing
I could do but wait it out.
So why would I want to know?
As I got further into my lifeas a holistic nutritionist with
a better understanding of howthe body works, I realized I did
want to know.
Here's why Research hascontinued and more information
about the potential causes ofAlzheimer's is now available.
(05:57):
A new view of Alzheimer'ssuggests that it's not simply an
anatomical issue but ametabolic issue.
As a nutritionist whospecializes in healthy,
permanent weight loss, theprimary focus of what I do with
my clients is rebuild theirmetabolic health.
Alzheimer's, as a metabolicissue, is now a disease linked
to something you have the powerto manage the health and balance
(06:19):
of your metabolic hormones.
This means that reclaiming yourmetabolic health can help you
regulate your weight, but alsobe an intervention that helps
you improve and stop cognitivedecline and possibly even
Alzheimer's.
The hormone insulin is aclinical marker of how well your
body processes sugars.
Insulin also appears to be anaccurate clinical marker of
(06:42):
cognitive decline.
The new view of Alzheimer'ssuggests that it is a disease of
insulin resistance in the brain.
A study out of Finland thatfocused on several dozen
lifestyle variables found that aperson's fasting insulin was
more tightly correlated withtheir risk of Alzheimer's than
their age.
A Harvard Medical School paperentitled what's the Relationship
(07:05):
Between Diabetes and Dementiaaligned with this claim and
stated that the earlier youdevelop diabetes, which is a
metabolic condition, the greateryour risk of developing
dementia.
The paper was referring to type2 diabetes, which is a disease
of too much insulin.
When there's too much insulinin your body, the cells all over
your body, including the braincells in your hippocampus,
(07:28):
ignore insulin's message to takein glucose.
They close the insulin door onthe cells and block glucose from
being absorbed as fuel.
It's likely that Alzheimer'sisn't an immediate and pressing
problem for you, but what aboutbrain fog?
Remembering why you went to thegrocery store, finding your
cell phone after you just had itin your hand?
You know the normal stuff thatwe get frustrated by every
(07:51):
single day.
We're talking about that Beforesevere cognitive decline,
dementia and Alzheimer's.
There's mild cognitiveimpairment.
Could brain fog be consideredmild cognitive impairment?
Possibly, if high levels ofinsulin are related to the risk
for developing dementia andAlzheimer's.
It's also likely that highlevels of insulin are a factor
(08:14):
with everyday brain fog.
Your hippocampus the part ofyour brain where you learn and
store memories is a hybridengine.
It runs on two fuels glucoseand ketones.
Too much insulin means theglucose fuel isn't available.
Your hippocampus could beswimming in glucose, but if that
glucose can't get into the cell, it's as if it's not even there
(08:35):
.
In this situation, the brainwill easily and willingly switch
over to gobble up and burnketones.
But what if there aren't anyketones?
When insulin is high, the cellsof your body and brain can't
use glucose.
But there's another problemwith high insulin.
When your insulin ischronically high, your body
can't release fat and convert itto ketones.
(08:56):
Without glucose or ketones,your brain cells are starved for
fuel.
Cognitive impairment is whathappens when your brain cells
don't have the fuel to functionproperly.
If you want to be healthy andage well, I think it's important
to do what you can to help yourbody and brain out.
Regaining metabolic balance isthe number one thing you can do
(09:16):
to manage your risk of cognitivedecline and many other health
issues.
The high insulin willeventually cause brain cells to
stop processing glucose while atthe same time that high insulin
will keep your body frombreaking down fat to produce
ketones.
This is the situation that manypeople eating a standard
Western diet of mostly processedfoods are facing.
(09:37):
It's also a situation for a lotof people eating what they
believe to be a healthy dietthat includes healthified snack
foods.
Gluten-free foods are stillprocessed and have enough
carbohydrates to spike bloodsugar and cause high levels of
insulin.
Food choices have the power tostarve your brain.
At the beginning I mentionedthat there are medical
(09:59):
conditions that at first glanceappear to be unrelated, but when
you take a closer look, you seethat they all have a common
root cause that is, metabolicimbalance with chronically high
levels of insulin.
Some of these conditions areinfertility, as PCOS or
polycystic ovarian syndrome inwomen and erectile dysfunction
in men, fatty liver disease,hypertension, migraines and type
(10:23):
2 diabetes.
There's a very interestingstudy on PCOS by Stephen Cunane.
The study compared seven womenwith PCOS to 11 healthy female
controls who were of a similarage, education and body mass.
The PCOS group had a 10% higherfasting glucose and a 40%
(10:43):
higher level of insulinresistance than the control
group.
The results showed that severalregions in the brain of the
PCOS group resembled brainpatterns seen in aging and early
Alzheimer's disease.
More importantly, the resultsshowed that mild insulin
resistance and the brain'sinability to properly metabolize
(11:04):
glucose can exist in youngadults in their 20s who aren't
overweight or obese.
Pcos is the most common form ofinfertility in women, but at
its core, it's a disease of toomuch insulin.
I don't want any of this toscare you.
I want this to empower you.
The risk of cognitive declinedue to metabolic imbalance is a
(11:24):
problem that you have theability to manage.
So let's talk about what youcan do to manage your insulin
and blood sugar levels.
There are three big things tofocus on Diet, inflammation and
stress Diet.
Don't let food constantly spikeyour blood sugar and keep your
insulin high.
Stop eating five to six times aday.
(11:45):
Eat three meals or two mealsand a mini meal.
Stop snacking.
Let your blood sugar andinsulin come back to a normal,
healthy level before you shootit up again with more food.
What you choose to eat will havean impact.
How often you eat will alsohave an impact.
Focus on protein, healthy fatsfrom animals, avocado, olives
(12:05):
and coconut.
Enjoy carbohydrates, but makesure most of the time they are
unprocessed.
This means vegetables and fruit.
Make things super easy and letgo of anything made with grains.
This is the one super simplething you can do to regulate
your blood sugar.
When it comes to how often youeat, you want to have a minimum
of at least equal time fastedand feasted.
(12:28):
This means in a 24-hour period,you have a maximum 12-hour
eating window and a minimum12-hour fasting window.
If you stop eating at 8 pm,don't eat again until 8 am.
Everyone should be able to dothis.
I'm going to challenge you.
As a listener of this podcast,I know you're interested in your
general health and well-being.
You can do better than a12-hour overnight fast.
(12:49):
Shoot for 14 hours.
If that feels easy, do 16 hours.
That's it.
There's no need to do more than16 hours.
You also don't need to do thisin one day.
Work your way up to 14 hoursand once that's feeling really
easy every now and then see ifyou can go 16 hours because it
feels easy.
You're not hungry.
(13:10):
Eating right so that your bloodsugar and insulin stay in a
healthy range, and letting yourbody have fasted time will allow
you to burn body fat andnaturally create ketones.
Your brain loves ketones.
If there are ketones andglucose available, your brain
will go for ketones first.
I'm not saying go on aketogenic diet or try to live in
a state of ketosis.
You don't need to chase ketones.
(13:32):
Bring your metabolic hormonesinto balance.
Eat real, whole, unprocessedfoods most of the time.
Watch your sugar intake and getyour carbs from vegetables and
fruit.
That's all you need to do.
Ketone production is a naturalpart of a healthy metabolism.
The second thing I mentioned wasinflammation.
I'm talking about cellularinflammation, not inflammation
(13:52):
due to an acute issue like anopen wound, sprained ankle or
broken bone.
Food intolerances can causeinflammation.
Unaddressed food intoleranceslead to what's called leaky gut.
Leaky gut then leads to thebiggest cause of systemic
inflammation autoimmuneconditions.
Get rid of the garbageprocessed food.
Reduce the amount of grains youeat.
(14:14):
Ideally, get rid of all thegrains.
No cereal, pizza, pasta, bagels, crackers, pretzels, all that
stuff.
You'll thank me in about a weekbecause you're going to feel so
much better.
Notice which foods just don'twork for you.
What do you eat that makes youfeel kind of like ugh?
It took me 55 years to figureout that my body does not like
almonds.
It was a subtle thing.
(14:34):
It was just a heavy fullnessthat I would feel after eating
almonds, not even a lot ofalmonds.
The same thing happens when I'deat something made with almond
flour.
One day.
That moment of ugh clicked andI thought it's the almonds.
I was right.
Now I rarely choose to eatalmonds or things made with
almond flour, and my body is somuch happier.
(14:55):
The last thing is stress.
This can be tough.
There are so many things thatyou can't control, so focus on
what you can.
Fix your sleep.
Do what you can to get goodsleep.
One bad night of sleep will putyour body into a state of
insulin resistance.
A good night of sleep willcorrect this.
Regular bad sleep is going toincrease your insulin by raising
(15:17):
your cortisol.
The other thing that can createstress in your body is high
levels of the stress hormone,epinephrine, also known as
adrenaline.
One thing that can createstress in your body is high
levels of the stress hormone,epinephrine, also known as
adrenaline.
One thing that causes your bodyto produce epinephrine is
caffeine.
Bad sleep and caffeine tend tobe a vicious cycle.
You're raising two stresshormones cortisol and then
epinephrine.
Fix this, get good sleep andneed less caffeine.
(15:41):
Let me wrap this up by tellingyou more about my genetic test.
We all get two ApoE snips.
When I say ApoE, it's A-P-O andthen the letter E, apoe.
Remember, apoe is the snip forheart disease and Alzheimer's.
The ApoE4 is considered the badgene snip.
This is the snip correlatedwith higher risks of Alzheimer's
(16:03):
.
There's also APOE3 and APOE2,both considered to be more
neutral or good.
I have what's called APOE34,meaning I have one 3-SNP and one
of the scary 4-SNPs.
It could have been worse.
You can have APOE44, two of theso-called bad SNPs.
My ApoE 3-4 makes managing mymetabolic health a real priority
(16:25):
for me.
I got healthy and lost my extraweight years ago.
I'm living in maintenance, butfor me maintenance is a mostly
low sugar lifestyle.
It's very important to me tokeep my blood sugar balanced so
that my insulin can stay in ahealthy range and do the job
it's designed to do.
I want to give my brain all thehelp I can.
I eat two to three times a day.
(16:46):
I rarely snack.
I don't follow a keto diet.
I'm not trying to be in ketosis.
My carbs don't typically goover 100 grams in a day.
Those 100 grams come fromnon-starchy vegetables and some
fruit.
The purpose of my low-carb dietis metabolic health to keep my
insulin low so that I get thebonus of making ketones when I'm
(17:07):
fasting overnight and inbetween meals.
I do occasionally track myblood sugar and blood ketones.
I have a Keto-Mojo blood sugarand blood ketone testing device.
I tested my ketones before Iate my first meal today.
My ketones were at a 1.1.
Nutritional ketosis is definedas having blood ketones in the
(17:27):
range of 0.5 to 3.0.
As I mentioned, I'm notfollowing a ketogenic diet.
I'm not chasing ketones.
I don't keep my carbs under 30grams.
I'm also no food saint.
I do have what I call sometimesfoods that are higher in carbs.
These are occasionalindulgences.
Living this way still allows mybody to naturally make ketones,
(17:51):
which in my case, I believe isvery important.
Considering my ApoE status, Idon't want my brain to ever feel
starved for fuel.
When it comes to Alzheimer's,it's not one or the other, an
anatomical issue or a metabolicissue.
It's both.
My ApoE4 could indicate that Imay have more potential for
(18:12):
anatomical change in my brain.
This is one of the primaryreasons I want to do what I can
to support my brain health, andthat is to manage what I have
control over my metabolic health.
I hope you found this episodeinformative and helpful.
Remember the biggest way youcan improve your metabolic
health is to eat a healthy dietthat keeps your blood sugar and
(18:32):
insulin in a healthy range,while also reducing inflammation
and improving your sleep sothat you feel less overall
stress.
Enjoy your week.
I'll be back in the nextepisode.
Do you like the idea of eatingfor the body you want?
Is there a piece of you that'seager to learn how to become
leaner, stronger and healthierwithout having to overhaul your
(18:55):
entire life?
If this is you, then you're inluck, because this is what I do.
I can help you reconnect andwork with your body so that you
can enjoy the body, comfort andconfidence you deserve, eating
foods you love.
Click the free consult link inthe show notes.
Let's talk about where you are,what you want and how you can
(19:15):
get there.
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