The brain is a powerful thing to lose. It’s the motherboard of your body, controlling all your functions and how your systems work together to keep you active throughout your day. Yet, as we age, we run the risk of losing the functionality of our brain, just like an aging motor without the proper maintenance will eventually stop your car from running.

Our brains require energy to survive. Without energy, our brain cells can die within minutes from starvation. Our brains have the capability of producing insulin, which metabolizes glucose, to generate the energy the brain needs to operate. When this energy isn’t present, brain cells will starve. This starvation mode typically occurs as we age, as the brain becomes more insulin resistant in our later years. If the brain is no longer able to produce insulin, it’s unable to turn glucose into energy. For those who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia, the brain is no longer receiving the energy or fuel that it needs to survive.  While diabetes is a condition where there is too much glucose in the body, Alzheimer’s a condition in the brain, where the exact opposite is occurring where the brain cells are not receiving enough glucose for fuel to function.

A few years ago, I met Dr. Mary Newport when we both spoke a conference. Dr. Mary Newport’s husband was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 58. Within five years of this diagnosis, she began to see a drastic decline in her husband’s cognitive abilities. For example, his hand drawing of a clock was barely recognizable as such. In conducting her own research to try to help her husband, Dr. Newport stumbled upon the fact that the medication best known for treating Alzheimer’s used MCT, or a medium chain triglyceride, as its main ingredient. With this information, Dr. Newport decided to test virgin coconut oil on her husband as it is loaded with MCT. After feeding him virgin coconut oil for a period just over a month, she noticed a great improvement in her husband’s cognitive skills. In fact, his drawing of a clock was much improved. After a period of 18 months of virgin coconut oil feedings, his abilities had improved so much that he tested at the earliest stage of the disease, as compared with the severe case that he was classified as only months earlier.

In 2004, another study was performed where coconut oil and a placebo were given to a group of elderly patients. In the group, some participants had Alzheimer’s, while others did not. Of all the Alzheimer’s participants, many showed an improvement on the Alzheimer’s cognitive rating scale after taking the coconut oil. All participants showed immediate improvement on a memory recall test after taking the coconut oil.

How does coconut oil help the brain? The brain is comprised of 60% fat. Therefore, it needs fat to survive. Although there are other good, healthy fats that exist, none are loaded with the amount of MCT as coconut oil. Unlike other fats, medium chain triglycerides go straight to the liver where they are converted into ketones. The ketones are then transported to the bloodstream where they are used as fuel for the brain. With ketones, the body does not need to metabolize glucose for energy. This makes it the perfect brain fuel, especially where there is a halted or retarded the production of insulin.

In order to gain the full benefits of ketones as brain fuel, coconut oil or MCTs can be taken in doses of two tablespoons of coconut oil per meal every day. As with food, the energy produced with this brain fuel lasts up to eight hours; therefore, the energy must be replenished throughout the day. It is important to note that in the beginning, you will want to start with lower doses as every person will process the coconut oil differently. If your body is not ready to consume high doses of it, you may experience diarrhea or stomach cramping.

Because ketones allow your body to process fat as energy instead of carbohydrates, it’s important to restrict the amount of grains in your diet. Incorporating a high fat, high protein, and low carb diet will allow your body to continue burning fat as fuel as opposed to glucose. When your body metabolizes glucose for energy, the excess glucose in your body is not converted into energy. Instead, your body stores it as fat. With a ketogenic diet, the fat is being used as fuel; therefore, no excess fat is being stored in your body.

By feeding your body MCTs, your brain will have the energy it needs to continue functioning, slowing any cellular degeneration that can lead to memory loss, personality changes, and restricted movement. For this reason, coconut oil is the perfect brain food to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s and to arrest and reverse the degeneration of the brain.

With this information, we can take steps to protect our brains against future neurological degeneration. By starting to fuel your body with an alternative brain fuel now, you can prevent the onset of brain cell atrophy, which results in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Your brain is very powerful. Not only does your brain control all of your body functions, but also the thoughts coming out of your brain, along with the accompanying feelings, which are all a part of what makes you who you are. By maintaining your cognitive health, you also help to maintain your overall health and longevity.

Ready to make your health a priority? Contact me here to schedule your consultation.

Sources:

https://bebrainfit.com/coconut-oil-dementia/

http://www.alzheimers.net/2013-05-29/coconut-oil-for-alzheimers/

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/virgin-coconut-oil-halts-severe-dementia-in-35-days/

http://myseniorsource.com/topics/memory-care/how-coconut-oil-may-help-with-memory-loss

http://www.naturalhealingnews.com/using-ozone-for-healing/#.WS2aD2jytPY

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/13/can-this-natural-food-cure-or-prevent-alzheimers.aspx

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20329590

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0 thoughts on “Natural Fuel for the Brain

  1. leigh schneider 6 years ago

    For those people whose relative are suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and maybe reading this, I find it hard that people are still ignorant of herbal medicine when it comes to treating Alzheimer’s Disease.
    I have been through many phases over the last couple of years since my father’s diagnosis, he was 53 years old and had Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease and his diagnosis changed my life in many ways, I spend most of the time in denial and I keep thinking the tests were wrong. But deep down I knew they were correct. Though sharing his story is very difficult. He was always very successful in being able to accomplish anything he set his mind on doing. Alzheimer’s is a bitch of a disease. It began by robbing his recent memory, but it didn’t stop there. It continues to steal, taking the most recent memories until it has pilfered all but the oldest memories, he experienced a decline in his ability to think, remember and make decisions. I feel a need to express my thoughts and feelings about how it affected his day to day living and how its deteriorated since despite the help of some wonderful medics and medicine.
    I remind myself how lucky to come across Charanjit rychtova’s herbal medicine which is able to control this disease without any side effect, I felt a moment of relief hoping that he is free from this ailment, and nothing compares to the healing power of nature. Now I believe almost every health problem can be addressed in one natural way or another. The only thing I wanted was for him to feel better. I’m proud to say my Dad is Alzheimer’s free. You can also contact him for advice and more info. charantova@gmail.com