McCleary: Ketone Bodies Produced By A Low-Carb Diet Are High-Octane Brain Food

Jimmy Moore's Livin' La Vida Low-Carb™ Blog: McCleary: Ketone Bodies Produced By A Low-Carb Diet Are High-Octane Brain Food 

 McCleary: Ketone Bodies Produced By A Low-Carb Diet Are High-Octane Brain Food Listen to this article. Powered by Odiogo.com Dr. Larry McCleary says sharpen your brain by livin' la vida low-carb It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that the low-carb lifestyle is one of the healthiest nutritional plans out there to battle obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and so many other health ailments that plague modern society. But what about that actual gray matter between our ears? Can a low-carb diet do anything to improve brain function, memory, and even diseases like Alzheimer's? One of America's top neurosurgeons says YES! His name is Dr. Larry McCleary and his brand new book about this subject entitled The Brain Trust Program: A Scientifically Based Three-Part Plan to Improve Memory, Elevate Mood, Enhance Attention, Alleviate Migraine and Menopausal Symptoms, and Boost Mental Energy released today. I'm happy to share an exclusive interview I conducted with Dr. McCleary with you today so we can all learn from one of the brightest minds in the field of cognitive health. [...] Brain health entails more than most people even realize as you so brilliantly share in your brand new book entitled The Brain Trust Program. It is an outstanding resource that I was privileged to review and in it you share a three-part method for actually improving brain function through the use of diet, supplementation, and brain exercises. How does your novel new approach differ from the most common ways to correct brain abnormalities and conditions? Jimmy, I think we have all heard that the brain burns glucose, or sugar. So if that's the case, then giving it lots of sugar must make it work better. Although that might seem logical, the science doesn't back it up. Just the opposite, there is a groundswell of medical evidence that documents how too much sugar can make the brain shrink, wither, atrophy and just plain work badly. If you want to age your brain just eat the typical diet most Americans consume. That will lead to memory, attention and mood difficulties and will hasten the path to Alzheimer's. The Brain Trust Program builds upon this concept and provides the science behind the recommendations. 3. Many eyebrows will certainly be raised when people find out what a “brain-healthy diet” actually looks like. Foods like fish, berries, green leafy vegetables, eggs, avocados, nuts, seeds, and coffee—conspicuously all low-sugar and low-carb, by the way—are highly recommended by you for maximized brain function. It falls right in line with the latest research for neurological diseases. Essentially, you are stating that the health of the brain is directly tied to blood sugar levels in the body—something that medical literature confirms. I’m sure some of your colleagues will no doubt scoff at your contention that a simple nutritional approach is what is needed to preserve this most vital of our organs. What led you to go down this path for treating your patients? Have you seen similar or better improvements in brain health compared with prescription drugs and other treatment options? As you well know, prescription drugs usually act on a single metabolic, or cellular, pathway. By increasing or decreasing a specific functions, drugs might be able to treat something like an under-active thyroid. However, all of the diseases associated with aging such as heart disease, arthritis, thinning of bones, memory loss and stroke are hardly changed by drug therapy. The key question is why. As we have seen, drugs act on a single highly specialized pathway. The diseases that cause most concern today involve disruption to multiple cellular pathways. That is why the pharmaceutical industry has failed us. We need a solution that improves MANY cellular functions. This is the very act of eating well. It is also closely tied to our DNA and evolutionary history. Simply stated, that is why nutrition is so important and so beneficial. [...] Diabetes has become the health crisis of our time with millions of new cases popping up every year while its twin epidemic obesity continues to get worse and worse. We all know about Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, but what about this new version some researchers are calling “Type 3 diabetes” which is the new way of referring to Alzheimer’s Disease because of the impact sugar has on this condition? I've highlighted several published studies here at my blog showing various versions of a low-carb diet can effectively reverse the symptoms of this condition, including one study by Dr. Thomas Seyfried from Boston College in February 2007 using a high-fat, low-carb diet to actually shrink brain cancer tumors. What has been your experience with treating brain diseases like these through innovative dietary improvements compared with the recommended Standard American Diet? Type 3 diabetes as you have referred to, was a phrase coined by researchers at Brown University. It suggests that the brain is unable to effectively use glucose as a fuel, much the same as the body of a diabetic can no longer use glucose as a fuel. The ability to deliver a low, stable and continuous supply of glucose to the brain is what makes it most happy. The dramatic spikes, surges, or continuous excessive supply delivered by today's diet is toxic for the brain. It is now well-known that insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, or the worst form of sugar problem--diabetes, ages the brain and doubles the risk for all types of memory problems and even Alzheimers disease. As you have suggested, the types of fats and carbohydrates in our diets are key in accomplishing this goal. We need to include more of the brain-friendly omega 3 fats and veggies and fruits (especially berries), and less of the refined carbohydrates such as cakes, cookies, and breads and trans fats in items like margarine. 8. Many of my readers who deal with less severe brain conditions like migraine headaches, menopause, hot flashes, dimming of the senses, brain fog, and memory loss will be pleased to learn that you actually recommend a specific “cocktail” for each of these in your book. Fascinating! Each of these contains all-natural and healthy ingredients that will supercharge your brain and make it better and stronger than ever. Give us an example of your most prescribed “cocktail” for a common brain ailment. How quickly can people expect to find relief for their condition using these treatment options and will they need to keep up these regimens for the rest of their lives? Many common conditions of the brain are directly related to its inability to produce the energy it needs to get through the day. Our brains are being asked to do more today than ever before. They consume energy 10x faster than the rest of the body. Our dietary and lifestyle choices impair the brain's ability to meet these energy needs which depend upon glucose. The suggestions I make in The Brain Trust Program depend on an alternative energy source the body developed millions of years ago for times when the brain couldn't depend upon glucose. This alternative fuel is ketone bodies which are merely partially burned fats. They are burned differently than sugars and the brain loves them. They have been shown to help a multitude of brain afflictions from memory loss to migraine headaches to hot flashes. They are generated in the body from a nutritional supplement called pure MCT (medium chain triglyceride) oil that is available from high end vitamin stores or on the internet. When consumed the results and response can be surprising and may be measured in days! Another easy way to produce ketone bodies is simply by restricting carbohydrate intake. 9. You are a big believer in the body’s use of the ketone bodies that form in a carb-restricted state for optimal brain health. What has your research on ketones shown you to make you so confident that they are an excellent replacement for glucose as fuel for the brain? What is your professional response to those who oppose a low-carb nutritional approach as an unhealthy, dangerous, fad diet that is potentially harmful and deadly over the long-term? Fad diets come and go. The diet we cut our evolutionary teeth on is essentially a low-carb diet that generates high levels of ketone bodies. You need look no further than the brains of children with intractable seizures to see how miraculous ketones are for brain health and function. They work where all drugs fail by increasing the energy available for the nerve cells and keeping them from becoming over-excited which is after all what causes seizures to develop in the first place.