| Reader, You won't hear this from most traditionally trained doctors...but Alzheimer's is largely an insulin problem.
And it begins with glucose.
You see, glucose is essential to the proper functioning of your brain cells. Even though your brain makes up only 2% of your entire body mass, it uses 50% of the glucose in your body.1
In other words, if glucose can't get into the cells, your brain becomes starved of the fuel it needs. This results in: - Inflammation and oxidative stress
- Neurons that can't repair themselves.
- Memory loss, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's2
Let me show you what I mean...
Your body doesn't just produce insulin in your pancreas – it also makes it in your brain. And both the insulin and insulin receptors in your brain are crucial for learning and memory.
But when you over-indulge grains and processed sugars, your brain gets overwhelmed by high levels of insulin. Eventually, insulin signaling shuts down, and glucose can't fuel your brain cells.
Research now proves that insulin resistance is intrinsically linked to the development of Alzheimer's – as well as the condition I call Syndrome Zero.3
I consider it to be the most urgent public health threat of our time.
Syndrome Zero is at the root of almost every chronic disease we face today — including obesity, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and Alzheimer's.
In a study published in the journal Neurology, researchers looked at brain scans from 150 middle-aged adults.
They found that people with higher levels of insulin resistance used less glucose in the hippocampus, the area of the brain most susceptible to Alzheimer's.
Your hippocampus is critical for learning new things and stockpiling long-term memories. It's also one of the areas of the brain that first shows massive shrinkage due to Alzheimer's.4 Syndrome Zero Leads To Brain Plaques Most doctors talk about "plaques" building up in the brains of dementia patients. That's true. Plaques are a classic hallmark of Alzheimer's. They damage the brain, causing memory loss and confusion.
But they are a hallmark of the condition — and not the cause.
What the medical establishment continues to miss is the link between plaques and insulin…
Brain plaques are a build-up of amyloid-beta. Amyloid beta is a peptide secreted by insulin, and it accumulates in the brains and pancreas of diabetes and Alzheimer's patients.
In Alzheimer's patients, abnormal clusters of these protein fragments form between nerve cells in the brain, gumming up cognitive and memory processes.5
Amyloid beta peptides also produce brain cell-damaging toxins called oligomers. Studies show these are a big factor in Alzheimer 's-related memory loss.6
When oligomers attach themselves to neurons, they knock out the nerve cells' insulin receptors, causing insulin resistance in the brain.
To keep your brain clear of plaques, you need a certain enzyme to break down these proteins. But your brain also uses the same enzyme to clear out insulin.
It's called an "insulin-degrading enzyme" or IDE.7
If you have Syndrome Zero, IDE is too busy clearing out insulin to break down amyloid-beta. These proteins build up into the glue-like plaques that are typical of Alzheimer's. 2 Simples Steps That Balance Blood Sugar And Protect Memories There is a lot you can do to save your brain. But mainstream medicine has no answer – except pushing their ineffective and harmful drugs.
At the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine, I've been using natural therapies with great success to help my patients stay sharp well into their golden years. - Supplement With Berberine. Berberine is a plant phytonutrient extracted from medicinal herbs such as barberry and goldenseal. It decreases insulin resistance, making insulin more effective. But it also increases glycolysis – helping the body break down sugar inside cells – while decreasing sugar production in the liver.8
Additional studies have found that berberine is beneficial for Alzheimer's patients. It works by limiting the development of amyloid plaques and tau proteins that form inside neurons.9 A meta-analysis of 19 animal studies found it improves cognitive function while lowering beta-amyloid in the brain.10
A dose of 1,000 mg to 1,500 mg is effective for most people, and that's what the studies show as well.
- Feed Your Brain And Your Body The Right Fat. Your brain is 60% fat and DHA fatty acid makes up 40% of that. DHA combats brain shrinkage and memory loss. Recent studies show that it reduces amyloid beta, lowers neuroinflammation, and protects existing neurons while increasing new ones.11
DHA also decreases insulin resistance and lowers chronic inflammation, a key risk factor for Syndrome Zero. In one study of overweight or obese adults without diabetes, 70% of participants showed improved insulin resistance after taking a daily DHA supplement for 12 weeks. And 50% of participants showed significant improvements.12
It's impossible to get enough DHA from food today. So you'll need to supplement. I recommend taking between 600 mg and 1,000 mg of DHA daily.
To Your Good Health, 
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References: - Fehm HL, Kern W, Peters A. "The selfish brain: competition for energy resources." Prog Brain Res. 2006;153:129-40.
- Angeles V, et al. "Inflammation and insulin resistance as risk factors and potential therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's." Front Neurosci. 2021:15.
- Watson GS, Craft S. "The role of insulin resistance in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease: implications for treatment." CNS Drugs. 2003;17(1):27-45.
- Auriel A, et al. "Association of insulin resistance with cerebral glucose uptake in late middle–aged adults at risk for Alzheimer disease." JAMA Neurology. 2015: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.0613
- Hayden MR, Tyagi SC. "A is for amylin and amyloid in type 2 diabetes mellitus." JOP. 2001 Jul;2(4):124-39.
- Bitel CL, et al. "Amyloid-β and tau pathology of Alzheimer's disease induced by diabetes in a rabbit animal model." J Alzheimer's Dis. 2012;32(2):291-305.
- Schilling MA. "Unraveling Alzheimer's: Making sense of the relationship between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease." J Alzheimer's Dis. 2016: 51(4):961-977.
- Pang B, et al, Application of berberine on treating type 2 diabetes mellitus. Int J Endocrinol. 2015;2015:905749.
- Cai Z, et al. "Role of berberine in Alzheimer's disease." Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2016 Oct 3;12:2509–2520.
- Liu J, et al. "Effect of berberine on cognitive function and β-amyloid precursor protein in Alzheimer's disease models: A systematic review and meta-analysis." Front Pharmacol. 2024 Jan 16;14:1301102.
- Xiao M, et al. "DHA ameliorates cognitive ability, reduces amyloid deposition, and nerve fiber production in Alzheimer's disease. " Front Nutr. 2022 Jun 15;9:852433.
- Abbott K, et al. "DHA-enriched fish oil reduces insulin resistance in overweight and obese adults."
Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2020 Aug:159:102154. |
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