This posting is in response to an excellent presentation by Dr. Mary Newport at a recent ICIM Conference I attended. Although this posting does not deal directly with being No-Grain, I am posting it for 2 reasons: 1) Alzheimer Disease is a terrible disorder and any chance of treatment is very important. 2) people on a No-Grain or Paleo way of eating usually eat a great deal of Coconut Oil.
“But Dr Z, isn’t coconut oil filled with bad saturated fats?” This is a question I get a quite often so I decided to start by getting it out of the way. I do not believe that saturated fats are harmful to human health, and there is reason to believe that coconut oil in particular has many health properties.
I will attempt to summarize Dr Newport’s presentation. First an intro on Alzheimer Disease (AD) – it is a progressive decline in mental functioning due to brain damage caused by an excessive buildup of amyloid plaques inside brain cells. For reasons just recently uncovered (and not yet fully accepted by main stream medicine), patients with AD have brain cells that stop making and responding to insulin. Recently a new term was coined for this called “Type 3 diabetes” (a Time article helps explain this a little).
Glucose is the brain’s main and preferred source of energy. In a pinch, brain cells can convert to using ketones as a backup energy source – but the switching process takes a bit of time. The diagram I included (which I borrow from Dr Newport’s PowerPoint presentation) shows energy metabolism in the brain. Glucose enters using an insulin-dependent transporter called GLUT3. Ketones (BHB and AcAc in the diagram) enter through channels that do not require insulin and go right into the Kreb’s Cycle to make energy for the brain cell.
So what does this go to do with Coconut Oil? About 60% of coconut oil is made up of Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs). The liver converts MCTs into ketones which then the brain can use as a constant supply of energy instead of glucose.
What really fascinated me was the case presentation of her husband – a man in his 50′s who had developed advanced AD and was barely functional. After treatment with MCTs (mostly from coconut oil), there was a dramatic improvement. No medication currently on the market can actually improve AD.
For more detail and to get a copy of Dr Newport’s book, “Alzheimer’s Disease: What If There Was a Cure?” and much more information, please visit her website:
http://www.coconutketones.com/
Dr Newport is also collecting case reports from family and friends.
When a treatment is so low-cost and potentially high-benefit, how can you lose by trying it? Great info!!
Exactly! That’s I got so excited about it.
Hey there, I found this site after seeing a naturopath today. He recommended that I go grain free. I had been eating gluten free/low gluten and switched to using rice flours, quinoa, millet, oat flours etc. However, I still have been having problems with my digestion. I am very anxious to try going grain free altogether. As to the subject of your post, I have read Mary Newports’ articles and saw a video she did on Dr. Mercolas’ site. I have been looking for another doctors opinion on her theories of ketone bodies being alternate fuel sources for the body and the coconut oil treatment for memory problems. After seeing her presentations, do you think you would recommend coconut oil treatment to any of your patients?
Hi Mahndisa,
Thank you for the comments. I am glad to read you are gluten-free (or almost anyway). Of all the grains, wheat is by far the worst offender. However, as I talk about in this blog, grains in general are not all that great. I think the occasional serving of rice or corn or oats is ok, but I would stay away from daily use.
As for your digestive problems, there could be many things going on and many possible solutions. I hope the naturopath you have been seeing is able to help you with this further. One thing to keep in mind is that your digestive problems did not come about overnight and will probably not be solved overnight either. Be patient, but do what you need to do to get better.
As for ketones, I find the theory very interesting. It fits very well with Alzheimer’s being “type 3 diabetes” of the brain. I have already started recommending it to some patients (who have not yet taken up the suggestion) and are excited to have patients actually try this and report back. I would actually like to see MCTs put into some kind of food/protein bar to make it easier to eat and get the dose right.
BTW, I checked our your blog – thanks for sharing the link. Looks like you’ve put in a lot of work.
Take care,
Doctor Z