This was sent to me today

I am going to give it ago

Hugs jenny


An Unlikely Food for a Starving Brain
April 29, 2009
By Melanie Segala
Managing Editor, Total Health Breakthroughs

Several weeks ago I told you about an “aha moment” I had when reading a November 2008 THB article by Jim LaValle on the best way to prevent breast cancer. I had another one of those moments recently as I was editing the May issue of Jim's subscription newsletter, The Healing Prescription.
I learned several interesting facts in this issue devoted to saving your brain from a cognitive crisis. One of the most significant is that people with Alzheimer's disease have a certain degree of insulin resistance in their brain cells which prevents them from taking in adequate amounts of glucose, the brain's primary source of fuel.
Without glucose, a couple of things start happening. First, the brain cells (neurons) cannot produce acetylcholine, the chemical that is needed for memory and cellular communication. Secondly, the neurons begin to die off from a lack of proper nutrition.
You might think when this happens there is little more a person with Alzheimer's can do than eat a low carb diet to reduce insulin resistance and take a drug like Aricept to help slow the progression of symptoms. While both of these are viable options, medical doctor Mary Newport has discovered that a common tropical food, coconut oil, can provide energy-starved brain cells with an alternative fuel called ketones, which are a product of fat breakdown.
Non-hydrogenated coconut oil is comprised of 60% medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). Upon digestion, the liver breaks down the MCTs into ketones which can then be used by the brain.1
As Jim explains in his article:
In periods of starvation, the brain will turn to ketones as an energy source. This new treatment [MCTs], which is considered a medical food, simply follows the logic that insulin resistance, which prevents a person with Alzheimer's from getting enough brain food, can be bypassed by giving brain cells ketones as fuel instead.
Dr. Newport had a very personal reason for researching Alzheimer's treatments. Her husband Steve, a healthy active man who could fix anything and kept the books for her medical practice had been diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's in 2004. He began taking Aricept and was then switched over to Exelon in 2007. Unfortunately, he continued to decline, no longer remembering how to do simple addition, use a calculator, or even to eat.2
She began researching new medications and clinical trials in which to enroll Steve. That's when she came across a drug called Ketasyn that showed significant improvement over a 90-day period in half of the Alzheimer's patients studied with a certain genetic profile.2 The main ingredient in Ketasyn is MCTs.
By now, Steve's cognition was leaning more toward severe than moderate AD.
Knowing that coconut oil could provide the same MCTs as Ketasyn, Dr. Newport went to a health food store and bought a quart of 100% virgin coconut oil. The following morning at 9 am, she made oatmeal for Steve and herself, stirring in over 2 tablespoons of the coconut oil in each serving. At 1 pm, she took Steve to a second screening for a clinical trial that would be testing a new Alzheimer's vaccine. The previous day, he had scored too low (14) on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) to be considered as a test subject.
But now, only 4 hours after taking the coconut oil, Steve scored an 18 on the same test and qualified for the study. (Ed. note: After evaluating the possible side effects of the vaccine, Dr. Newport decided not to enroll her husband.)
According to Dr. Newport,1 "It was like the oil kicked in and he could think clearly again. We were ecstatic." On the fifth day of taking the coconut oil, she saw significant improvement in his personality and cognition. And now months later, Steve can read again, the tremors he had have disappeared, and he's more interested in life and the people around him.
Dr. Newport acknowledges that the damage done to Steve's brain from AD cannot be repaired, but the coconut oil is helping. And it may help other neurodegenerative diseases as well. In 2005, Dr. Theodore VanItallie studied a ketogenic diet on five patients with Parkinson's disease. In all five patients, tremors, stiffness, and walking ability improved by as much as 43%.1
Another leading researcher, Dr. Richard Veech, from the National Institutes of Health, also believes that ketones may be a key factor in treating neurodegenerative diseases. However, he cautions people to consult a physician before consuming coconut oil at home because too much of any one fat can be harmful.1
Dr. Newport stresses that since coconut oil contains no omega-3 fatty acids it is important to make sure your diet contains an adequate amount from salmon, fish oil capsules, walnuts, flax meal, or flax oil.2 She believes that the large increase in degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and diabetes is linked to the modern diet of mass-produced vegetable oils high in trans fat and devoid of healthy natural fats.
While coconut oil is not a cure for Alzheimer's disease, there is enough evidence of its success to warrant further research of MCTs in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Newport hopes that sharing her husband's story will help make that happen. You can do your part by passing this story on.
References
1. http://www.tampabay.com/news/aging/article879333.ece.
2. http://coconutoil.com/AlzheimersDiseaseDrMaryNewport.pdf.

Jenny,

Many of us believe coconut oil is fabulous. To others, is use is controversial. We have in our house. My wife uses it like butter on toast. It is great to cook pop corn in. Use it instead of other fats, not in addition to other fats. In our house, we only have coconut oil, virgin olive oil, and canola oil. We use real butter too, but very little animal fats.

Some have suggested a modified ketogenic diet for AD. The jury is still out on that.

So, you go girl. Give it a try and enjoy life.

Jenny, I too think it is worth the effort. Does anyone know what a good starting dose would be. My mom has no cholesterol, trigliceride issues. A couple of tablespoons a day or several times a day?

I would not consider it dosing. I would just substitute it for the other fats in your diet. I would suggest that the daily amount of fats considered normal to a healthy diet would be about right.
One reference I saw said 20 grams daily. Others say 10% to a max of 30% of daily calories as fat. That would be 180 to 540 calories of fat. Most fats have about 180 calories per 20 grams. The coconut oil container should list the calories per volume. Do the math to figure the daily intake. Remember, discontinue the other fats in your diet, or you will feel worse from the weight gain.

Guys, we have a section called "Medications/Treatments" on the forum. There, you'll find many, many words have been spent on this subject, coconut products. Some widely differing views, to say the least, which is good - I want to hear from people who care about it.

Thanks Mark, that makes sense. Something I lack at this time of night. 11:54 my time

Jenny, the controversy, in a nutshell: The company Accera developed a new medical food, available by prescription, called "Axona". They did clinical trials which showed that Axona can be very beneficial to AD patients. (They changed the name Ketasyn to Axona prior to launching their product.)

Axona contains caprylic acid, an MCT which is strongly ketogenic (produces lots of ketone bodies.)

While waiting for Axona to become available, many people tried coconut oil and/or MCT oil. Coconut oil contains ~5-10% caprylic acid, another 5% or so of capric acid (another MCT which is somewhat ketogenic) and the rest is saturated fats -- fats which the FDA and the American Heart Association consider to be significant cardiovascular risks. Recent studies have also found that long-term consumption of high levels of these saturated fats can cause a significant decline in cognitive function.

MCT oil is 2/3 caprylic acid and 1/3 capric acid. Ergo, it has far more of the "good stuff" and none of the "bad stuff" found in coconut oil.

Many of us have found that the use of MCTs is, indeed, beneficial for our ADLOs.

The best thing to do, if you are interested in trying this approach, is to discuss it with your doctor. PLEASE NOTE that the article you were sent says that Dr Veech from the National Institutes of Health cautions people to talk to their doctors before trying Dr Newport's approach. (Also please note that Newport has a medical practice, treating premature infants. She is not a research scientist and has no experience developing new medical treatments.)

Information on Axona is available at:

http://www.about-axona.com

FYI, Newport started with coconut oil, but after she discovered that it does not contain nearly as much of the beneficial MCTs as MCT oil, switched to a combination of MCT oil and coconut oil. She gives her husband 4 teaspoons of MCT oil and 3 teaspoons of coconut oil each, three times a day. This is a massive amount of fat, ~800 calories per day. (Remember that the total recommended daily calorie intake is ~2000 per day for men, ~1800 per day for women.)

If you choose to try one of the over-the-counter approaches, I would strongly urge that you (a) discuss this with your doctor and if s/he approves, (b) try MCT oil. This is readily available in health food stores or over the internet.

START SLOWLY, using just a little at first. Otherwise, you'll get stomach cramps and diarrhea.

Axona comes in a special formulation designed to minimize gastrointestinal upsets. Start with 1/2 packet for the first week or two, and take it right after a full meal, preferably earlier in the day. (I've seen several reports now of ADLOs having vivid/disturbing dreams if given coconut oil just before bedtime.)

MCT oil: the full dose would be 1.5 Tablespoons but start off with something like a teaspoon.

MCT oil comes in an emulsified form, which is the closest thing to Axona. This is called "MCT Fuel" made by Twinlabs. Because it's emulsified, the full dose would be 5 Tablespoons.

(Mark: have you read the recent thread on the Medication forum, started by a caregiver who has tried the ketogenic diet for his ADLO? Says it's been much more effective than the "MCT/coconut oil mix ... outlined by Dr Newport.")

Oh -- and please remember that mono- and polyunsaturated fats are heart- and brain-healthy. Without the proper balance of unsaturated/saturated fats, the saturated fats become even less good for you. So it is not a good idea to substitute saturated fats for unsaturated. (And steer entirely clear of trans fats!)

And again, go to "Medications/Treatments" elsewhere in this forum, for more discussion on this than you can possibly read in one sitting.

Although, JAB has given you all the basics.

How are you doing, Jenny? Is your friend still visiting? I hope you're having a good time with her.

Do you have a daily regimen that you follow to help yourself?

Iris L.

Alan,
Thought I did go to the meds site. Sorry. Were we a little grouchy yesterday? Thanks for the info JAB

Who, moi, grouchy? I admit to fairly desperately wanting those often cantankerous discussions limited to the appropriate forum. There are quite a few people who only come to this board, just to argue on the medication forum.

And I think there's also a legitimate argument for keeping subjects in their best place, where the people most interested in the subject will find them.

I had read the other thread with Dr Newport's input. I did not mention it because it was such a heated thread.

I do not believe that persons with AD need to worry about heart disease. I would rather die from heart disease that the slow and often long decline of AD. I have also read reports that low fat consumption in an effort to keep cholesterol low has a negative effect on AD. My Dad's 114 total cholesterol level did nothing for his longevity.

I can see how there may be a crossover if the low fat consumption also causes very low MCT consumption.

I have read extensively about Axona. Regardless of how beneficial Axona is, the Axona company promotes it like snake oil. I would like to see them reduce the hyperbole and get more direct and factual. Their efforts to pump it up to justify its price is obvious. My pharmacist expects it will be over $130 for 30 packets.

This is outrageous based on the simplicity of the manufacture process. I hope that do not have a patent on it since it appears it is just a refining process, not a synthesizing process.

Yes Sir,and I agree. I'll be more careful in the future.
I spent 8 hrs at an Alz. Caregivers class today. Learned quit a bit actually. I hope someone goes that will be taking care of me. I did learn things to help my mother and glad I went.