I used to play skipping with my 90-year-old great-grandmother!

Remembering simpler times!

When I was a child, I didn’t ever remember any of my elderly relatives being confused or forgetful. And yet I have so many friends who have, or have had, a parent with dementia or a partner. Is it more common these days? 

My great-grandmother was born in the 1880s. I never recall my parents saying anything about her cognitive function.  Neither of my grandmothers died of dementia; both were born in the 1920s. My great aunt lived until she was 90. 

So, yes, I believe it’s more common, and the stats confirm this.

But, why?

There are many reasons for this, but in one word, “lifestyle”.

Food was cooked from scratch. One of my favourite things as a child was visiting my great-grandmother. She cooked from scratch, and we always had a delicious home-made pudding.  It was common for people to grow their own fruit and vegetables, which weren’t sprayed with “toxins”. Most of the produce was local.  

People were active. They walked or cycled a lot more, and more people had manual jobs. They enjoyed the outdoors more. No one sat for hours in front of computers. There were no mobile phones or other devices that required the internet. There was little exposure to EMFs (electromagnetic fields). There wasn’t the stress induced by social media and being in constant contact. 

There was more social support. Working down the mines was tough work, but despite that, men enjoyed it because they were part of a community. This provided support and comradeship, as they looked out for each other and worked as a team. This extended to the social club in the evenings. 

Life was less stressful. The activities that women engaged in were mindful – knitting, sewing, cooking and gardening. They didn’t need to meditate to calm the mind down. Yes, they went through hardship. My great-grandmother lived through two wars, with loved ones going off to war. But the women had each other, and they were used to not hearing from people for months, unlike today, when if we don’t hear from someone within a few hours or even less, worry sets in. The women also started contributing to the war effort, which would have given them a sense of purpose.     

There was very little plastic and everything was naturally produced - from soap and washing powder to deodorant and perfumes. The air was cleaner. There weren’t the cars on the road and we couldn’t smell the fertiliser being sprayed on the crops a mile down the hill. So much fertiliser is used on golf courses that there is now something called “golf club syndrome”. Men retire, fit and healthy, and join the local golf club. The constant exposure to the chemicals sprayed on the green can result in toxicity and cognitive decline in those susceptible.    

The bottom line:

Our bodies are now chronically inflamed from the constant exposure to toxins.  Each toxin triggers an immune response to eliminate it. That’s fine if it’s just the odd toxin. But if it is constantly bombarded, the immune system can’t cope. Toxins build up in the body and the immune system is constantly active.

The biggest culprit:

High sugar and processed foods. Sugar is sticky and when blood levels are always high, it combines to protein producing a foreign molecule, which the immune system responds to. Processed foods contain foreign molecules the body can’t digest, again, stimulating the immune system.  

Why is chronic inflammation so bad for us?

Imagine having acid circulating around your heating system. It would slowly corrode the pipe work. The process of chronic inflammation includes the release of enzymes which can damage the inside of blood vessels. They also cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), damaging the brain. Foreign matter, such as bacteria, viruses, mould and heavy metals also cross the BBB. It all stimulates an inflammatory response within the brain. This attack causes the brain to produce a protein called amyloid in an attempt to protect itself.

Unfortunately, what this does instead is that it slowly shuts down the brain circuitry, reducing the ability for the brain to function. It’s a bit like covering exposed electrical wires with a plastic membrane to protect them from the damp, but actually, it stops the electrical wires from conducting electricity.  

What can we do about this?

The biggest culprit is a high-sugar, processed-food diet. 

The first thing I recommend is to significantly reduce the sugars and the processed foods in your diet. Cleaning up your diet is the most important thing you can do, and within the Bredesen protocol, this is the top priority.  

Dr Andrea Haas is passionate about helping people keep their minds sharp and their confidence high, at every stage of their life. With over 30 years as a medical doctor and training in the Bredesen Protocol for prevention and improvement of dementia, she combines medical insight with holistic therapies to create a bespoke journey to lasting cognitive health and improving confidence.

Book a free 20-minute call to find out how she may be able to help you.