Coconut Oil Seen as Viable Option to Prevent and Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

For more than a decade now, we have been publishing research and testimonials from people who have had success in reversing Alzheimer's Disease with coconut oil. The research and testimonials are published on CoconutOil.com, part of the Health Impact News network. During this same time period, we have seen the pharmaceutical industry fail over and over again to develop a drug that is effective in treating Alzheimer's Disease. Researchers in Australia are now studying coconut oil, and its unique composition of medium chain fatty acids, as a way to prevent and treat Alzheimer's Disease. Starting from the basis that Alzheimer's Disease is a form of diabetes, referred to in the past as a "Type 3" form of diabetes, or what the Australian researchers refer to as "brain glucose hypometabolism," the research focuses on providing an alternative form of energy to the brain in the form of "ketone bodies." The title of their study is: Potential of coconut oil and medium chain triglycerides in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, published in the March 2020 edition of the journal Mechanisms of Ageing and Development. It is an exhaustive look at the current literature on this topic, with hundreds of references. 

Low Cholesterol May Raise Your Alzheimer’s Risk

While cholesterol has been vilified as something that should be as low as possible to prevent heart disease, it's actually a crucial component for good health and too low a level can have serious repercussions for your health. Cholesterol is found not only in your bloodstream but also in every cell in your body, and is necessary for the production of cell membranes, virtually every steroid hormone, vitamin D and bile acids that help you digest fat. Cholesterol also plays an important role in the formation of memories and is vital for healthy neurological function. For example, low cholesterol levels have been shown to increase your risk of depression and suicide, in some cases rather dramatically. As noted by neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter, a quarter of all the cholesterol in your body is found in your brain, where it performs the function of an antioxidant. A number of studies have demonstrated that, contrary to popular belief, higher cholesterol levels are associated with better brain health. According to senior research scientist Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., insufficient fat and cholesterol in your brain play a crucial role in the Alzheimer's disease process, detailed in her 2009 paper "APOE-4: The Clue to Why Low Fat Diet and Statins May Cause Alzheimer’s."

Study: THC from Cannabis Helps Restore Memory Loss due to Aging and Dementia

A recent 2018 animal study has indicated that cannabis with THC helps restore memory loss due to aging and dementia. This is what many medical cannabis users and experts already know. The human cannabis experience has outpaced mainstream science considerably. But it does help create some medical cannabis scientific credibility with mainstream medicine. The well known and often vilified cannabis compound known as THC (Δ9 aka delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol) is the compound or cannabinoid that creates the euphoric “high.” Biased false claims that THC causes brain damage is the main reason why truly independent research is restricted from national funding in the USA unless it supports government marijuana danger claims. This new study, A chronic low dose of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) restores cognitive function in old mice, was conducted in Germany with national funding through the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). According to Newsweek magazine online and some other magazines and websites that covered this study, the study authors wrote: "Cannabis preparations and THC are used for medicinal purposes. They have an excellent safety record and do not produce adverse side-effects when administered at a low dose to older individuals. Thus, chronic, low-dose treatment with THC or cannabis extracts could be a potential strategy to slow down or even to reverse cognitive decline in the elderly."

More Research Published Supporting Coconut Oil’s Claim to Heal Alzheimer’s Disease

In May, 2018, I wrote about a new study published in Iran that looked at the "neuroprotective effects" effects of virgin coconut oil for Alzheimer's patients. The title of the study is Virgin coconut oil (VCO) by normalizing NLRP3 inflammasome showed potential neuroprotective effects in Amyloid-β induced toxicity and high-fat diet fed rat and was published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology. While we have been publishing reports of coconut oil reversing the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease and other neurological diseases for several years now, we believe this was the first peer-reviewed study to actually look at some of the mechanisms of how coconut oil benefits Alzheimer's patients. Now, a second peer-reviewed study has been published here in 2018 looking at the mechanisms of how coconut oil positively affects Alzheimer's patients. Published in the journal, Neurochemical Research, researchers in Japan examined the effects of lauric acid, the most predominant medium chain fatty acid found in coconut oil, on activated microglia in mice. Coconut oil is nature's richest source of lauric acid at about 50% of its composition, and human breast milk comes in a distant second at around 6% lauric acid. The title of the study is Lauric Acid Alleviates Neuroinflammatory Responses by Activated Microglia: Involvement of the GPR40-Dependent Pathway.

Study: Is Canola Oil Consumption Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease?

Because of its lower cost, canola oil is ubiquitous in processed foods intended for the growing "health conscious" market. Now a recently published study is confirming the suspicions of those of us who refuse to use canola oil. Philadelphia Pennsylvania's Temple University conducted an animal study to determine the validity of canola oil's health claims. Their results were published in December 2017 in the journal Scientific Reports. The study was titled “Effect of canola oil consumption on memory, synapse and neuropathology in the triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.” Could canola oil contribute to the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease?

Another Alzheimer’s Drug a Huge Flop

Two years ago we reported that Eli Lilly had a potential blockbuster drug for Alzheimer’s in the third and final phase of FDA trials. If it won approval, it was expected to bring in $7.6 billion in sales by 2024. The results are in, and it’s back to the drawing board for Eli Lilly. The drug showed no statistically significant benefits in halting cognitive decline. In the meantime—clearly intending to approve this new Alzheimer’s drug—the FDA launched an attack against key brain health supplements picamilon and vinpocetine. There was precedent for such a move—the FDA did the same thing to tryptophan before the first SSRI antidepressant drugs came out. It’s a key move in the crony playbook.

Study: Antipsychotic Drugs Are Killing Our Elderly

A new study has found that taking powerful antipsychotic drugs significantly increases the likelihood of premature death for Alzheimer’s patients. The study looked at 58,000 people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s between 2005 and 2011. Those who were prescribed antipsychotics (usually to control the unruly behavior some Alzheimer’s patients display) had a 60% higher risk of dying than those who didn’t take the drugs. The study confirms current recommendations that antipsychotics be used only for the most difficult cases for a short period of time. As we’ve reported previously, this advice has not been heeded. A 2015 report from the Government Accountability Office found that nearly one third of seniors with dementia who spend more than 100 days in a nursing home were given antipsychotic drugs—despite the fact that the FDA has never approved such drugs to be used for behavioral problems from dementia.

How Functional Medicine Can Cure Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

An episode of Dr. Mark Hyman's “Fat Summit” featured the work of Dr. Dale Bredesen, who specializes in researching and clinically applying his research on those afflicted with dementia, including Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are considered "incurable" by modern pharmaceutical dominated mainstream medicine. Fortunately, Dr. Bredesen is a practitioner of functional medicine, which approaches the underlying cause of any disease then focuses on treatments usually involving systems of holistic or alternative medicine instead of pharmaceutical drugs. His research has been ongoing for 27 years to determine what really causes dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). It was fun witnessing Dr. Hyman's energetic, fascinating interview of Dr. Bredesen. Some of what was revealed about Alzheimer's was quite surprising, and his research went beyond the lab to confirm his team's findings clinically. They were actually diagnosing root causes and curing the incurable with natural holistic means.

88 Year Old Woman Recovering from Alzheimer’s and Diabetes Using Coconut Oil

I brought my 88 year old mother out of 7 years of nursing home neglect/abuse on February 14, 2016. I've been studying the effects of coconut oil and Alzheimer's disease. She was taking 4 units Novolog insulin at meals and 10 units Lantas at night. After applying coconut oil all over her body, I noticed her sugars were continuing to lower without insulin shots. The first 2 days, I saturated her skin and added 1 teaspoon in protein shakes. Her sugars went from 300's to 140. My mother is diagnosed with stage 6 Alzheimer's. She is speaking better and I gave her a Bible story book to read me yesterday and she could read it through with exception of a few words. My mother could not do this one week ago or for the last two years. She is remembering people and things that have not been spoken of for years. I can now show her pictures and she can name people, even her children now. I'm thrilled!

FDA Attacks Brain Health Supplements

In October we told you about a potential new blockbuster drug for Alzheimer’s from drug giant Eli Lilly. Solanezumab is in the third and final phase of FDA drug trials, and if approved, could bring in at least $7.6 billion in sales by 2024 and probably much more. Other drug companies also have “big” Alzheimer’s drugs in the works. Now the FDA has sent warning letters to five supplement companies targeting the supplement picamilon, which may help with Alzheimer’s, anxiety, and general brain health. The FDA’s attack on picamilon appears to be an attempt to give Big Pharma an unobstructed playing field for their Alzheimer’s drug. Write to the FDA and tell them that picamilon is not a synthetic drug at all, and needs to stay on supplement store shelves!