Alzheimer's disease shows some similarities to diabetes type 2
Neurons normally use sugar as fuel. Under circumstances where carbohydrate intake is minimum such as fasting or the ketogenic diet - the liver transforms fat into ketone bodies, which in turn are used by brain cells as a source of energy. Interestingly, the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease shows insulin resistance, which leads to cognitive impairment. This means that brain cells are not able to use glucose and starve to death! In fact, Alzheimer's disease might be a type of cerebral diabetes mellitus type 3 as it is estimated that 40% of dementia cases are related to neurons' inability to utilize glucose.
The promise of coconut oil
Coconut oil is rich in saturated fat mostly containing lauric acid - a medium chain fatty acid that is easily converted to ketone bodies by the liver. Scientists from Spain have demonstrated that a diet rich in coconut oil provides an alternative source of energy to brain cells, and by changing the brain metabolism, patients show cognitive improvement such as reduced dementia by 45% regardless of the stage of the disease.
To benefit from the medium chain fatty acids present in coconut oil, it is recommended to take 40 ml of coconut oil a day in the form of delicious green non-sugar smoothies, cream soups and many other recipes you can come up with on the Internet. You don't have to worry about having such amount of saturated fat daily; the medium chain fatty acids are easily metabolized in your body and have been safely used in the treatment of obesity, high cholesterol, etc.
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