Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's Disease – drink raw juice!
by Dr Sandra Cabot
From purple grapes to yellow-orange citrus to dark green broccoli and red or green apples, the antioxidant chemicals known as polyphenols in fruits and vegetables, reduce the risk of age-related dementia, in particular Alzheimer’s disease.
Investigators found that people who drink fruit and vegetable juices made from purple grapes, apple, citrus and other vegetables and fruits, more than three times a week, reduced the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 76%, compared to those who drank juices less than once weekly.
In Australia, each year over 1,000 people are diagnosed with dementia each week. The majority of these people are over 65 years of age and experience memory loss as one of the earliest symptoms, along with gradual decline in mental functioning and ability to think. In addition, changes in personality and behaviour are characteristics that family members find difficult and sad to deal with and accept in newly diagnosed dementia and Alzheimer’s disease patients.
It seems that eating the average type of diet is not sufficient protection to guard against the disruptive biological activity in the brain that leads to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
These disruptive processes are caused by free radical molecules that are found in anything burnt including cigarette smoke, smoked food, pollution, radiation, and that are produced by our own cells.
It is normal for our bodies to have to mop up free radicals but the human body can only achieve this if it is provided with the building blocks to do so. In the peels and skins of fruit and vegetables, polyphenols, which are antioxidants that mop up free radicals are found in abundance!
So if you are actively planning to survive to a ripe old age over 65 years and hope to enjoy it, this is what you have to do.
- Read Dr Sandra Cabot’s books Raw Juices Can Save Your Life and Alzheimer’s – What you must know to protect your brain.
- Get your juice extractor out and polish it ready for use! If you need to purchase a juicer, there are several options at www.tohealth.com.au
- Start to juice vegetables and fruit and drink wonderful tasting juice concoctions. It is best to start with more fruit than vegetable in the juice to make it palatable, and start with one glass and increase up to 500mL at least thrice weekly to gain the benefit of reduced risk of dementia.
Isn’t this wonderful news?
Reference: Dr Qi Dai, at Vanderbilt University, published in American Journal of Medicine, Sept 2006.