How Personal Habits Relate to Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer's Triggers

When a loved one has Alzheimer disease, it’s hard to watch their condition spiral downward. It’s normal to wish that they behaved like their old selves again.

Certain things can accelerate the progression of Alzheimer’s or act as Alzheimer's triggers, and some things can slow it down. These factors are related to an individual’s personal habits. If the person is in a home for those with Alzheimer disease, you won’t have control over the habits that the staff has established in them. If your loved one is still at home though, you do have total control.

Personal habits acting as Alzheimer's triggers that could affect your loved one fall into the following areas:

• diet
• sleep routine
• daily activities, including exercise
• the beverages you drink

Let’s get a little more specific:

1. Eating oxidized fats.
   Any processed foods that have had oils heated at high temperatures contain oxidized fats. Oxidized fats will destroy your body’s antioxidants by releasing very high levels of free radicals into your system. Some examples of these foods are potato chips, corn chips and desserts or snacks that contain these oils.How many oxidized fats is your loved one eating? Saturated fats like butter and coconut are safe because they do not oxidize. It’s only fats like as corn oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, canola oil, vegetable oil and seed oils will oxidize. They oxidize as a result of the chemical structure of the fat.Once oxidized fats are in the body and they will accelerate any type of degenerative disease, including Alzheimer disease.

2. Eating too much sugar.
   Sugar is just as harmful as oxidized fats to the body. The chemical structure of sugar is one that contains lots of oxygen molecules and the potential to form reactive bonds. This can result in free radicals created from sugar or any food with sugar in it. Free radicals are tied to inflammation and the progressive degeneration of any ongoing diseases.
3. Eating high Glycemic index foods.
   Just as bad as oxidized fats and high sugar foods are those foods that have a high Glycemic Index. Carbohydrate foods are rated from 0 to 100 on the Glycemic Index, and those with high Glycemic index ratings sit between a score of 70 and 100. Some examples of these high Glycemic index foods are pastries, cakes, confections, grain products, potatoes, and corn. Leaving these foods out of your diet can be challenging, but the effort will pay off in the long run and you’ll feel healthier.When eliminating these foods from the diet of someone with Alzheimer disease, you may opt to substitute these harmful foods for healthier options. This way your loved one will get used to healthy foods and may not notice that the harmful foods are gone.

Start eliminating Alzheimer's triggers and changing the habits and health of your loved one with Alzheimer disease today.