After the age of 60, the human body undergoes changes in physiology, mental, and spiritual well-being. Bodily functions gradually slow down, memory becomes short and forgetful, balance deteriorates, and sleep duration shortens. Many illnesses begin to appear, one of which is dementia.
As people age, the incidence of degenerative diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and stroke increases. Recently, there has been growing concern about dementia among the elderly.
Increase in Dementia with Aging Population
The World Health Organization classifies dementia as a chronic or progressive syndrome characterized by a decline in cognitive function beyond what is expected from normal aging. This decline affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning ability, language, and judgment. Dementia severely impacts daily life, leading to an inability to self-care. As such, dementia patients rely heavily on others for care, placing significant stress on their families.
Real Case
In April of this year, Xiulan's husband brought her to see me. She exhibited very slow reactions and a blank stare, finding it difficult to answer even simple questions. Upon reviewing Xiulan's dietary habits, I discovered that she had been consuming biscuits, candies, and other snacks for years. Her daily breakfast consisted of iced coffee and instant noodles with fish balls, items with little nutritional value and containing trans fats, corn syrup, refined salt, refined sugar, and chemical additives. These foods fail to necessary nutrients and can lead to coenzyme deficiencies and generate free radicals that attack red blood cell membranes, causing blood viscosity.
Additionally, her blood homocysteine levels were elevated. Homocysteine is a substance that, when flowing through the blood-brain barrier, can form amyloid-beta, a sticky and insoluble fibrous protein that is a major cause of brain degeneration. Amyloid-beta accumulation in the brain forms plaques, interfering with neural communication, leading to neuronal tangles or disconnections, impairing nerve function, causing neuron death, and brain shrinkage. This results in declined learning ability, memory, thinking, judgment, and expression, manifesting as brain degeneration, and in severe cases, disrupts daily activities and social life.
Benefits of Plant-Based Fatty Acids
Treating brain degeneration should start with diet. During Xiulan's six-month treatment, she was required to take 2.5ml of DPPH fatty acids and a diet rich in five-colored beans daily. When Xiulan returned for a follow-up, she greeted me proactively, spoke fluently, and showed reactions like a healthy elderly person. Additionally, her leg swelling had subsided. Most people lack knowledge about the role of fatty acids in the body. For example, animal-based fish oil benefits cardiovascular health by forming prostaglandin 3 (PGE3), while some rare plants containing polyunsaturated fatty acids can convert to prostaglandin 1 (PGE1), which covers the beneficial effects of PGE3 and regulates insulin and maintains normal cellular replication.
Maintaining brain function is crucial for elderly health. Dietary recommendations include reducing white rice, refined bread, noodles, biscuits, and coffee intake, while increasing the consumption of plant-based fatty acids, various beans, and vegetables. In the next issue, I will discuss "delusional disorder" and share recipes for a healthy five-colored bean meal.
Maintaining brain function is crucial for the health of elderly individuals. To support brain health, it's important to reduce the intake of white rice, refined bread, noodles, biscuits, and coffee in their diet.
Increase in Dementia with Aging Population