Coconut Oil and Alzheimer’s – Preventing and Reversing Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are on the rise, with over 5 million people suffering from the disease in the U.S. It is costing the country $148 billion annually—and pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t have it any other way, as their profit margins continue to increase. While we tend not to worry about diseases that occur much later in life, knowing how to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s is essential. Lifestyle choices such as diet can help prevent the disease, with some research pointing to the relationship between coconut oil and Alzheimer’s – and how this oil can help prevent and reverse the problem.

Coconut Oil and Alzheimer’s – Coconut Oil Helps the Body Produce Ketones

Big Pharma was not on Steve Newport’s side when he began experiencing progressive dementia at age 53 and later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Doctors put Mr. Newport on Alzheimer’s drugs like Aricept—a treatment already proven rather ineffective and which often comes with overwhelming side effects (like all pharmaceuticals.) Eventually, Mr. Newport could neither remember how to get water out of the refrigerator nor draw the face of a clock. The pharmaceutical ‘treatments’ failed miserably.

Rather than pursue the fruitless path paved by pharmaceutical companies, his wife Mary Newport, MD, began researching Alzheimer’s itself. She found that ketones provide an alternative energy source for brain cells when they have trouble using glucose as they do in patients with dementia. The body naturally produces ketones in the absence of carbohydrates, but rather than put Mr. Newport on a strict diet, Dr. Newport simply had her husband take 20 grams (about 4 teaspoons) of coconut oil a day.

Even Coconut Oil-Based Drugs are Less Effective

By then, Dr. Newport had learned of a promising drug trial for dementia. Humorously, the drug was created using a non-patentable natural substance, medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) derived from coconut or palm, since the synthetic drugs are failing – this is the drug Dr. Newport was going for.

According to recent research, when the body metabolizes MCT oil, it forms ketones that may protect against and even reverse Alzheimer’s. This is true for Parkinson’s and Hungtington’s disease; multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease; drug-resistant epilepsy; brittle type I diabetes; and type II diabetes, as well. But Mr. Newport was unable to get into the drug trial, so he began taking coconut oil twice daily.

Reported by the Alliance for Natural Health:

“At this point, he could barely remember how to draw a clock. Two weeks after adding coconut oil to his diet, his drawing improved. After 37 days, Steve’s drawing gained even more clarity. The oil seemed to “lift the fog…every morning he was alert and happy, talkative, making jokes…He was able to concentrate on things that he wanted to do around the house and in the yard and stay on task, whereas before coconut oil he was easily distractible and rarely accomplished anything unless he was directly supervised.”

Over the course of a year, his dementia reversed itself. He was able to run again, his reading comprehension improve dramatically, and memory improved. An MRI proved his brain atrophy had completely stopped.

Dr. Newport’s finding on the relationship between coconut oil and Alzheimer’s saved more than one life. If word of her study spreads, it could help millions of degenerative disease patients reverse their conditions more effectively and more frugally than with pharmaceuticals. The drug trial Dr. Newport had examined used a coconut oil-based drug, but its effects still only lasted 3 hours compared to the 8 hours from moderately-priced, non-hydrogenated, store-bought coconut oil.

Natural Brain Foods

This isn’t the first time natural methods have been shown to be more effective than pharmaceuticals at preventing dementia. While knowing the coconut oil and Alzheimer’s connection can prove extremely useful, Dr. Robert Williams of Kings College in London has advocated the potential benefits of vegetables- and fruits-sourced flavonoids. Many foods—like omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, anthocyanin in berries, greens, and nuts—improve memory and general brain performance. Check out these other natural solutions if you want to know how to avoid dementia and Alzheimer’s through food and diet.

Additional Sources:

Alliance for Natural Health