What Should Alzheimers Patients Not Eat?

There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease. Yet scientists have discovered ways to slow down the advancement of this fatal illness which strikes many older people each year, damaging the brain by robbing patients of their memory. Though many of you have heard of medications which are aimed at slowing the progression of the disease, not many have heard that avoiding certain foods can slow the progression of the disease.

Protein Rich Foods

A diet that consists of food rich in proteins has been known to shrink the brain, which is a key factor in the disease's deleterious effects, such as memory loss. According to Kate Melville, a study has demonstrated that a high protein diet shrunk the brains of laboratory mice. Foods rich in high protein include hamburgers, steaks, and hot dogs.

Hot dogs are also dangerous for another reason: The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, according to Rebecca Young, say that nitrates and nitrites used as fertilizers very likely contributed to deaths of older people from ailments such as Alzheimer's in people from the ages of 74 to 85, in the years between 1968 and 2005.

Partially Hydrogenated Oils

Partially hydrogenated oils start out as natural oils that have undergone an unnatural process. According to the Health WP Web site, hydrogenation is the act of passing hydrogen bubbles through oils "during extremes of heat-treatment from 500 to 1,000 degrees under several atmospheres of pressure." The catalysts, or elements in the process include nickel, platinum and aluminum.

An example of a partially hydrogenated food is margarine or stick butter. According to the Web site, this highlights the importance of reading all labels, especially when it comes to the Alzheimer's disease patient.

Sugars

According to Andi Michaels, anything with high fructose corn syrup belongs on the list of foods to avoid. She says that these items have shown "not only to be a main player in the increase in diabetes but also damaging to the function of Alzheimers' patients and may even speed the progression of the disease.

Milk

Milk and other dairy products also appear among the foods for Alzheimer's patients to avoid. According to Robert Cohen, researchers found in a 2002 study for the New England Journal of Medicine that milk contains a chemical known as homocysteine. Cohen also says that homocysteine was present in the bloodstreams of people at high risk for developing Alzheimer's. Based on these findings, milk and other dairy products may be a food that the caregiver of the Alzheimer's patient should avoid.