Cyd Notter

Author and Nutrition Educator, Founder of The "Plan A" Diet™

Diet and the Alzheimer Gene

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(Originally Published 2016; Updated 6-15-22.)

Dear Coach:  One of my parents died with Alzheimer’s disease.  I plan to get tested to see if I have the gene but wanted to know if you could recommend any foods to help prevent Alzheimer’s.   Anonymous

Dear Anon:  My sincere condolences to you on your loss.  It’s a real struggle when a loved one develops Alzheimer’s; I applaud you for being concerned about your own cognitive function. I know that you’re not alone in your concerns; the class that I offer on this topic fills up each time it’s offered.

health risk There is good news – you are not a helpless victim without options. There is MUCH you can do to lower your risk. But first let’s take a look at the Alzheimer’s gene.  Back in the 1990’s, the ApoE4 gene was discovered to be a major player in the susceptibility of Alzheimer’s.

The ApoE4 gene is the principal carrier of cholesterol in the brain. If someone inherits the gene from either parent, their risk of getting the disease triples (this affects about 15% of the U.S. population). If someone inherits the gene from both parents, their risk increases nine-fold (this affects about 1 in 50 people).

Research reveals DIET trumps genes

To date, the people in Nigeria have the highest frequency of the ApoE4 gene in the world. Yet they have some of the LOWEST rates of Alzheimer’s. This paradox is explained by the grain and vegetable diet of the Nigerians, which results in low cholesterol levels that have appeared to trump their genes.

Cholesterol encourages the production of beta-amyloid (plaques that lie between brain cells). People whoplaque buildup have the ApoE4 gene absorb cholesterol more easily from their digestive tracts compared with people who don’t have the gene. They tend to have higher cholesterol levels and higher risk of both heart disease and stroke.

In a 20-year study of 1,000 people, researchers reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine Journal that having the ApoE4 gene doubled the odds of Alzheimer’s, but high cholesterol nearly tripled the threat.

So if the greatest threat of Alzheimer’s are treatable factors – such as high cholesterol and blood pressure – then controlling these lifestyle factors could reduce a person’s risk, even if they have the DOUBLE ApoE4 gene (the odds decrease from 9x down to 2x). This is great news for anyone concerned not only about their brain health, but heart disease and stroke as well.

Cholesterol in Mid-life

Another study of 9844 people Kaiser Permanent subscribers in California showed that a high cholesterol level in midlife (early 40’s) predicted their Alzheimer risk twenty to thirty years later. If your cholesterol is around 220, your Alzheimer risk is about 25% higher. And if your cholesterol is in the 250 range or higher, your likelihood of developing the disease would be about 50% higher.

Diet Trumps All

IMG_1648What’s the best way to lower your cholesterol and blood pressure? Diet trumps all. Cholesterol is only found in animal foods – meat, fish, dairy, eggs – and so lowering or eliminating the intake of meat and dairy is crucial. Don’t be fooled by believing that chicken and fish are healthier – they contain as much cholesterol as beef.

Enjoy a diet which focuses on beans, potatoes, rice, corn, pasta, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. It’s not rabbit food – but delicious entrees of lasagna, burritos, stews, tamale casseroles, burgers, stir frys, cheesy soups, sloppy joes and much more. A plant-centered diet is not a diet of restriction – but a gift!  I continually urge people to lower cholesterol through food, not statins (which have terrible side effects and only lower risk of cardiovascular events by 1.6%).

Should you get tested for the gene? Doctors can check which ApoE genes you are carrying with a simple blood test, and some people are eager to find out as much as possible about themselves. A negative reading could put their minds at rest.

On the other hand, there’s nothing you can do to change your genes, but you can do much to reduce the risk of their expression. If you discover you have the gene, how will that affect you mentally? Only you can determine if testing is right for you. Not having the gene does not guarantee freedom from Alzheimer’s; just as having the gene does not guarantee you’ll develop the disease. The Nigerians are a good example.  Remember that genetics load the gun, but lifestyle typically pulls the trigger.

Aluminum Makes a Difference

Click here to read why you should stop/limit ingesting aluminum (or using toiletries which contain it).

Books I Recommend

Click here to see which books I recommend on this topic.

Your best defense against dementia is a low-fat, whole food, plant-based diet. The most anti-inflammatory and health promoting way of eating available. So powerful it can even reverse advanced stages of heart disease!

To learn more about which foods to eat, check out this free webinar and then schedule a call if you’d like to chat about how you can get started.

If you’d like to be notified of our classes or if you have a question, please contact me through www.cydnotter.com.  (Sources: Dr. N. Barnard Power Foods for the Brain; Dr. M. Greger, NutritionFacts.org: The Alzheimer Gene: Controlling ApoeE).

Coconut Oil – Miracle Food or Marketing Hype?

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       Coconut Oil – (Source: Dr. Pam Popper, The Wellness Forum)

coconut oil     By January 2006, food companies were required to clearly state on their labels the amount of trans fat in packaged foods. Knowing that consumers would begin avoiding the consumption of foods containing trans-fat, many of them have replaced trans-fat with palm oil, coconut oil and other tropical oils. This does not represent an improvement in these packaged foods and they should still be avoided.

Tropical oils are saturated fats… the type that raises cholesterol levels, clogs arteries and increases the risk of many degenerative diseases, including heart disease.  Coconut oil is 100% pure fat, 92% of which is saturated (which means that it is more saturated than butter or lard).  Coconut oil will elevate cholesterol levels more than any other fat because it is so saturated.

Coconut oil has been recommended by many in the health industry as being healthy, but this recommendation is based on faulty science. Proponents state that coconut oil is made up of medium chain fatty acids, which are metabolized differently than long-chain fatty acids. Like much faulty health advice, there is some truth to the statement ; but only a small portion of coconut oil is made from medium chain fatty acids, while the majority of the fatty acids in coconut oil are long-chain fatty acids, such as lauric, myristic and palmitic acids. These long-chain fatty acids have a deleterious effect on health.

Advocates continue to refer to Polynesians who consume a diet containing lots of tropical oils, since they have lower rates of heart disease than Americans. As is often the case, this information is also taken out of context. When evaluating the dietary and lifestyle patterns of populations and their effects on health outcomes, it is important to evaluate the totality of the diet and lifestyle, rather than one component, to get an accurate picture of cause and effect. Polynesians do have lower rates of LDL cholesterol levels than Americans. However, they consume a diet very high in fiber, they consume more Omega-3 fats than the average American, and their diet contains very little sodium. Additionally, almost none of them smoke and they are generally quite physically active. It’s likely that the combination of these factors is responsible for their health outcomes, not simply the consumption of coconut oil.

Like so much of the health information distributed today, health benefits from coconut oil are a myth. Oils are not health foods, since they are concentrated fat and calories, and coconut oil is one of the worst.  In my opinion, it is dangerous for an individual already consuming a less than optimal diet with too much fat to add coconut oil to the diet.

Holiday Cheese Trays? (& Alternate Recipes)

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Are Cheese Trays Healthy Food Cheese is one the most difficult products to give up when adopting a healthy diet. And it’s no wonder—with loads of salt and fat, your palate, like your health, hardly stands a chance. Cheese is physically addictive! Morphine, of course, is an opiate. Upon digestion, a protein in milk called casein releases opiates, called casomorphins. When you eat a slice of cheese, digestion breaks the casein into casomorphins of various lengths. One of them, a short string made up of just five amino acids, has about one-tenth the painkilling potency of prescription morphine. This opiate effect may be why dairy products are constipating, the way opiate-based painkillers can be. Casomorphins keep a baby calf (or human for that matter) addicted to mother’s milk so they will crave it in order to survive.

Calves and infants are not the only ones privy to this information. Dairy marketers are well aware of the power of cheese and have made lots of deals through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make sure cheese is available in abundance and at almost every turn. Government appointed dairy boards spend millions of dollars marketing through fast-food giants such as Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, Subway, and Denny’s, to name a few. Is it working? Americans now consume more than 34 pounds of cheese a year, each, three times as much as they did in 1970.

Here are a few tips to help to get the cheese out of your diet and keep your health on track.
Step 1: The Reality Check: Cheese is the No. 1 source of saturated fat (“bad” fat) in the American diet. Cheese can be upwards of 70 percent fat and, ounce for ounce, has more cholesterol than steak and more salt than tortilla chips!

One-fourth of an average 12-inch cheese pizza contains nearly 13 grams of fat, including 6 grams of saturated fat and 27 milligrams of cholesterol. An ounce of cheddar contains 9 grams of fat, including 6 grams of saturated fat. Part-skim versions of cheeses are not much better, with just slightly lower amounts of fat.
About one-third of adults and 12.5 million children and adolescents are obese. And obesity is a major cause of death, attributable to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Consider that within five hours after eating fatty foods, your triglycerides have increased 150%, your cholesterol levels rise (contributing to plaque formation), and your blood flow has decreased by more than half. Also of great concern is the strong link between cancer and the dairy protein called casein, as outlined in Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s book ‘The China Study’. Educating yourself on these matters will make cheese less appealing and help you to step away from the cheese tray.

Step 2: The Alternatives. There are many great options that are low in fat, such as nutritional yeast flakes. I purchase nutritional yeast in the bulk section at Whole Foods, but you can find it in other health food stores as well (do not confuse it with brewer’s yeast, they are two entirely different products). Nutritional yeast has a creamy, cheesy texture and flavor when melted into pastas, soups, and sauces. It can be used to make cheesy popcorn, cheesy appetizer dishes, or used with tofu to make ricotta filling for lasagna or stuffed shells. One of our favorite cookbooks is called “The Uncheese Cookbook” by Jo Stepaniak. The Colby cheese recipe makes a block of cheese (in your blender). It can be served with crackers or melted to make a ‘grilled cheez’. Whenever I serve this, I am always asked for the recipe!

Step 3: Cleansing the Palate. Have you ever heard that it takes 21 days to break a habit? This maxim has proved true time and again, and can be a useful tool in your efforts to ditch the cheese. The craving for health can be even more powerful than the craving for cheese!

Choose a three-week period when it is convenient for you to make dietary changes. Spend one week before the start date getting ready. That means cleaning out the pantry and refrigerator of the cheese and other dairy products that may string you along the dairy path. Find substitutes and recipes that will help you through the cravings. Do it 100% for 21 days. Absolutely avoid cheese for three weeks, and consider avoiding all dairy products as well. If you still dabble in dairy, you will keep reintroducing the high-fat and other addictive properties of dairy, and your palette will never learn to let go.
After three weeks, you’ll be surprised how much better you feel and how unappealing cheese can actually look, smell, and even taste! You’ll be free of the cheese. In the meantime, if you need a “cheesy” dish for a gathering, contact me at [email protected]. I have many tried and true recipes to share. (Sources: PCRM.org)

Cheesy-Beany Spread
(This is one of our favorite appetizers. Be sure to use SMOKED paprika – it’s key to the recipe. Recipe by NutritionMD.org)
1 15-oz can white beans (cannellini or northerns)
1.5 TBS fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. prepared mustard
½ tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
2 TBS nutritional yeast
1 TBS tahini (sesame seed paste)
Combine all ingredients in food processor until creamy.

Amazing Alfredo
(This PCRM recipe is high fat due to the nuts – use sparingly. I also add a can of white beans)
1 cup raw cashews
2 TBS pine nuts
1.5 cups water
4 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/16 tsp. nutmeg
1.5 tsp. sea salt
.5 tsp. black pepper (or more to taste)
4 cups cooked whole grain pasta (your choice)
3 TBS freshly minced parsley (optional garnish)

In blender, grind cashews and pine nuts to a fine powder. Add water, lemon juice, garlic, nutmeg and salt. Blend until completely smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan over medium heat and whisk as you bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 7 minutes. Stir in pepper. Serve over hot pasta.

Moxarella Cheese:
(This cheese is intended for use on melted items (pizza, mac-n-cheese, bean burgers or grilled cheese for example) although we do eat it plain with crackers at times. It’s fairly salty, so use less salt if you prefer, but flavor won’t be as pronounced. Simple to make!)
¼ cup raw cashews
(if you don’t have a high-powered blender, soak nuts in water for several hours and then drain)
1 cup hot water
2 TBS + 1 tsp. tapioca starch (same as tapioca flour. I used corn starch and it worked)
1 small garlic clove, minced
¾ tsp. sea salt
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into small saucepan and cook, stirring constantly over medium high heat. After a few minutes, the mixture will start to look like its curdling or separating. This is normal. Reduce heat to medium and KEEP stirring so it doesn’t burn. Keep cooking and stirring until really thick (2-3 minutes more) and the mixture becomes like a mass of melted dairy cheese. Remove from heat and cool. Moxarella stores well in the fridge for several days.

Cashew Cheese
(Sources: PCRM.org)
This sauce can be used as a topping on pasta or pizza, or as a dip for vegetables
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 ounces pimentos
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 cups water
Place all ingredients in a blender and process until very smooth.

Zucchini Burritos

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These are easy and fabulous!Zucchini Bean Burritos

1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green pablano chile, seeded and thinly sliced
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 cups chopped zucchini
3 cups cooked pinto beans (or 2 15-oz. cans, drained, rinsed)
1 TBS chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 TBS chopped cilantro
6 large whole grain tortillas (avoid hydrogenated oils)
Shredded lettuce
1 ripe avocado, sliced
1 cup salsa

Heat 1/8 cup water in large skillet. Add onion, garlic and chile and ‘water saute’ until tender, about 3 minutes. Add tomato and zucchini, continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes or until zucchini is soft. Add beans, chili powder and cumin. Stir to combine and cook 10 minutes.

Using potato masher or the back of a spoon, thoroughly mash beans. Stir in cilantro.

Spread bean mixture on tortillas, top with lettuce, avocado and salsa. Roll up and enjoy.

Bean mixture may also be served as a side dish or dip.

Aren’t Starches Fattening?

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Dear Nutrition Coach,Starchy foods I have heard you speak on the benefits of eating a starch-centered diet, but I always thought that starches make us fat! How can I lose weight or regain my health if I’m eating starches? – Tina

Dear Tina, Thank you for your question about starches! Starchy foods include grains such as barley, corn, millet, oats, rice and wheat; legumes such as beans, peas and lentils; and starchy vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, yams, parsnips, and winter squashes.  The addition of green, yellow and orange non-starchy vegetables, as well as the addition of fruit, is also recommended. All of these foods are complex carbohydrates…..and our bodies require complex carbohydrate to run!   Carbohydrates are our main source of energy, and our brains are also dependent on getting enough complex carbs.

It’s a common misconception that the sugars in starches are readily converted into fat, which is then stored in our abdomen, hips and buttocks. But if you read the published research, you will see that there is no disagreement about this whatsoever among scientists…. they all say that this belief is incorrect.

After eating, we break down the complex carbohydrates of starchy foods into simple sugars. These sugars are absorbed into the blood stream where they are transported to trillions of cells throughout the body for energy. If you eat more carbohydrate than your body needs, you’ll store up to 2 pounds of it invisibly in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. Any additional carbohydrate consumed after that will be burned off as body heat, and also through physical movement such as walking, yard work, and fidgeting.

Potatoes

Satisfying the appetite begins with filling the stomach with starches, which are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Compared to cheese (4 calories per gram), meat (4 calories per gram), and oils (9 calories per gram), starches contribute only about 1 calorie per gram. (Of course, this does not apply if you top your starches with butters, margarines, sour creams, oils, cheeses, or other added fats). Starches are comfort foods and offer a great deal of satisfaction; the fiber will fill you up and you’ll stay full for a long time (whereas when you fill up on fats and oils, you still want to eat more).

Turning sugars into fat is a process called ‘de novo lipogenesis’. Pigs and cows use this process to convert carbohydrates from grains and grasses into calorie-dense fats. We humans on the other hand, are very inefficient at converting carbohydrate to fat; we don’t do it under normal circumstances. As I have often stated, carbs don’t make you fat – fat makes you fat. A passenger on a cruise ship gains an average of 8 pounds on a 7-day voyage – caused by dining on buffets of meats, cheese, oil-soaked vegetables and high-fat desserts. As my mentor Dr. McDougall is often fond of saying:  The fat you eat is the fat you wear. In fact, the body is such an efficient fat storing machine that biopsies of the hip, abdomen or butt can reveal exactly what form of fat you have ingested (chicken, oils, fish, etc.).

So go ahead, enjoy your mashed potatoes (topped with salsa or lentil soup), your butternut squash chili, your corn on the cob, your oatmeal filled with blueberries, your oil-free sweet potato fries, your whole wheat pasta and your bean and rice burritos! (Sources: The Starch Solution, Dr. John McDougall)

Polenta Fries

(These are surprisingly good! Instead of making polenta from scratch, I took a shortcut and purchased plain, pre-made polenta in a tube. This recipe calls for Nutritional yeast, which has a cheesy, nutty flavor; it is not the same as brewer’s yeast)

1 tube plain polenta
Juice of 1 lime
nutritional yeast
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silpat (a reusable silicone liner you can find at Bed, Bath and Beyond). Cut the polenta into strips the size of French fries (my personal preference is thinner). Sprinkle lightly with fresh lime juice, and then cover generously with nutritional yeast – this will coat the fries and add some crunch. Bake until the edges are golden, about 30 minutes. Serve with your favorite condiment.

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