Good News for Those of Us Who Were Not Always Good.

By Karen and Erica

We were lucky recently to hear a talk by Dean Ornish, a physician and author who is an advocate for healthy living, based on four main principles: eating well, sleeping enough, having good friends, and managing stress.

The exciting part of his talk: these principles might even work to reverse some of the consequences of having not lived up to those principles all of your life. (Karen lived on popcorn and white wine for years, so she is especially happy to hear this.)

And, Dr. Ornish is coming to the view that many diseases come from the same sources, and are therefore susceptible to reversal with the same techniques.

Today, Ornish is trying to do for the brain what he did for the heart. At his nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in California, he’s using the same four lifestyle interventions to see if early-stage Alzheimer’s can be “slowed, stopped or even reversed” without the use of drugs, devices or surgeries.

“What’s good for your heart is good for your brain and vice versa,” Ornish said. “Prior studies have shown moderate changes in lifestyle can slow the rate of progression of dementia and Alzheimer’s. So, my hypothesis is that more intense lifestyle changes could stop or even reverse the decline.”

We hope he is correct.

The NIH is also thinking about food and brain health, though more for prevention than reversal.

Healthy eating patterns have been associated with cognitive benefits in studies, but more research is needed — and is underway — to determine if what we eat can prevent or delay Alzheimer’s or age-related cognitive decline.

How could what we eat affect our brains? It’s possible that eating a certain diet affects biological mechanisms, such as oxidative stress and inflammation, that underlie Alzheimer’s. Eating a certain diet might increase specific nutrients that may protect the brain through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It may inhibit beta-amyloid deposits, which are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s, or improve cellular metabolism in ways that protect against the disease.

Both seem consistent with data developed regarding Blue Zones, where people live longer by eating well.

Bottom line: there is a fair amount of specific research about specific foods that might prevent disease of various sorts, but no general agreement that any of these foods can reverse dementia.

We are not doctors, or scientists, but having been alive a long time, and having raised families, we believe intuitively that eating well is essential to living well, and it seems not impossible that changing one’s approach to life, even a bit late, can be effective. Why not give it a try?

As we go forth into 2024, we are rooting for Dr. Ornish.