By Dr. Joseph Mercola



In fact, many researchers are now convinced Alzheimer’s is actually a form of diet-induced diabetes. And if the evidence continues to mount, we may one day have to start calling it type 3 diabetes.

Can You Eat Your Way To Alzheimer’s?

In a recent animal study, researchers from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, were able to induce many of the characteristic brain changes seen with Alzheimer’s disease (disorientation, confusion, inability to learn and remember) by interfering with insulin signaling in their brains.


What Does This Have To Do With Your Diet?

Everything, as over-consumption of sugars and grains is what ultimately causes your body to be incapable of “hearing” the proper signals from insulin and leptin, leaving you insulin resistant in both body and brain.

Alzheimer’s disease was tentatively dubbed “type 3 diabetes” in early 2005 when researchers learned that the pancreas is not the only organ that produces insulin. Your brain also produces insulin, and this brain insulin is necessary for the survival of your brain cells.


If You Have Diabetes, Your Risk Of Alzheimer’s Increases Dramatically

Diabetes is linked to a 65 percent increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s, which may be due, in part, because insulin resistance and/or diabetes appear to accelerate the development of plaque in your brain, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Separate research has found that impaired insulin response was associated with a 30 percent higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and overall dementia and cognitive risks were associated with high fasting serum insulin, insulin resistance, impaired insulin secretion and glucose intolerance.

A drop in insulin production in your brain may contribute to the degeneration of your brain cells, mainly by depriving them of glucose, and studies have found that people with lower levels of insulin and insulin receptors in their brain often have Alzheimer’s disease (people with type 2 diabetes often wind up with low levels of insulin in their brains as well). As explained in New Scientist, which highlighted this latest research:

“This new focus [on the Alzheimer’s/diabetes/insulin connection] follows a growing recognition of insulin’s role in the brain. Until recently, the hormone was typecast as a regulator of blood sugar, giving the cue for muscles, liver and fat cells to extract sugar from the blood and either use it for energy or store it as fat. We now know that it is a master multitasker: it helps neurons, particularly in the hippocampus and frontal lobe, take up glucose for energy, and it also regulates neurotransmitters, like acetylcholine, which are crucial for memory and learning.

“What’s more, it encourages plasticity – the process through which neurons change shape, make new connections and strengthen others. And it is important for the function and growth of blood vessels, which supply the brain with oxygen and glucose.

“As a result, reducing the level of insulin in the brain can immediately impair cognition. Spatial memory, in particular, seems to suffer when you block insulin uptake in the hippocampus… Conversely, a boost of insulin seems to improve its functioning.

“…this role in the brain ‘makes evolutionary sense,’ since it would help us to remember the location of a food source. As our ancestors gorged on berries in the savannah, for instance, the spike in glucose and the subsequent rush of insulin would signal ‘remember this, it’s important,’ causing the brain to crystallise the memory.

“But as we know from type 2 diabetes, processes that evolved to help us meet the challenges of prehistory can easily backfire in the modern world.

“When people frequently gorge on fatty, sugary food, their insulin spikes repeatedly until it sticks at a higher level. Muscle, liver and fat cells then stop responding to the hormone, meaning they don’t mop up glucose and fat in the blood. As a result, the pancreas desperately works overtime to make more insulin to control the glucose – and levels of the two molecules skyrocket.

“…The pancreas can’t keep up with the demand indefinitely, however, and as time passes people with type 2 diabetes often end up with abnormally low levels of insulin.”

Alzheimer’s Might Be “Brain Diabetes”


You may already know I have become passionate about warning of the dangers of fructose. There is no question in my mind that regularly consuming more than 25 grams of fructose per day will dramatically increase your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Consuming too much fructose will inevitably wreak havoc on your body’s ability to regulate proper insulin levels.

Although fructose is relatively “low glycemic” on the front end, it reduces the affinity for insulin for its receptor leading to chronic insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar on the back end. So, while you may not notice a steep increase in blood sugar immediately following fructose consumption, it is likely changing your entire endocrine system’s ability to function properly behind the scenes.

Additionally, fructose has other modes of neurotoxicity, including causing damage to the circulatory system upon which the health of your nervous system depends, as well as profoundly changing your brain’s craving mechanism, often resulting in excessive hunger and subsequent consumption of additional empty carbohydrate-based calories.


In one study from UCLA, researchers found that rats fed a fructose-rich and omega-3 fat-deficient diet (similar to what is consumed by many Americans) developed both insulin resistance and impaired brain function in just six weeks.

Plus, when your liver is busy processing fructose (which your liver turns into fat), it severely hampers its ability to make cholesterol, an essential building block of your brain crucial to its health. This is yet another important facet that explains how and why excessive fructose consumption is so detrimental to your health.

Since the average American is exceeding this recommendation by 300 percent, this is a pervasive and serious issue. I view significantly reducing fructose consumption as the MOST important step you can take to lower your risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

More Tips For Avoiding Alzheimer’s Disease

The beauty of following my newly revised nutrition plan is that it helps treat and prevent all chronic degenerative diseases, from the common ones like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s to the ones you have never heard of or can’t even pronounce. So please read the plan as soon as you can. It is divided into three helpful sections, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, to help you start at the right level.

The plan is the first step in addressing Alzheimer’s disease, which is currently at epidemic proportions, with 5.4 million Americans – including one in eight people aged 65 and over – living with the disease. By 2050, this is expected to jump to 16 million, and in the next 20 years it is projected that Alzheimer’s will affect one in four Americans.

In spite of how common memory loss is among Westerners, it is not a “normal” part of aging. While even mild “senior moments” may be caused by the same brain lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, these cognitive changes are by no means inevitable! People who experience very little decline in their cognitive function up until their deaths have been found (post-mortem) to be free of brain lesions, showing that it’s entirely possible to prevent the damage from occurring in the first place. And one of the best ways to do this is by leading a healthy lifestyle.

  • Vitamin D may also exert some of its beneficial effects on Alzheimer’s through its anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. Sufficient vitamin D is imperative for proper functioning of your immune system to combat inflammation that is also associated with Alzheimer’s.
  • Keep your fasting insulin levels below 3. This is indirectly related to fructose, as it will clearly lead to insulin resistance. However other sugars (sucrose is 50 percent fructose by weight), grains and lack of exercise are also important factors.
  • High-quality animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil. I recommend avoiding most fish because, although fish is naturally high in omega-3, most fish are now severely contaminated with mercury. High intake of the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA help by preventing cell damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease, thereby slowing down its progression, and lowering your risk of developing the disorder.
  • Avoid and remove mercury from your body. Dental amalgam fillings, which are 50 percent mercury by weight, are one of the major sources of heavy metal toxicity; however, you should be healthy prior to having them removed. Once you have adjusted to following the diet described in my optimized nutrition plan, you can follow the mercury detox protocol and then find a biological dentist to have your amalgams removed.

Dr. Joseph Mercola is an osteopathic physician, board-certified in family medicine. He has written two New York Times bestsellers and shared his expertise on ABC News, NBC’s The Today Show, CNN, CBS, Fox News, and in TIME and Forbes magazines.

This Post Has 9 Comments

  1. Please site your sources. It is not a ‘great’ article, nor reliable information, if it does not site the sources. Also please offer as many examples of ‘fructose’ as possible. For example, is honey a fructose sugar, or agave honey? or authentic maple syrup? What about the sugar from cut cane reed that grows largely in the semi-tropics and tropics of places like the SE U.S. , P.R. Mexico, etc.? Tomatoes, avocados and other foods eaten as ‘vegetables’ are actually fruit. Are these included in your fructose list?

  2. This is really great information. Thanks and keep ’em coming!

  3. I like the info but have questions about the fructose.
    As you do not refer to it as high fructose corn syrup, I take it to mean most all fruit. So, can you be more specific as to how much fruit can cause problems? Does it help if the fruit is eaten whole or are you referring to juice? I drink pulverized fruit and veggies made in a Vitamix, which leaves the fiber intact.

  4. Where is the link to his ‘plan’. There must be more info available as he states that there are beginner, intermediate and advanced nutrition plans. Very informative article though, and one I plan on sharing.

  5. another great article! 😉 Thanks for sharing so much invaluable information!

  6. Nice step by step overall picture of things you can do to help prevent and perhaps alleviate Alzheimer’s.

  7. Enlightening. Thank you!

  8. Thank you for this valuable and startling information!

Comments are closed.

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