Type 3 Diabetes: Could Alzheimer's Disease Be Caused By Refined Carbs in Our Diets?

Could Alzheimer's disease actually be "type 3 diabetes"? Perhaps. Legitimate scientists have argued that the same mechanisms that drive our body to store excess calories as fat may also cause dementia.

KEY POINT: Dietary carbohydrates appear to be able to cause Alzheimer's disease.

If high carbohydrate diets and hyperinsulinemia cause Alzheimer's disease, the Lipophilia Hypothesis would be supported and the Caloric Balance Hypothesis would be further discredited.

Let's take a look at some articles/arguments to see whether this claim holds up:

1. "Restricting carbohydrates may prevent Alzheimer's disease."

"A recent study directed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine suggests that experimental dietary regimens might calm or even reverse symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD).The study, which appears in the July 2006 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry, is the first to show that restricting caloric intake, specifically carbohydrates, may prevent AD by triggering activity in the brain associated with longevity."

The article says that experimenters:

"demonstrate[d] that beta amyloid peptides in the brain can be reduced by subjecting mice to dietary calorie restriction, primarily based on low carbohydrate food... beta amyloid peptides activate SIRT1, a member of a broad family of proteins known as sirtuins which influence a variety of functions including metabolism and aging."[1]

2. Here's another article that makes similar points about Alzheimer's perhaps being type 3 diabetes:

"Refined carbohydrates may lead to Alzheimer's in two ways. First they appear to alter fat metabolism within the central nervous system, which inhibits some functions of cell membranes. Second they stimulate prolonged and excessive insulin like growth factors signaling, which increases brain cell damage.[2]"

3. Here's an article by Dr. Scott Olson: "Could sugar cause Alzheimer's disease."

"The thought that sugar could cause Alzheimer's might sound a bit far fetched, but scientists are beginning to uncover links between our sugar consumption and Alzheimer's disease, so much so, that they are beginning to call Alzheimer's disease by diabetes type 3."[3]

4. And here's another article about type 3 diabetes:

"Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimer's memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes."[4]

5. Check out chapter 13 of Good Calories Bad Calories (204 to 225) for an extensive discussion of the evidence and theory behind why Alzheimer's might be type 3 diabetes.[5]

References