BIG NEWS: MY BOOK!

Hey Everyone!

You may recall that a while back I released an e-book about Alzheimer’s disease and the potential therapeutic role of a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet and other lifestyle interventions. Well, I’m happy to announce that the book has been completely rewritten and expanded for release this month as a print book from Chelsea Green Publishing, with a foreword by none other than David Perlmutter, MD, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Grain Brain!! 

Chelsea Green is a big deal, folks. They publish the fermentation bible, a.k.a. Wild Fermentation, by Sandor Katz. They are also the U.S. distributor for Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride’s books—Put Your Heart in Your Mouth and Gut and Psychology Syndrome (the original GAPS™ diet book), which are both outstanding. They’re also the U.S. publishers for The Ketogenic Kitchen, by Domini Kemp and Patricia Daly. (Patricia is Ireland and the U.K.’s go-to gal for all things related to keto for cancer.) CG is also publishing the new release of Travis Christofferson’s Tripping Over the Truth (which I reviewed here) – the book that inspired my blog series on the metabolic theory of cancer. So you can see I am in very, very good company among these folks.

My book, The Alzheimer’s Antidote: Using a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet to Fight Alzheimer’s Disease, Memory Loss, and Cognitive Decline, has been rewritten and expanded with new and even more powerful information, all of which only strengthens my basic premise: Alzheimer’s disease is, at least in part, a systemic metabolic condition, and as such, there are dietary and lifestyle interventions that could potentially stop or slow the progression of this condition, and possibly even reverse some of the damage that has already occurred.

One of the fundamental aspects of Alzheimer’s disease is that neurons in regions of the brain involved in memory processing lose the ability to metabolize glucose efficiently. In fact, in noting that Alzheimer’s patients show as much as a 45% reduction in cerebral glucose utilization, one study’s authors said that this is “the predominant abnormality in incipient late onset Alzheimer’s disease...” This is not a matter of debate. There are many things we don’t know and don’t understand about Alzheimer’s disease. This isn’t one of them.  That metabolic issues involving perturbed glucose and insulin processing in the brain are major factors either directly causing or at least exacerbating Alzheimer’s pathology and progression are so undeniable that the phrases “type 3 diabetes,” “brain insulin resistance,” and “metabolic-cognitive syndrome” are now regularly used in the scientific literature. (Yep, you already knew about plain ol’ metabolic syndrome, but when you throw dementia and cognitive impairment into the mix, you have metabolic-cognitive syndrome.)  The reduction in cerebral glucose metabolism is not controversial. The controversy lies in what causes this and what to do about it.

If you’ve already read the electronic version of the book (and thank you for that!), I would still recommend buying this print version, especially if a loved one is afflicted with cognitive decline or impairment. Not because it’ll fatten my wallet (it won’t; if you think anyone writes a non-fiction book about a topic like this as a moneymaking endeavor, you are wrong), but because it contains a lot of information that is not in the e-book. The chapters on exercise and sleep have been expanded significantly, as have the chapters on the controversial role of beta-amyloid, the role of the ApoE4 genotype, and others. Additionally, the print version contains two entirely new chapters that are not in the e-book at all: one on brain fuel metabolism and one on prevention strategies. In my (admittedly biased) opinion, the chapter on brain fuel metabolism, which includes the whys and wherefores of ketones, is worth the price of the book all by itself, particularly for people who are completely new to all of this. (Most of you reading this right now probably know exactly why it is perfectly logical to elevate ketones as a therapeutic strategy for a brain that has lost the ability to metabolize glucose effectively. It could not be more obvious, honestly, and why this is not already the standard of care is beyond me.) Frankly, learning about the concepts of “type 3 diabetes” or “diabetes of the brain” alone is worth it, because I guarantee you millions of people with AD have never heard that before. The chapter on the the importance of cholesterol for healthy cognitive function, and the ever-deepening detrimental effects of statins is also crucial info.

I recently contacted my alma maters to see if they would help spread the word about the book. (One would hope the schools where I got my writing and nutrition degrees would want the world to know that an alumna has authored a book, right?) My grad school did a very nice profile of me, which you can read in its entirety here, but I thought I’d share the responses I provided to two of the questions the media coordinator asked me:

Q: Why is the publisher excited to put this book out?

A: Chelsea Green Publishing is releasing several books related to low-carbohydrate, high-fat and ketogenic diets for a variety of health concerns. The company’s leadership has followed the medical research and recognizes the merit in using dietary means to support health and potentially combat a number of illnesses for which conventional medicine is failing. Alzheimer’s disease certainly fits this description. Some of Chelsea Green’s staff read my e-book and recognized how important it would be to get the information to the people who need it most. Right now there’s really nothing to help individuals with dementia and their families. There are long term care facilities, nursing homes with dementia wards, and financial planners who can assist people with getting their affairs in order in preparation for their decline and debilitation, but there are few to no resources arming people with information and strategies they can implement to potentially halt or at least delay disease progression. Certainly, many unanswered questions remain and there are many decades of research still ahead of us, but that doesn't mean we are completely without actionable information right now.

Knowing people would be unlikely to stumble upon my book via my little-known blog, Chelsea Green approached me about publishing an expanded and updated print version so that we could bring this stunning data to a much wider audience. It’s a relatively small publishing house that focuses on a few niches, such as organic farming and gardening, homesteading, holistic health, sustainable food production, green building design and architecture, and more. Using scientifically sound dietary strategies to potentially fight some of our most devastating illnesses fits in nicely with their focus on healthy living.

Q: What are you most hoping to accomplishing through this book?

My goal is to educate and empower loved ones and caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and other forms of dementia and cognitive decline. A large and still growing body of scientific literature points to certain factors that may be contributing to the etiology and progression of cognitive decline, and these individuals are seeking information about how and why these conditions may have developed, and what can be done about them. I am not a physician, nor am I involved in conducting primary laboratory research. As a nutritionist and professional writer, I see my role as being that of an interpreter, translating the scientific findings into plain English in order to empower people to apply the relevant information in their own lives and the lives of the Alzheimer’s, dementia, and cognitive impairment sufferers they care for. The people who need this information the most don’t have time to comb through the medical journals looking for answers. And if they did, not all of them will have the background to make sense of the biochemical jargon.

My book makes the case that we are not powerless in the fight against these dreaded conditions. There is something we can do about them. People have felt helpless for too long, and have resigned themselves to accepting a fate that may be possible to sidestep with the proper interventions. There are strong links between insulin resistance, impaired glucose metabolism in the brain, and Alzheimer’s disease, to the point that researchers now regularly refer to it with the phrases I mentioned earlier: “type 3 diabetes” or “diabetes of the brain.” Based on an understanding of Alzheimer’s as a systemic metabolic problem, rather than some unknowable and completely mysterious illness localized solely to the brain, there are dietary and lifestyle interventions that hold great promise in slowing disease progression and possibly even reversing it to some extent. Considering that the pharmaceutical drugs developed to date for Alzheimer’s have failed time and again to have any appreciable impact on the illness, exploring other strategies is long overdue. I hope that my book contributes to this new landscape and serves as a springboard for those affected by cognitive impairment to conduct their own further research and take control of their health future.

Okay, back on message. As you know, dear readers, as I explained above, I am not a physician, nor am I a researcher who works with mice or humans in a laboratory. What I do think I do well is translate the scientific findings into plain English so people can actually understand it and do something with it. Beta amyloid inhibits the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex? What does that mean, and why does it matter? More ATP and fewer reactive oxygen species are generated from metabolizing ketones than from glucose? Okay, so what?

My book is the so what.

The new and improved, expanded and updated print version of The Alzheimer’s Antidote is available for pre-order on Amazon now. If you’re thinking this book is something you or someone you know would find useful, please consider pre-ordering, rather than purchasing it after it’s released. It will really boost the book’s visibility and cachet if it posts big sales on the first day. (If I understand correctly, all the pre-orders will count as first day sales.) So go ahead and buy a copy for yourself and 400 of your closest friends. (And if you live within a reasonable driving distance of the DC metropolitan area, consider arranging a meet & greet or a low carb pot luck. I’d be happy to come -- with a dish! -- have a chat, and sign books!)

P.S.  Click here to see what Dr. Perlmutter, Robb Wolf, Dr. David Brady, and Franziska Spritzler, RD, had to say about the book.

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.