Carbohydrates rich diet could up dementia risk

Researchers have linked carbohydrate calorie-rich diets to a greater risk for brain shrinkage, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, impaired cognition, and other disorders.

Dr. David Perlmutter, a board-certified neurologist and fellow of the American College of Nutrition, has just been appointed Editor-in-Chief of a new peer-reviewed journal, Brain and Gut, which will debut in summer 2014. The journal will publish leading-edge research dedicated to exploring a whole systems approach to health and disease from the intimate relationship between the brain and the digestive systems.

Dr. Perlmutter said that they live with this notion that a calorie is a calorie, but at least in terms of brain health, and he believes for the rest of the body as well, there are very big differences between our sources of calories in terms of the impact on their health.

He said that carbohydrate calories, which elevate blood glucose, are dramatically more detrimental to human physiology, and specifically to human health, than are calories derived from healthful sources of fat.

The article has been published free on the Alternative and Complementary Therapies website.