Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease that gets worse over time, impacting the lives of not only the affected person but many of those close to them. The gradual process of memory loss is not actual a natural process of ageing, it is in fact entirely preventable with the correct nutrition and avoiding toxins. Post-mortem examinations have found people without significant cognitive decline had very normal looking brains without scaring and damage, showing it is, in fact, possible to prevent damage in the first place. Unfortunately someone is diagnosed nearly every minute with Alzheimer’s in the United States with 1 in 8 people aged 65 and over suffering, and this number is steadily increasing. There is no known cure for Alzheimer’s disease, with prescribed drugs offering little to no benefit which is why the only way to prevent it is to start looking after your health now.
There is no one thing that causes Alzheimer’s but rather decades of exposure to a range of risk factors. Some of these factors include obesity, high blood pressure, thyroid dysfunction, head trauma, heart disease and some pharmaceutical drugs. The more of these risk factors and the longer you suffer from them, the higher your chance of eventually developing Alzheimer’s, when the slow progression of brain damage finally catches up to you.
A new supplement has shown very positive signs in protecting our brain from cell-damaging free radicals, it is called Astaxanthin.Astaxanthin is a pigment made by algae, the same pigment that makes many sea crustations red and flamingos pink. However, Astaxanthin goes much further than making things pink; it also happens to be the most potent Antioxidant discovered in nature so far. Our bodies need antioxidants to function normally. We usually get antioxidants from fresh fruit and vegetables that help our body neutralise free radicals. However our balance of antioxidants to free radicals, in most cases, is not favourable due to the amount of processed foods we consume, the pollution and toxins we breathe, which all result in free radical production. As an antioxidant, Astaxanthin separates itself from the rest with its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and protect our brain from harmful free radicals. Most other antioxidants we get have the ability to neutralise a single free radical before becoming exhausted. However, astaxanthin can neutralise multiple free radicals simultaneously, protecting our cells better and for longer.
One trial with Astaxanthin showed it could do much more than protect our brains from oxidative stress and reduce inflammation but also could improve cogitation as a brain food. The levels of astaxanthin needed to start to notice the real benefits are around 6-12mg per day depending on your diet. One cannot simply get enough astaxanthin and antioxidants from foods alone as costs balloon out and in many cases it would require copious amounts of food.