Should We Let Alzheimer's Patients "Just Enjoy" Sugar?
Answering a listener's question
Every now & again, we revisit one of the listener questions we’ve answered in a previous episode. It’s been edited for clarity & brevity.PATRICK: This question is from David:
My grandmother has Alzheimer's disease and has had it for several years. At mealtime, she'll eat whatever is placed in front of her. This has led to an ongoing family discussion.
I advocate for keeping her as active as possible and providing her with high-quality foods without sugar. However, some family members disagree, arguing she's already 80 years old—let her have sugar so she can enjoy her life. I try explaining that every aspect of her care matters and that sugar shouldn't be the determining factor in her quality of life. My argument often falls on deaf ears.
What would your take be? Or what would you guys do?
BEN: The short answer is I would give every one of your family members a copy of Dr. Dale Bredesen's book called "The End of Alzheimer's." It describes his protocol called ReCODE, which stands for Reversal of Cognitive Decline.
When you read the book, you realize it's essentially the five factors of health — besides supplements, it's literally the five factors, which is amazing.
We know this is preventative against chronic diseases like cognitive decline, and what he's finding is that it can stop the progression of symptoms.
He's the first one who has actually shown reversal — actual improvement in condition. There was a study where 84% of patients saw significant improvements in their cognitive decline. That's remarkable, though it should be noted there aren't large-scale randomized controlled trials yet.
But here's the thing — why would we wait for randomized controlled trials when the protocol simply recommends more sleep, exercise, and better nutrition with low sugar, unprocessed foods? It's remarkable that we see 84% improvement, yet hesitate because there aren't clinical trials yet.
I'd understand the hesitation if we were talking about an untested medication with unknown side effects. But what's the downside here?
David’s family is saying she won't be happy without a Snickers bar or jelly beans — that's a values question. But according to Dr. Bredesen, Alzheimer's isn't a singular disease; it's a manifestation of multiple symptoms stemming from inflammation, hormonal imbalances, and nutrient deficiencies.
What causes these three things? Lack of sleep, lack of exercise, too much stress, and poor diet.
The solution is straightforward. People who listen to Chasing Excellence get it. But here's the challenge: people don't listen to their family members as much as they’ll listen to somebody like Dr. Phil, something on 60 Minutes, or book written by a doctor.
So I strongly recommend sharing the book.
You don't even need to read the whole thing — you can skip to the end and just read the treatment plan.
The earlier sections cover the science — what it is, how we get it, what it means, what neuro-degeneration is, and the different types from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's to dementia.
Then it discusses the various factors we can use to mitigate it.
And finally, it presents the treatment plan.
So, just give them that plan.
PATRICK: What's interesting about this question — and it's not explicitly stated here because David listens to us and we have these conversations — is that part of the resistance comes from a common belief that aging inevitably leads to these all these adverse conditions.
It's not based on evidence — it's just the assumption that aging equals Alzheimer's, and if you don't get it, you're lucky.
So if his family members were to accept the idea of improving her sleep, diet, and so on, they'd also have to accept that their daily habits — sleep, mindset, exercise or lack thereof, nutrition — that they all matter for this condition they'd rather not think about.
It feels too distant to worry about today.
So I think David's real challenge is convincing others that our daily choices matter in preventing what many consider "natural" aging.
BEN: Yes, it's about being proactive versus reactive. Again, for people in our corner of the world, we get it. But the challenge for David - and the rest of us - is to find ways to communicate these ideas in a way others hear.