Alzheimer's Disease and Dairy

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Scientists provide the clue, and you can now complete the puzzle.

The February 14, 2002 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 346:476-483, Number 7) contains a study proving that the risk of Alzheimer's Disease doubles for those people with the highest levels of homocysteine in their bloodstreams.

Neurologists at the Boston University School of Medicine obtained blood samples from 1092 elderly healthy subjects over an eight year period. During the course of the study, 111 of those subjects developed dementia, diagnosed as Alzheimer's Disease.

Those who developed Alzheimer's had enormous increases of homocysteine in their blood when compared to those who did not develop dementia.

There are 28 amino acids in nature. Your body's liver manufactures 19 of them. The other 9 are called "essential", which means that they must be obtained in the foods you eat. Methionine is one such "essential" amino acid. I have previously written about homocysteine and methionine. After ingestion, methionine converts to homocysteine.

Homocysteine has been linked to heart disease by William Castelli, senior investigator of the largest clinical heart study in history, the Framingham Study. Dairy causes heart disease. See: http://www.notmilk.com/h.html

Homocysteine has also been linked to osteoporosis. Ingestion of sulfur-containing amino acids causes an acid condition in the bloodstream which the body neutralizes by leeching calcium from bones. See http://www.notmilk.com/o.html

http://www.notmilk.com/o.html

Animal proteins contain greater amounts of methionine than do plant proteins. Milk is liquid meat, and dairy products contain high levels of methionine, which has sulfur as its center atom. The sulfur converts to sulfates and causes an acid condition in the blood that results in cellular destruction.

Here are some values of methionine for 100 gram portions of various foods. You will find that a result of eating meat or consuming dairy products is the creation of a methionine-rich, and subsequent homocysteine-rich environment of Alzheimer-causing substances human blood serum.

Cow's milk = .083 grams of methionine Soy milk = .040 grams Mori-Nu silken soft tofu = .074 grams Chicken (broiled breast meat, no skin) = .859 grams Swiss cheese = .784 grams Parmesan cheese = .958 grams

Cow's milk contains twice as much methionine as does soy milk. Chicken has nearly 12 times the amount of methionine as does tofu, and Parmesan cheese has an unlucky 13 times more methionine than does tofu.

The neurologists who conducted this study did not consider how or why people have high levels of methionine. Pity. They were close to determining the cause and cure of Alzheimer's.

These neurologists who published the study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that folic acid reduces levels of homocysteine. Folic acid can be found in green leafy vegetables, grains, and fruits, particularly citrus. However, the best cure may very well be to not eat what causes the problem.

Scientific research has provided the proof that Alzheimer's Disease can be controlled or prevented by eliminating the standard American diet that includes milk and dairy products as its foundation.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com/