Lest we Forget - and Alzheimer's.

It's ANZAC Day, and in Whangamata, like most towns around New Zealand, its well supported, remembering what was sacrificed in past conflicts and the bonds created for a common purpose.

If we all kept this front of mind, it would help focus on what is important in life.

Like they say, a sick person is usually focused on one thing, getting better. Imagine if we could prevent a lot of what is poisoning our bodies and nourish our communities helping people to thrive.

Ohh la la, yes please, let's start with your - BIG - BRAIN.

I am currently listening to The Food Revolution Network Summit, a collection of respected scientists, doctors, nutritionists, and psychologists, who are continuing to open my mind to the science rather than the marketing.

Here is one cool study - Published in 2018 in PubMed (no, that's not something you pick up while having a pint at the local boozer) a collection of 38 million citations of published literature including biomedical literature, neurology, such as this paper.

It states that a group of grown ass subjects, (more accurately known as research subjects), 960 of them, ranged in age from 58 to 99 years young, studied over an average of 4.6 years, showed subjects who ate 1 and 1/2 cups of leafy greens per day, had the equivalent of a brain that was 11 years younger than those studied who did not. ELEVEN YEARS YOUNGER.

Morris MC, Wang Y, Barnes LL, Bennett DA, Dawson-Hughes B, Booth SL. Nutrients and bioactives in green leafy vegetables and cognitive decline: Prospective study. Neurology. 2018 Jan 16;90(3):e214-e222. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000004815. Epub 2017 Dec 20. PMID: 29263222; PMCID: PMC5772164

Are you kidding.....11 yrs younger. I'm already mentally immature as it is. But that's amazing right?

Or how about the fun topic of Alzheimer's - this disease has no known cure, right? That's a fun fact, not much hope there you may think. But read on.

Advances in technology around say the heart, such as stents can improve one's life expectancy if bad habits and bad genetics have caused premature buildups or blockages in your arteries. Amazing.

In the hunt for Alzheimer's solutions, billions have been spent on chasing down a drug or a pill to cure the disease but so far, there are crickets. Poor pharmaceutical companies will have to wait to milk that illness.

But wait, have you heard about Dr. Dean Ornish, the founder of the Ornish Program for reversing heart disease? He applied his learnings in scientific studies to early onset sufferers of Alzheimer's disease in controlled clinical studies... and guess what, after just 20 weeks of the program, using high-tech analysis tools on simple low-cost strategies of eating well, moving more, stressing less, and to "love more" had a profound effect on brain health.

Seventy percent of the subject group got better or held steady, remember these are people who have the onset of the disease. The other group, the control group carrying on life as normal, got worse, 60 - 70% of them continued to decline.

No drugs, no surgery. Thats awesome, a huge lifestyle change.

What was also significant is that they included spouses or close loved ones in the results by way of a questionnaire using "The Clinical Global Impression of Change."

The results were that "71% of the people stopped or reversed their progression of their Alzheimer's disease, whereas in the randomized control group, NONE of them got better and 68% of them got worse. So these results were highly statistically significant" Dr. Dean Ornish Food Revolution Network 2025.

Ornish D, Madison C, Kivipelto M, Kemp C, McCulloch CE, Galasko D, Artz J, Rentz D, Lin J, Norman K, Ornish A, Tranter S, DeLamarter N, Wingers N, Richling C, Kaddurah-Daouk R, Knight R, McDonald D, Patel L, Verdin E, E Tanzi R, Arnold SE. Effects of intensive lifestyle changes on the progression of mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer's disease: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2024 Jun 7;16(1):122. doi: 10.1186/s13195-024-01482-z. PMID: 38849944; PMCID: PMC11157928.

They were prescribing a whole food plant-based diet for this study. Leafy greens and more.

Heartwarming hearing from some of the participants and their spouses. One had given up reading for several years as it frustrated him and he forgot what he had read and took weeks to finish a book. After this program, he has started back reading and can finish a book in 3-4 days. Self-described as 'regaining self-worth' is pretty impressive. All from these simple, but not always easy changes in lifestyle and choices.

Now think about the fresh leafy greens you eat, this is the one common denominator for a lot of these studies in improving health. Now supercharge this superfood with microgreens, they have more nutrients than the adult versions. Some are jam-packed full of goodies that science knows fights cancer, improves gut health, and can reduce heart disease. Who wouldn't want their friends and family to have better mental abilities as they grow older?

I crave processed foods, highly industrialized, high in sugar, low in nutrients, they smell and taste so good. And all that prime time, fancy marketing with all the bells, whistles and sports stars and glamorous models. But there are no long-term benefits with them, they are not designed to serve you, they are manufactured for profit and as a side effect, are poisoning your bodies. Fun side effects are mood swings, fatty deposits, hormone disruptors, brain fog, gut-brain barrier and digestive issues... the list is long.

Stay disciplined and focused you good people, because the road to healthy eating is tricky and the rat bastards who advertise, market and manufacture these horrible food-like substances will bait you into buying and craving their products with more care for profit than nutrients and your health.

The road to a vibrant, energized, and healthy life can be achieved by being kind to yourself, because it is not easy, nourishing your body, making those small changes and moving towards healthy habits and better times. Simple....just not easy.

Not sure if this constitutes a blog/post or a short rant /novel but there you have it. Let us know where you think this is best accessed for you guys. And if you have read this far, then well done you and I'm guessing you are the type that might just want to change your health for the better. Well done you.

If you want to know more, give us a bell or get in touch.

PM,DM, email or call. Our details are on this website.

Apologies if I have butchered some of the referencing, but it gives you an overview and I encourage you all to do your own investigations into your own health. Just know that we will be there to support you on your journey.

Regards

Glenn

Better Greens Ltd