Day 21 of OA (167.6) and Alzheimer's/Disease prevention video link

I went to my 6th meeting last night.  It was a small group.  The weather was yucky & grey yesterday.  I was in a funk all day long.  Just felt off.  I wonder if the people who didn't show were too?

I am staying with the program.  Eating 3 meals a day.  Sometimes the meals aren't great and are eaten in a hurry.  But I'm only eating 3 times a day.  I never thought I'd be able to do that... to skip my afternoon snack.  To not eat when I'm feeling bored or down, like I felt yesterday. 

And I am not taking the credit for it.  I know that I am powerless over food.  I am working on keeping my ego and pride out of this process. I am taking it one day at a time.  I know I will face challenges and will mess up.

Progress, not perfection.

I'm still working on my food history.  I haven't talked with my sponsor one on one yet, but texted her this morning and hopefully we can meet soon.

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I posted a long comment about Alzheimer's disease on Facebook, after I read the book Still Alice (which is beautiful and I recommend it, just be prepared to cry). 

I forget things all the time, and I've often half-jokingly said I have early Alzheimer's. Well, it's not funny at all.  And the thought that I could be diagnosed with early Alzheimer's in my late 40s or 50s or even 60s is terrifying.  50% of Alzheimer's cases can be PREVENTED.  If you have the gene mutation, you're screwed & you're going to get it no matter what.  But everyone else can prevent this disease, just like preventing heart disease or diabetes.

What hit home with me after reading this book & researching Alzheimer's prevention, is that nobody talks about BRAIN health.  Diet & excercise are the focus for body health & beauty.  But for me at my age, I'm much more motivated to take care of my brain--I know I'm going to lose my youthful body (although I can sure as heck take care of it) but I can't imagine losing my mind.

Everything you do to take care of your body also takes care of your brain, so it's not like you need to do extra stuff.  Except keep your mind busy with puzzles--so Words With Friends is not a waste of time!

My Colorado nephew responded to my Facebook post with a video and the comments below. The video is about 50 minutes long but worth the time. It's also pretty entertaining--he's a good presenter. (Vickie, I think you'd really like this.)

I should warn you--he's presenting to vegans/vegetarians.  Research is finding that meat and animal products wreak a lot of havoc on our brains & bodies. So you'll hear a lot about why a plant based diet is so important.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=30gEiweaAVQ

The video is of Dr Michael Gregor, presenting about diet and major causes of disease (he covers Alzheimer's disease in this one).

The truth is that the connection between the standard American diet and disease is a lot better understood by science than most Americans realize. It's kind of scary how this research can be so prevalent in scientific circles yet so little of it makes it to average Americans and doctors. Dr Gregor talks a bit about this poor dissemination of information in the video I've linked. His ultimate conclusion, based on tons of research performed across the dietary science community, is that "death in America is largely a foodborne illness."

Dr Gregor is a medical doctor turned health activist who scours scientific literature and presents it in simple terms to the public. He doesn't skimp on the science (and all of his information is rigorously cited), so his videos can be a bit sciencey, but I think he does a good job presenting his information.