Dr. Al, Turning 58. . .

[gmattson]

I turned 58 last week and my staff completely surprised me with a little champagne toast on Friday afternoon.

The party my staff threw for me last week took me totally by surprise….
These are some of my favorite memories and I hope I never lose them. I’m sure you have those kinds of memories, too… and the same hope.

When my patients talk to me about the quality of life they want to have as they get older, Alzheimer’s is a big fear.
One thing I make sure to tell them is it’s a good idea to avoid aluminum whenever possible.

What does aluminum have to do with memory and Alzheimer’s?

I’ve written to you about how some of the “white matter” that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s is from a lack of oxygen and blood to the brain.

But, Alzheimer’s disease also matches the profile of a disease that build up from toxicity that happens over years and years. And the toxin that fits the profile for Alzheimer’s damage is aluminum.

Aluminum is one of the most abundant metals on earth. It enters your body every day when you breathe, eat, or drink. But only a fraction is absorbed by your body this way. And, we’ve evolved so that our lungs, stomach, and kidneys work together and eliminate over 95% of ingested aluminum.

But the amount of aluminum we’re exposed to today is too much for what we’re designed for. Now we get aluminum salts from new sources that never existed before: products like antiperspirants, processed foods and alum-treated water.
The problem for your brain is that aluminum and iron are kind of similar. That’s important because iron is a brain mineral, so your brain has evolved with receptors for iron. People with iron deficiencies often have problems with cognitive, language, and motor skills.1

Today aluminum is using the pathways designed for iron and entering vulnerable brain cells and causing damage.
No one knows how much or how little could cause Alzheimer’s. Aluminum entering your body this way is completely new to human evolution. But it’s another reason I will always choose not to absorb any more aluminum than I already get from living in the modern world.

Absorbing any amount of aluminum is harmful. But the way it gets in your body seems to make a difference, too. I came across an interesting study showing that you will retain 40% of aluminum that bypasses your body’s natural elimination pathways like the kidneys.2

If you want to keep your memories and your brain, and avoid the effects of aluminum as much as possible, here’s what I recommend my patients do:

1) Free your food from aluminum: Look at the labels on your salt, grain-based mixes, bakery products, baking powders, and candy. If you see aluminum sulfate, alumino-silicat, aluminum phosphate, or aluminum lake dye, avoid it. While preparing and storing your food, steer clear of aluminum cookware and storage containers and stick with glass, ceramic, stainless steel or wood.

2) Use a natural antiperspirant: Most commercial antiperspirants have aluminum salts in them. Putting them on your skin goes around your natural elimination pathways. Instead, I use stone crystal salts that are completely natural and made from mineral salts. These kind are not absorbed by the skin which prevents toxins from accumulating. They also allow your body to sweat out the normal toxins that are already in your body. One stone can last up to a year.
3) Take melatonin: You might know melatonin as a sleep aid. But in studies, melatonin blocks the effects of aluminum in the brain.3 Melatonin also lengthens telomeres, another possible reason melatonin is so healthy for the brain. Take 3 mg at night a half hour before bedtime.

These are just a few of the natural ways to prevent the threat of Alzheimer’s from stealing your memories. A great resource to discover more comes from my friends at the Institute for Natural Healing. They’ve put together an exclusive report that shows you specific steps you can take to easily fix underlying problems rather than just covering up the symptoms with synthetic “treatments.”

For example, you'll discover a key feature of the controversial Atkins Diet that could be a hope for curing this degenerative disease…

And did you know people in India are 1,300% less likely to get Alzheimer’s than in the U.S? You can get those kinds of odds in your favor… All you have to do is click here for a special video presentation.
To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1. Jahanshad N, et. al. "Brain structure in healthy adults is related to serum transferrin and the H63D polymorphism in the HFE gene." Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2012;109(14):E851-9.
2. Brown RO, Morgan LM, Bhattacharya SK, Johnson PL, Minard G, Dickerson RN. “Potential aluminum exposure from parenteral nutrition in patients with acute kidney injury.” Ann Pharmacother. 2008;42(10):1410-5.
3. Di Paolo C, Reverte I, Colomina M, Domingo J, Gómez M. "Chronic exposure to aluminum and melatonin through the diet: neurobehavioral effects in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer disease." Food Chem Toxicol. 2014 Jul;69:320-9.