Brain Health
BRAIN & ENERGY CONSUMPTION
We understand brain health as healthy brain development in youth, as well as healthy brain aging in adults. Our mission is to contribute to brain health in youth by innovative age-specific functional food that support neurological development and performance.
Several clinical studies have come to a similar conclusion: in 24-hours basal mode, the brain is consuming around 20 – 25 % of total body energy consumption. Basel mode meaning for basic vital functions, like respiration, digestion and keeping body temperature.
Based on an average normal intake of 2’000 calories a day, our brain consumes between 400 and 500 calories and thus is the most energy-consuming human organ. Out of this basal mode with its by-default activity, adult learning processes might increase slightly energy consumption. In a nutshell, research tells us mental activity is indeed related to increased energy consumption. Still, the increase is minimal, region-specific and often offset by energy decreases in other areas. But it is in childhood (5 to 6 years age), during intensive neurological development, brain might consume up to 60% of total body energy consumption. Galactose, a milk-based bioactive peptide, has shown in clinical studies to be a key sugar in brain health, be it in infants’ brain development, as well as to prevent chronic neurometabolic disorders in adults during their maturation. D-Galactose is also known as brain sugar since it is a component of glycoproteins (oligosaccharide-protein compounds) found in nerve tissue.
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (AD)
Source: www.Alzheimer.gov: The BrainHealth Project
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. People with Alzheimer’s also experience changes in behavior and personality.
More than 6 million Americans, many of them age 65 and older, are estimated to have Alzheimer’s disease. That’s more individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease than the population of a large American city. Many more people experience Alzheimer’s in their lives as family members and friends of those with the disease.
The symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease — changes in thinking, remembering, reasoning, and behavior — are known as dementia. That’s why Alzheimer’s is sometimes referred to as “dementia.” Other diseases and conditions can also cause dementia, with Alzheimer’s being the most common cause of dementia in older adults. Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging. It’s the result of complex changes in the brain that start years before symptoms appear and lead to the loss of brain cells and their connections.
Alzheimer’s related to insulin resistance should be called Type 3 Diabetes
T3 DIABETES - A NEUROMETABOLIC DISORDER
Metabolic disorders are generally divided into two categories: inborn errors of metabolism (congenital) and acquired metabolic diseases (late-onset). Neurometabolic disorders are a group of conditions causing problems with both metabolism (how cells chemically break down nutrients to get energy) and brain function.
The idea of Alzheimer’s as a metabolic disease that affects the brain, and Alzheimer’s markers such as glucose metabolism, have led scientists in various directions. Besides the Mediterranean diet and its variations, they are looking at other diets as well as individual foods and nutrients. For example, the ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that prompts the production of ketones, chemicals that help brain cells work. Studies show that this diet may affect gut bacteria in distinctive ways in people with and without cognitive impairment, and may help brain cells better use energy, improving their overall function.
Prominent researchers like Cristina Carvalho et al (2015), Ramesh Kandimalla, et al. (meta-analysis, 2016), and Michalis Michailidis (meta-analysis, 2022), have confirmed the evidence of AD as a neurometabolic disorder related to insulin resistance. To cite some of them:
Cristina Carvalho et al, (2015)
Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic disorder well recognized by its widespread deleterious effects throughout the body with the brain representing one of its major targets. It is widely accepted that persons suffering from T2D are at increased risk for cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) often described as type 3 diabetes.
Michalis Michailidis (meta-analysis, 2022): Alzheimer’s Disease as Type 3 Diabetes: Common Pathophysiological Mechanisms between Alzheimer’s Disease and Type 2 Diabetes In the present review paper we attempted to collect all existing evidence on the case of AD as type 3 diabetes and the common pathophysiological mechanisms between AD and T2DM. Diabetic patients
have higher incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia in particular vascular dementia and AD.
The severity of cognitive impairment depends on type of diabetes, age of onset, and other comorbidities. Based on existing evidence, we now know that insulin resistance, hypoglycemia [24] and hyperglycemia are associated with cognitive decline [144] and are key features of T2DM.
Kellen Mariane Athaide Rocha, et al. (meta-analysis, 2021): The role of type 2 Diabetes mellitus as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases
Is widely recognized that insulin resistance plays a key role in the development of DM2, disrupting not only the functioning of peripheral tissues, but also the brain. Insulin plays a critical role in the central nervous system participating in neuronal survival, neuroplasticity, memory and cognitive functions. In addition, peripheral insulin resistance results in loss of brain function, which indicates a strong relationship between metabolic disorders, cognitive impairment and the emergence of neurodegenerative diseases. There are links between these different pathologies, such as increased oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, changes in glucose metabolism as well as insulin resistance. We highlighted that patients with DM2 develop between 50 and 150% more neurodegenerative diseases than general population (Li et al., 2015; Schernhammer et al., 2011). Indeed, Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s diseases (PD) are the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases in the world. They affect about 2% of the world elderly population, and are characterized by cognitive decline of affected patients (Schernhammer et al., 2011). Recent studies seek to understand mechanisms, in addition to the genetic factor, that are involved in the onset, pathophysiology and progression of these diseases.
