Skip to main content

Weakness, Diabetes, Dementia: A Common Link?

My father will be coming home from the hospital any day. He went last week because he was so weak that he could barely move after he fell. He's doing better, but he'll need round-the-clock supervision. Dad has the impression that he's stronger than he is. I was with him during a visit with a psychiatrist, who saw him because he said he was going to call a taxi and leave. Dad said he thought he was at a bank. He drew a good clock, but put the wrong time on it. He did well on other questions, such as the date, the president, and his personal history, but last night, he kept saying that my mother was at the hospital. She wasn't, and has no way of getting there on her own.

When Dad comes home, he'll find some new furniture, some technology to help him, and someone besides Mom to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. What he won't find is a bunch of junk food. I took home four trash bags full of chips, crackers, cookies, pretzels, potato mix, gravy mix, cake mix, cornbread mix, macaroni and cheese mix, oatmeal, sugar and grapes. I suspected my mother has been indulging in this carbage more than she's admitted when she said, "You didn't leave us anything to eat!" I did remove most of the food from the kitchen, if you don't count oils, spices, and anything else you wouldn't just pop in your mouth.

Maybe this is a major reason Dad doesn't feel good.


Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't decide for my parents what to eat. But my father is losing his mind, There is evidence that Alzheimer's disease (a type of dementia) can be helped with ketones; the disease is commonly called, even in scientific literature, "type 3 diabetes." Dad wasn't diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, but getting rid of the junk food may help him and it won't hurt him. It will help my mother, too, since she says that having junk food around is like living in a crack house. 

Even the doctor said Dad should be on a low carb diet because of his diabetes. That will be helpful when I ask neighbors to please quit bringing my parents high-carb food. I'm going to bring them coconut oil in the hope that it will help my father. The video below is about Mary Newport, a physician who helped her husband's Alzheimer's with coconut oil based on a study she found that used medium-chain triglycerides, which are often derived from coconut oil.


Comments

Galina L. said…
I remember reading, that many people who have early signs of dementia, may experience a sudden worsening of their symptoms in an unusual environment, like hospital, or while visiting relatives. It could be possibly the reason why your dad became more demented .
I noticed it in my grandma who started to act in a hospital like 100% insane person while being sort-of demented at home. In her case that change was permanent.
Lori Miller said…
That's exactly what the doctor said and I'm glad you reminded me. Unfortunately, my parents' insurance might not cover home care. I don't know what we're going to do.
Lori Miller said…
I also made my mom a batch of ginger pokies (made with Splenda) from 500 paleo recipes by Dana Carpender. Wow, they were good! And I hate regular ginger snaps--it's like trying to eat a clay pigeon.
Galina L. said…
I think you would better stock them with more food choices than ginger snaps, or they would find an opportunity to re-stock their pantry with carbage again because it is the familiar food.
I guess, frozen and ready to steam veggies, caned LC soups, caned fish and meat, packs of hot dogs, kielbasa, yogurt, nuts could prevent your parents from attempts to acquire some usual for them food. Shaved almonds with yogurt sort-of remind of cereal. Eggs are the easiest food to make, but the people from an older generation often think somehow that eggs are supposed to be used sparingly.
.
Lori Miller said…
I brought them some coconut milk, frozen veg and berries also; they have canned fish and plenty of meat. Nuts protein powder, too. I made my mom some "cereal" out of flax, nuts and coconut, but I don't think she liked it very well.

I'm hoping that with the convenient carbage gone, they'll dig out some real food.

Popular posts from this blog

Fermented bread and butter pickle recipe ft. L. Plantarum

After Dr. Davis said the other night that  L. plantarum  may reduce some of the effects of the herbicide glyphosate (which is everywhere), I'm re-running my recipe for fermented bread and butter pickles. Pickling cucumbers naturally have  L. plantarum  bacteria on them, and fermenting them with some brown sugar multiplies these bacteria. (Just don't use chlorinated water to wash them.) And if you're growing your own cucumbers, avoid spraying the fruits with  Bacillus thuringiensis , or Bt (leaves and vines are OK). It's unclear what effect a big dose of Bt would have on humans. Another benefit of DIY pickles: no emulsifiers like polysorbate 80, which is a common ingredient in pickles. If you have GI problems, it could be from emulsifiers. These sweet-and-sour pickles are the tastiest I've ever made. There's just a little added sugar (some of which the bacteria will consume) and turmeric that gives the pickles their bright color.  Special equipment Quar...

Collagen-filled Low Carb Burritos

Low-carb, grain-free Mexican food is hard to find, but it's easy to make your own at home. This recipe has an authentic ingredient: carne de lengua, or beef tongue. Don't be put off: beef tongue is tender, delicious, and full of collagen. Look for it directly from farmers in your area. To cook it, cut it in 1" to 1-1/2" slices and pressure cook for one hour. Enjoy the delicious broth as a bonus. Ingredients 1 slice cooked beef tongue, peeled and cut into small cubes 1 egg wrap (I use these  from Egglife) 1/4 cup cooked black or pinto beans Chili pepper Oregano Garlic (powdered or minced) Cumin Guacamole (with no emulsifiers) Salsa Shredded cheddar cheese Sour cream or homemade cream cheese  with no emulsifiers  Put the egg wrap on a plate and put the beef and beans down the middle of it. Sprinkle with the herbs and spices. Wrap, turn over and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Spoon salsa over the burrito and sprinkle with cheese. Add guacamole and sour cream or homemade crea...

15% Off Starter Culture

Starter culture for the wonderful cream cheese I made is 15% off for the next two weeks (through June 18, 2025). The shop (BacillusBulgaricus.com) also offers rennet and starter for other cheeses, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, sour cream, fermented vegetables, and more. They ship to 118 countries across six continents. The coupon code is LORI_sekd3tkb at bacillusbulgaricus.com .  Photo from Pexels .

Getting Over Palpitations

Note to new readers: please note I'm not a health care provider and have no medical training. If you have heart palpitations, I have no idea whether the following will work for you. Over the past several days, I've had a rough time with heart palpitations and feeling physically jittery. I was wondering if I was going to turn into one of those people who can't sit still. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it would be a major lifestyle change. Kidding aside, something wasn't right and I really needed to get back to normal. I tried popping potassium pills like candy. I ate more. I doubled up on my iron dose. I went to yoga and even got on the treadmill at 6 AM yesterday. I tried the nuclear option of eating more carbs to stop peeing away minerals. Most of these things helped, but the problem kept coming back. A comment from Galina made me look up epinephrine, one of the drugs my surgeon used to anesthetize me Friday. First, the assistant at the surge...

Carrageenan: A Sickening Thickener. Is it a Migraine Menace?

Let me tell you about my ride in an ambulance last night. I woke up at six o'clock from a nap with a mild headache. I ate dinner and took my vitamins, along with a couple of extra magnesium pills. Since magnesium helps my TMJ flare-ups, I thought it might help my headache. Then I went to see my mother. A few hours later, I had a severe headache, sinus pain and nausea. During a brief respite from the pain, I left for home, but less than a mile later, I got out of my car and threw up. A cop, Officer Fisher, pulled up behind me and asked if I was okay. He believed me when he said I hadn't been drinking, but he said I seemed lethargic and he wanted the paramedics to see me. (Later he mentioned that a man he'd recently stopped was having a stroke.) Thinking I had a migraine headache, the paramedics wanted to take me to the hospital. But since I knew that doctors don't know what causes migraine headaches, and I didn't know what effect their medicine would have on m...