Letter to the New York Times: Alzhiemer's and a Whole-Foods, Plant-Based Diet

Back in late January I sent the following letter to The New York Times:

Charles Piller (“The Devastating Legacy of Lies in Alzheimer’s Science,” Jan. 24) writes that “despite decades of research, no treatment has been created that arrests Alzheimer’s cognitive deterioration, let alone reverses it.” The key word here is “created”; it’s quite true that researchers have not succeeded in creating new drugs that make a substantial difference. But a growing body of research suggests that lifestyle changes—in particular, adopting a whole-foods, plant-based diet—can make a substantial difference, not only in helping to prevent Alzheimer’s but also in many cases to arrest and even to reverse effects of the disease. The pharmaceutical industry has a great deal invested in persuading us that expensive drugs are the answer for health problems; in this area as in many others, lifestyle changes may be far more beneficial than expensive drugs.

The research is not dubious, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-style medical research; it's for real. If you're interested, you can find out more online on sites such as nutritionfacts.org and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine site (https://www.pcrm.org/health-topics/alzheimers). Or, if you'd like to check out some of the original research, here are some places to start:

Dean Ornish et al., “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,” Alzheimer's Research and Therapy, June 2024 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38849944/ (“Comprehensive lifestyle changes may significantly improve cognition and function after 20 weeks in many patients with MCI or early dementia due to Alzheimer’s Disease”)

Alzbeta Katanova et al., “Effect of a Vegan Diet on Alzheimer’s Disease,” International Journal of Molecular Science, November 2022 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9738978/ (“There is evidence indicating that a vegan diet could be beneficial in the prevention of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease”).]