Friday, November 8, 2013

Governor McDonnell Announces Appointments to Norfolk State University Board of Visitors

Norfolk, VA
Norfolk, VA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
RICHMOND – Governor Bob McDonnell announced today the appointments of three board appointees to fill vacancies on the Norfolk State University Board of Visitors. The three appointees are: Lt. General Michael Rochelle (Ret.), Dr. Deborah DiCroce, and Mr. Bryan Cuffee. 
Speaking about the appointments, Governor McDonnell noted, “Today I have made three appointments to fill vacancies on the Norfolk State University Board of Visitors.  Each appointee brings unique strengths and experiences to the board that will be vital to carrying out an innovative, strategic path for the University’s future.  Norfolk State University has a history of academic excellence, outstanding alumni, and strong community support. I have no doubt the University can overcome its current challenges and become a leader again in placing graduates in competitive, in-demand careers.  I commend interim President Eddie Moore, Rector Tom Chewning, the administration, faculty, and the Board of Visitors for the steps already being taken to move the school forward.”
The Governor added, “In addition to these appointees, I have asked two individuals to serve as senior advisors to the board and administration on an as-needed basis.  Jim Dyke, as a former Secretary of Education in Virginia, can provide the board and administration with counsel on an array of matters, assist the university with strategic implementation, and work with the administration to address SACS concerns.  Professor Ervin Jordan, alumnus of Norfolk State and current professor at the University of Virginia, can provide counsel to the administration and faculty on matters related to the academic environment and lend expertise on academic excellence at NSU.”
            Biographies of each of the board appointees are below:
Michael D. Rochelle (LTG, USA, Ret.) of Manassas, Founder, President, and CEO of MDR Strategies, LLC
Michael Rochelle is Founder, President, and CEO of MDR Strategies, LLC, a strategic human capital consulting and executive coaching firm. Rochelle retired from the US Army after 37 years. Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Language Education from NSU in 1972 and a Masters in Public Administration from Shippensburg State University in 1994. He is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Alumni for NSU and a member of the Boys and Girls of America Hall of Fame.  Rochelle was honored as an NAACP “Barrier Breaker” award recipient in 2008.
Deborah M. DiCroce, Ed.D. of Chesapeake, President and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation
Dr. DiCroce is President and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. She has thirty-five years of experience in Virginia higher education, serving as President of Tidewater Community College for 14 years until 2012 and previously as President of Piedmont Community College in Charlottesville for nine years.
Dr. DiCroce is a past Trustee of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and past member of the SACS Commission on Colleges.  She has taught at the University of Virginia, The College of William and Mary, and Old Dominion University.  Before her appointment to the NSU Board of Visitors, she served on the Board of Visitors at Christopher Newport University and Governor McDonnell’s Commission on Economic Development & Job Creation. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Old Dominion University and a doctorate in Higher Education from The College of William & Mary. Very active in the Hampton Roads region, the Chesapeake Rotary Club named Dr. DiCroce First Citizen of Chesapeake in 2012.
Bryan Cuffee of Virginia Beach, Vice President of Development for Gold Key/PHR Hotels and Resorts
Bryan Cuffee has worked at Gold Key/PHR Hotels and Resorts since 1995 and currently serves as Vice President of Development. He serves as an appointee to the Virginia Beach Development Authority, the Virginia Beach Resort Advisory Commission, and the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance.  He is also a member of the Norfolk Middle Town Lions Club and a charter member of the United Way African-American Leadership Giving Initiative. Cuffee earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Norfolk State University and a Masters in Business Administration from Old Dominion University. 
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An Ex-Cop's Guide to Not Getting Arrested

getting arrested in Knoxville, Tennessee
getting arrested in Knoxville, Tennessee (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
MIKE RIGGSNOV 07, 2013

Dale Carson is a defense attorney in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as an alumnus of the Miami-Dade Police Department and the FBI. So he knows a thing or two about how cops determine who to hassle, and what all of us can do to not be one of those people. Carson has distilled his tips into a book titled Arrest-Proof Yourselfnow in its second edition. It is a legitimately scary book—369 pages of insight on the many ways police officers profile and harass the people on their beat in an effort to rack up as many arrests as possible. 
"Law enforcement officers now are part of the revenue gathering system," Carson tells me in a phone interview. "The ranks of cops are young and competitive, they’re in competition with one another and intra-departmentally. It becomes a game. Policing isn’t about keeping streets safe, it’s about statistical success. The question for them is, Who can put the most people in jail?"
Which would make the question for you and me, how can we stay out of jail? Carson's book does a pretty good job of explaining—in frank language—how to beat a system that's increasingly predatory.
Carson has four golden rules, the first of which is, "If police can't see you, they can't arrest you." The simplest application of this concept is that if you plan on doing something illegal, you should do it in the privacy of your home. Yes, you can be arrested while at home, but you can't be profiled sitting in your living room, and profiling is what you're trying to avoid.
Be Invisible to Police
Carson has four golden rules, the first of which is, "If police can't see you, they can't arrest you." The simplest application of this concept is that if you plan on doing something illegal, you should do it in the privacy of your home. Yes, you can be arrested while at home, but you can't be profiled sitting in your living room, and profiling is what you're trying to avoid. 
The rule extends to activities that are perfectly legal. "In 21st century America," he writes, "as long as you're not committing a crime, you should be able to wear the wildest clothes you want, roam the streets when you feel like it, and lean on a light post or hang out at some wild club if it amuses you." "Should" is the key word. In reality, cops love hassling people who stand out, even though it's not illegal to, say, have a Buckeyes bumper sticker that looks like a pot leaf. If you drive a sports car or a lowrider, you're more likely to attract a cop's attention than if you drive, say, a gray Honda Civic. Same goes for clothes, hairstyles, tone and volume of voice. Be boring.  
So try to blend in. Beat cops who patrol the same routes day after day are "incredibly attuned to incongruity." But don't be too reactive when you see cops. "Police are visual predators," Carson writes. "Any sudden change in motion, speed, direction or behavior immediately attracts their attention." That means even if you're doing something you think might attract a cop's attention, quickly doing something else will attract even more attention. "Don't alter the pattern," Carson advises. "Keep on keeping on." 
Also, if you can help it, don't go out after dark. 
What if I can't be invisible to police?
If police want to hassle you, they're going to, even if you're following the above tips as closely as possible. What then? Every interaction with a police officer entails two contests: One for "psychological dominance" and one for "custody of your body." Carson advises giving in on the first contest in order to win the second. Is that belittling? Of course. "Being questioned by police is insulting," Carson writes. "It is, however, less insulting than being arrested. What I'm advising you to do when questioned by police is pocket the insult. This is difficult and emotionally painful."
Winning the psychological battle requires you to be honest with cops, polite, respectful, and resistant to incitement. "If cops lean into your space and blast you with coffee-and-stale-donut breath, ignore it," Carson writes. Same goes for if they poke you in the chest or use racial slurs. "If you react, you'll get busted." Make eye contact, but don't smile. "Cops don't like smiles." Always tell the truth. "Lying is complicated, telling the truth is simple." 
He also says you should be dignified—unless it looks like you're about to lose both the psychological contest and the one for custody of your body. In which case, you should be strategically pitiful. 
 
First off, you should ask for a notice to appear as an alternative to being arrested. You still have to go before a judge, but you can go under your own power without first going to jail. Carson says the least degrading way to get a cop to issue you a notice in lieu of arresting you is to tell them that you're not a hardened criminal and that being arrested (and having your mugshot taken) is going to impact your employment, education and/or family. 
 
And if that doesn't work? It's debasement time. Start with crying. Bawl hard while begging for a notice (the option here is a notice or jail, not notice/jail or getting off scot free). "Don't waste time worrying about what your friends will think," Carson says. "If they're with you, they're getting arrested too." If they're not with you, they won't know. 

If crying fails, and you're willing to do whatever it takes to not go to jail, Carson advises you to "foul yourself so that the police will consider setting you free in order not to get their cruiser nasty." Vomit on your clothes. Defecate and urinate in your pants. Then let the officers know what you've done. If they arrest you anyway, you'll get cleaned and reclothed at the jail. 
 
Reasonable things you should never do 
 
If you're driving too fast and see a police car up ahead, don't hit the brakes. "If you suddenly hit the brakes," Carson writes, "cops in front of you will see your front end dip, a tip-off that you were speeding." Don't drive perfectly, or too slow. Don't slouch or put too much heavy stuff in your trunk, causing your car to ride low. If you're a dude, and you want to roll around town with your fellow dudes, be prepared for a stop. "When cops see four young males in a car, they immediately wonder if this is a crew of criminals out to do a job." If you're going to ride four deep, have one member of your car wear a highly visible item of clothing indicating what you do for a living. For instance, if you're all construction workers car-pooling on the way home from a job site, someone in the car should wear a hard hat. Seriously. 

Another reasonable thing you should never do? Allow a cop to search your car. There are many loopholes that allow cops to search your car without probable cause or a warrant, but Carson advises you to say no every time. You should still follow all the rules of a traffic stop—keep hands where cops can see them, give them your paperwork, get out of the car if they ask you to—but never let them search. Always, always, always say no (politely).


Link back to original story at The Atlantic Cities

Our Notes:

Violations to the United States Constitution continue to prevail throughout the nation.  Citizens are now the hunted.  We have all become pry to our government at so many levels and the insults continue to grow each year.  It's a sad state of affairs when a book like this becomes critical to daily survival.  We continue to head towards being nothing more than a major banana republic.  If you do not know your Constitutional rights, you do not see all the violations that exist in the above story.

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Virginia 4th Graders Among Nation’s Best Readers

English: Governor of Virginia at CPAC in .
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Achievement Up Significantly Since 2009 on National Reading Test 

RICHMOND - Results from the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that the reading skills of Virginia fourth-grade students have improved significantly over the last four years, Governor Bob McDonnell reported today.

Virginia is one of the nation’s 12 highest-performing states in fourth-grade reading. These states have what the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) views as statistically similar percentages of fourth graders earning proficient or advanced scores.

“Developing a strong literacy foundation is imperative to a child's success in school,” said Governor McDonnell.  “In 2012, we passed legislation to end social promotion in order to ensure that all students are reading on grade level prior to moving on to fourth grade. We have seen great improvement in reading scores over the last four years. As more students are impacted by the strategies implemented in our third grade reading program we expect we will see even greater success.”

Forty-three percent of the commonwealth’s grade-4 students met or exceeded the NAEP proficiency standard and 12 percent performed at the advanced level. Nationwide, 34 percent of fourth-grade students demonstrated reading skills at or above the proficient level and eight percent achieved advanced scores.

The improvement in the reading skills of Virginia fourth graders follows an expansion of the commonwealth’s efforts to strengthen the skills of struggling young readers. In 2012, the General Assembly approved Governor Bob McDonnell’s request for funds to provide early reading intervention services for 100 percent of eligible students in grades K-3 and to make the promotion of students who fail the grade-3 reading Standards of Learning (SOL) test contingent on intervention. The 2013 General Assembly approved McDonnell’s request for state funding for an additional reading specialist in elementary schools with grade-3 reading pass rates below 75 percent.


“In recent years, we’ve placed an increased emphasis on strengthening adolescent literacy and equipping students with the reading skills that will prepare them for college or a career,” Secretary of Education Laura Fornash said.

NCES describes the increase in reading achievement among Virginia fourth graders since 2009 — when 38 percent achieved proficient or advanced scores — as statistically significant.

For the first time in the history of the state-level NAEP, a majority of Virginia’s white fourth graders — 51 percent — achieved proficient or advanced reading scores. Twenty-three percent of black Virginia fourth graders earned proficient or advanced scores, as did 25 of Hispanic fourth graders and 65 percent of Asian fourth graders.

Board of Education President David M. Foster said that persistent differences in the performance of student subgroups underscore the importance of the SOL program in detecting achievement gaps and in identifying low-performing schools in need of state interventions and resources.     

“The Board of Education is raising the bar with college- and career-ready standards and innovative assessments that require critical thinking, as well as the mastery of content knowledge,” Foster said. “Helping all students meet these higher expectations — regardless of where they live or the schools they attend — is the surest prescription for narrowing and ultimately closing achievement gaps.”

Thirty-six percent of Virginia eighth-grade students achieved at or above the proficient level in reading on the 2013 NAEP, the same percentage as in 2011. Four percent achieved advanced reading scores, also the same percentage as in 2011. Nationally, 34 percent of eighth graders achieved proficient or advanced scores and 4 percent earned advanced scores.


Forty-five percent of white eighth graders in Virginia earned proficient or advanced reading scores, as did 17 percent of black students, 26 percent of Hispanic students and 49 percent of Asian students.

In mathematics, 47 percent of Virginia fourth graders achieved scores at or above the proficient level, compared with 46 percent in 2011. Nine percent scored at the advanced level, the same percentage as in 2011. Nationwide, 41 percent of fourth-graders demonstrated achievement at or above the proficient level and eight percent achieved advanced scores.


NCES says the percentage of the commonwealth’s fourth graders achieving proficient or advanced scores in mathematics has improved significantly since 2007, when only 42 percent met or exceeded the NAEP proficiency standard.

Fifty-six percent of white fourth graders achieved proficient or advanced mathematics scores, as did 22 percent of black students, 32 percent of Hispanic students, and 70 percent of Asian students.

Thirty-eight percent of Virginia eighth graders achieved proficient or advanced mathematics scores in 2013, compared with 40 percent in 2011. NCES does not regard this two-point decline as statistically noteworthy. Ten percent of the commonwealth’s eighth graders earned advanced mathematics scores in 2013, compared with 11 percent in 2011. Nationally, 34 percent of eighth graders earned proficient or advanced scores; eight percent achieved at the advanced level.


Eighth graders in only five states — Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Minnesota and Vermont — achieved higher average math scores than Virginia students, compared with seven states in 2011. NCES describes the increase in grade-8 mathematics achievement in Virginia since 2005 — when 33 percent earned proficient or advanced scores — as significant.

Forty-seven percent of white Virginia eighth graders achieved proficient or advanced mathematics scores on the 2013 NAEP, as did 15 percent of black eighth graders, 25 percent of Hispanic eighth graders, and 64 percent of Asians.

NAEP — also known as the Nation’s Report Card — reflects the performance of representative samples of students in each state and nationwide. The 2013 NAEP sampling of Virginia students included approximately 6,100 fourth-grade students and 5,700 eighth graders. NAEP results are not reported by division or for individual schools.

Reading and mathematics tests are administered every two years and provide a means of comparing the progress of states in raising student achievement. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a proficient NAEP score represents solid performance on challenging subject matter — a more rigorous standard than grade-level achievement.
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Governor McDonnell Announces Major Manufacturing Investment in Culpeper County

Seal of Culpeper County, Virginia
Seal of Culpeper County, Virginia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
TE Connectivity Ltd. to expand operation and create 30 new jobs

RICHMOND - Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) will invest more than $15 million in the expansion of the company’s operations in the Town of Culpeper in Culpeper County. The plant designs and manufactures undersea fiber optic telecommunication cables, electro-optical-mechanical cables, and steel wire. The project is expected to create approximately 30 new jobs.

Speaking about today’s announcement, Governor McDonnell said, “TE Connectivity has been a strong employer in Culpeper since the 1930s, and this major investment and expansion exemplifies the success companies experience in the Commonwealth. This operation is significant, as it will be the only TE Connectivity manufacturing site to produce wire and cables for the marine industry, servicing domestic and international markets. Access to key clients, a trained and available workforce and the cost of doing business are key factors that gave Virginia the advantage. We look forward to TE’s success for the next 80 years.”

“TE Connectivity is a global company that does important work for a major industry to keep us connected,” said Jim Cheng, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “This tremendous investment to expand in Culpeper County and create new high-tech jobs enables the company to add capacity and build on its long-term success and growth in Virginia.”

TE Connectivity is a $13 billion world leader in connectivity. The company designs and manufactures products at the heart of electronic connections for the world's leading industries including automotive, energy and industrial, broadband communications, consumer devices, healthcare, and aerospace and defense. TE Connectivity's long-standing commitment to innovation and engineering excellence helps its customers solve the need for more energy efficiency, always-on communications and ever-increasing productivity. With nearly 90,000 employees in over 50 countries, TE Connectivity makes connections the world relies on to work flawlessly every day.

“TE is pleased to make this investment within our Culpeper manufacturing site, as the facility expansion and the newly created positions will play an important part in the growth of our business,” stated Kevin Rock, President - Aerospace, Defense and Marine, a Global Business Unit of TE Connectivity. “Virginia has always had a talented and skilled workforce, which has allowed us to hire highly capable people to support our technical business.” 

            The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the Town of Culpeper, Culpeper County, and the Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development to secure the project for Virginia. Governor McDonnell approved a $100,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Culpeper County with the project.

Town of Culpeper Mayor Chip Coleman stated, “The expansion and prospect of additional jobs is great news on so many fronts. It shows that our economy is slowly recovering and that a major corporation sees that we have a high quality workforce in a community with a quality of life that is attractive. We are indeed fortunate to have this major expansion and the new jobs it brings to our community. Economic development is the cornerstone of a prosperous community.”

Sue Hansohn, Chairperson of the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors, said, “We are very excited about this news. TE has been a corporate partner with Culpeper for many years. We are also pleased because light manufacturing is one of our target industries and helping our existing businesses grow and expand is one of our major economic development strategies. Culpeper, Virginia was not the only location that the company was considering for this expansion. I would like to thank the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the County’s Department of Economic Development for the outstanding effort they put forth in helping TE Connectivity choose Culpeper, Virginia as the location for this important project.”
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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Alzheimer’s Advances; Early Detection Test Using Peanut Butter

Studying Alzheimer's disease at the APS
 (Photo credit: Argonne National Laboratory)
By Dr. Mercola
At present, some 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association's 2011 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures.1
By 2050, this is expected to jump to 16 million, and in the next 20 years it is projected that Alzheimer's will affect one in four Americans, rivaling the current prevalence of obesity and diabetes.
Since treatments are few and rarely effective, early diagnosis and prevention become all the more important.
Interestingly, simple tools like a table spoon of peanut butter and a ruler could potentially be used to confirm a diagnosis of the disease in its early stages. As reported by Medical News Today:2
“Jennifer Stamps, a graduate student in the University of Florida (UF) McKnight Brain Institute Center for Smell and Taste, and her colleagues reported the findings of a small pilot study in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences.3
Stamps came up with the idea of using peanut butter to test for smell sensitivity while she was working with Dr. Kenneth Heilman, one of the world's best known behavioral neurologists, from the UF College of Medicine's department of neurology.
... The ability to smell is associated with the first cranial nerve and is often one of the first things to be affected in cognitive decline... She thought of peanut butter because, she said, it is a "pure odorant" that is only detected by the olfactory nerve and is easy to access.”
The pilot study tested the smell of 24 patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. To perform the test, the patient was asked to close their eyes and mouth, and hold one nostril closed while breathing normally through the other.
Using a ruler, the clinician measured the distance between the open nostril and the peanut butter, marking the distance at which the patient was able to detect the distinct odor. After a 90 second delay, the procedure was repeated with the other nostril.
They discovered that those diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s (which was done through other clinical testing) experienced a significant difference in their ability to detect the odor between the two nostrils. According to the featured report:
“[T]he left nostril was impaired and did not detect the smell until it was an average of 10 cm closer to the nose than the right nostril had made the detection in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
This was not the case in patients with other kinds of dementia; instead, these patients had either no differences in odor detection between nostrils or the right nostril was worse at detecting odor than the left one.”
Of course, it’s too early to tell whether this test might be reliable enough to become widely used. More research needs to be done. But according to Stamps, the test can be used to confirm a diagnosis. The team is planning to study patients with mild cognitive impairment next, to assess whether it might help predict a future diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.

Benefits of Coconut Oil Make Headlines Again

In related news, Florida researchers are also looking into whether coconut oil might be of benefit against Alzheimer’s. Three years ago, I published Dr. Mary Newport’s theory that ketone bodies, an alternative fuel for your brain that your body makes when digesting coconut oil, might offer profound benefits in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.
At the time I said that, should her theory turn out to be accurate, it could be one of the greatest natural health discoveries in a long time. Now, Dr. Newport has launched one of the first clinical trials of its kind to test her theory. The research is being done at the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute.
Sixty-five patients diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s have been enrolled to evaluate the effects of coconut oil on the disease, compared to a placebo. Dr. Newport hopes to have the results within a year.
This issue strikes close to home for Dr. Newport, whose husband has been battling the disease for years. As reported by CTV News:4
“While there is currently no clinical data showing the benefits of coconut oil on the prevention and treatment of dementia, Newport -- whose husband Steve was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 51 -- said she began to see improvements after starting him on four teaspoons of coconut oil per day.
“Before the coconut oil, he could not tie his shoes. His weird slow gait … That improved. He walked normally and he was able to start running again.
He was able to start reading again, his conversation improved dramatically and then over several months we saw improvements in his memory,” Newport said. Prior to starting him on coconut oil, Newport said none of the existing medications were working.”

Coconut Oil Appears to Be an Ideal Brain Food

There are only two types of fuel your body can convert into energy: carbs/sugar, or fat. Again, ketones are what your body produces when it converts fat (as opposed to glucose) into energy. And a primary source of ketone bodies are the medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) found in coconut oil. In fact, coconut oil contains about 66 percent MCTs.
Medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) are fats that are not processed by your body in the same manner as long-chain triglycerides. Normally, a fat taken into your body must be mixed with bile released from your gallbladder before it can be broken down in your digestive system.

But medium-chain triglycerides go directly to your liver, which naturally converts the oil into ketones, bypassing the bile entirely. Your liver then immediately releases the ketones into your bloodstream where they are transported to your brain to be readily used as fuel.
While your brain is quite happy running on glucose, there’s evidence suggesting that ketone bodies may actually help restore and renew neurons and nerve function in your brain, even after damage has set in. Interestingly, the mechanism of this MCT-ketone metabolism appears to be that your body treats MCTs as a carbohydrate and not a fat.  This allows the ketone energy to hit your bloodstream without the normal insulin spike associated with carbohydrates entering your bloodstream. So in effect, coconut oil is a fat that acts like a carbohydrate when it comes to brain fuel.

How Much Coconut Oil Might You Need?

Therapeutic levels of MCTs have been studied at 20 grams per day. According to Dr. Newport's calculations,5 just over two tablespoons of coconut oil (about 35 ml or seven level teaspoons) would supply you with the equivalent of 20 grams of MCT, which is indicated as either a preventative measure against degenerative neurological diseases, or as a treatment for an already established case.
While more research certainly needs to be done in this area as well, I see no reason not to incorporate coconut oil in your diet, or the diet of a loved one who is exhibiting symptoms of brain degeneration. Coconut oil has so many profound health benefits; it’s not going to do any harm.
It’s worth noting that people tolerate coconut oil differently, and you may have to start slowly and build up to these therapeutic levels. My recommendation is to start with one teaspoon, taken with food in the mornings. Gradually add more coconut oil every few days until you are able to tolerate about four tablespoons. It’s best to take it with food, to avoid upsetting your stomach.

Low-Fat Craze has Likely Contributed to Dramatic Rise in Alzheimer’s

A number of seriously flawed nutritional guidelines have contributed to more than a few health problems in the US, and the low-fat craze (aimed at preventing heart disease) is toward the top of that list. Not only does avoiding healthful fat promote heart disease, it also promotes brain diseases like Alzheimer’s.
According to neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter, fat avoidance and carbohydrate overconsumption are at the heart of the Alzheimer’s epidemic—which is an entirely preventable disease, driven by lifestyle factors such as diet. Dr. Perlmutter’s book,Grain Brain, provides a powerful argument for eliminating grains from your diet to protect your brain health. Another major factor is the development and increased consumption of genetically engineered (GE) grains, which are now pervasive in most processed foods sold in the US. Unfortunately, despite dire need, there’s little money available for research into treatments using regular food items. As Amanda Smith, Medical Director at University of South Florida (USF) Health Byrd Alzheimer's Institute told CTV News:
”The pharmaceutical industry is in this -- of course to make money for their companies, and of course they want to help people theoretically -- but at the end of the day it is about dollars and cents, and so money gets invested in things that are new or patentable rather than things that are sitting on the shelf already.”

Intermittent Fasting Can Also Increase Ketone Production

There are two additional ways to increase ketone production: restricting carbohydrates, and intermittent fasting. Personally, I believe all three of these strategies are best applied together, as you need to replace the lost carbs with high quality fat (and coconut oil certainly fits that bill), and intermittent fasting will help your body shift to burning fat as its primary fuel. It takes about six to eight hours for your body to metabolize your glycogen stores, after which you start to shift to burning stored fat, and hence producing ketone bodies.
Contrary to more stringent and challenging fasts, intermittent fasting simply involves timing your meals to allow your body to enter the fat-burning “window.”  To be effective, the length of your fast must be at least 16 hours. For example, this would mean eating only between the hours of 11am until 7pm, or noon until 8pm. You can restrict it even further — down to six, four, or even two hours if you want, but you can still reap many of the health benefits associated with intermittent fasting by limiting your eating to an eight-hour window each day.
I recommend easing yourself into this type of eating schedule. Start by not eating anything for three hours prior to bed, and then gradually extend the time before you eat breakfast each day to the point that you have skipped breakfast and have your first meal at lunch. This typically takes a few weeks to a few months. Also, this is not something that needs to be done continuously once your body has shifted to fat burning mode. However your desire to eat will be dramatically reduced so you won’t feel the need to eat like you did before shifting your body’s primary fuel burning preference.

Tips for Maintaining Healthy Brain Function and Avoiding Alzheimer's Disease

Knowing that Alzheimer’s is a preventable disease, predicated on your lifestyle choices, puts the power into your hands.  Diet is paramount, and the beauty of following my optimized nutrition plan is that it helps prevent and treat virtually ALL chronic degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease.
People who experience very little decline in their cognitive function up until their deaths have been found (post-mortem) to be free of brain lesions, showing that it's entirely possible to prevent the damage from occurring in the first place… and one of the best ways to do this is by leading a healthy lifestyle. The following guidelines will help you protect your brain health well into old age:
  • Avoid sugar and refined fructoseIdeally, you’ll want to keep your sugar levels to a minimum and your total fructose below 25 grams per day, or as low as 15 grams per day if you have insulin resistance or any related disorders.
  • Avoid gluten (primarily wheat). Research shows that your blood-brain barrier, the barrier that keeps things out of your brain where they don’t belong, is negatively affected by gluten. Gluten also makes your gut more permeable, which allows proteins to get into your bloodstream, where they don’t belong. That then sensitizes your immune system and promotes inflammation and autoimmunity, both of which play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s.
  • Optimize your gut flora by regularly eating fermented foods or taking a high potency and high quality probiotic supplement.
  • Increase consumption of all healthful fats, including animal-based omega-3. Beneficial health-promoting fats that your brain needs for optimal function include organic butter from raw milk, clarified butter called organic grass fed raw butter, olives, organic virgin olive oil and coconut oil, nuts like pecans and macadamia, free-range eggs, wild Alaskan salmon, and avocado.
  • Contrary to popular belief, the ideal fuel for your brain is not glucose but ketones. Ketones are what your body produces when it converts fat (as opposed to glucose) into energy. The medium chain triglycerides (MCT) found in coconut oil are GREAT source of ketone bodies, because coconut oil is about 66 percent MCTs.  In fact, ketones appear to be thepreferred source of brain food in patients affected by diabetes or Alzheimer's.
    Also make sure you’re getting enough animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil. (I recommend avoiding most fish because, although fish is naturally high in omega-3, most fish are now severely contaminated with mercury.) High intake of the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA help by preventing cell damage caused by Alzheimer's disease, thereby slowing down its progression, and lowering your risk of developing the disorder.
  • Reduce your overall calorie consumption, and/or intermittently fast. As mentioned above, ketones are mobilized when you replace carbs with coconut oil and other sources of healthy fats. A one-day fast can help your body to “reset” itself, and start to burn fat instead of sugar.
  • As part of a healthy lifestyle, I prefer an intermittent fasting schedule that simply calls for limiting your eating to a narrower window of time each day. By restricting your eating to a 6-8 hour window, you effectively fast 16-18 hours each day. To learn more, please see this previous article.
  • Improve your magnesium levels. There is some exciting preliminary research strongly suggesting a decrease in Alzheimer symptoms with increased levels of magnesium in the brain. Unfortunately most magnesium supplements do not pass the blood brain levels, but a new one, magnesium threonate, appears to and holds some promise for the future for treating this condition and may be superior to other forms.
  • Optimize your vitamin D levels with safe sun exposure. Strong links between low levels of vitamin D in Alzheimer's patients and poor outcomes on cognitive tests have been revealed. Researchers believe that optimal vitamin D levels may enhance the amount of important chemicals in your brain and protect brain cells by increasing the effectiveness of the glial cells in nursing damaged neurons back to health.
  • Vitamin D may also exert some of its beneficial effects on Alzheimer's through its anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. Sufficient vitamin D is imperative for proper functioning of your immune system to combat inflammation that is also associated with Alzheimer's.
  • Keep your fasting insulin levels below 3. This is indirectly related to fructose, as it will clearly lead to insulin resistance. However other sugars (sucrose is 50 percent fructose by weight), grains and lack of exercise are also important factors. Lowering insulin will also help lower leptin levels which is another factor for Alzheimer’s.
  • Eat a nutritious diet, rich in folate, such as the one described in my nutrition plan. Vegetables, without question, are your best form of folate, and we should all eat plenty of fresh raw veggies every day.  
  • Avoid and eliminate mercury from your body. Dental amalgam fillings, which are 50 percent mercury by weight, are one of the major sources of heavy metal toxicity, however you should be healthy prior to having them removed. Once you have adjusted to following the diet described in my optimized nutrition plan, you can follow the mercury detox protocol and then find a biological dentist to have your amalgams removed.
  • Avoid aluminum, such as antiperspirants, non-stick cookware, vaccine adjuvants, etc.
  • Exercise regularly. It's been suggested that exercise can trigger a change in the way the amyloid precursor protein is metabolized,6 thus, slowing down the onset and progression of Alzheimer's. Exercise also increases levels of the protein PGC-1alpha. Research has also shown that people with Alzheimer's have less PGC-1alpha in their brains11 and cells that contain more of the protein produce less of the toxic amyloid protein associated with Alzheimer's. I would strongly recommend reviewing the Peak Fitness Technique for my specific recommendations.
  • Avoid flu vaccinations as most contain mercury, a well-known neurotoxic and immunotoxic agent.
  • Eat blueberries. Wild blueberries, which have high anthocyanin and antioxidant content, are known to guard against Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases.  Like any fruit though, avoid excesses here.
  • Challenge your mind daily. Mental stimulation, especially learning something new, such as learning to play an instrument or a new language, is associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimer's. Researchers suspect that mental challenge helps to build up your brain, making it less susceptible to the lesions associated with Alzheimer's disease.
  • Avoid anticholinergics and statin drugs. Drugs that block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter, have been shown to increase your risk of dementia. These drugs include certain nighttime pain relievers, antihistamines, sleep aids, certain antidepressants, medications to control incontinence, and certain narcotic pain relievers.
  • Statin drugs are particularly problematic because they suppress the synthesis of cholesterol, deplete your brain of coenzyme Q10 and neurotransmitter precursors, and prevent adequate delivery of essential fatty acids and fat-soluble antioxidants to your brain by inhibiting the production of the indispensable carrier biomolecule known as low-density lipoprotein.

Other Natural Treatments for Your Anti-Alzheimer's Arsenal

Finally, there are a few other nutritional recommendations worth noting for their specific benefits in preventing and treating dementia. So, although your fundamental strategy for preventing dementia should involve a comprehensive lifestyle approach, you may want to consider adding a few of these natural dietary agents to your anti-Alzheimer's arsenal. These four natural foods/supplements have good science behind them, in terms of preventing age-related cognitive changes:
  1. Astaxanthin is a natural pigment with unique properties and many clinical benefits, including some of the most potent antioxidant activity currently known. As a fat-soluble nutrient, astaxanthin readily crosses your blood-brain barrier. One study7 found it may help prevent neurodegeneration associated with oxidative stress, as well as make a potent natural "brain food."
  2. The molecules of astaxanthin neutralize free radicals and other oxidants without being destroyed or becoming pro-oxidants themselves in the process. It's is a unique molecule whose shape allows it to precisely fit into a cell membrane and span its entire width. In this position, astaxanthin can intercept potentially damaging molecules before they can damage your cells.
    You can get some astaxanthin by taking krill oil, which is a fantastic omega-3 fat supplement. But you can boost your astaxanthin even MORE by adding a pure astaxanthin supplement to your nutritional regimen. For optimal absorption, make sure to take krill oil and/or astaxanthin with a fat-containing meal, since both are fat-soluble.
  3. Gingko bilobaMany scientific studies have found that Ginkgo biloba has positive effects for dementia. Gingko, which is derived from a tree native to Asia, has long been used medicinally in China and other countries. A1997 study from JAMAshowed clear evidence that Ginkgo improves cognitive performance and social functioning for those suffering from dementia.   Research since then has been equally promising. One study in 2006 found Gingko as effective as the dementia drug Aricept (donepezil) for treating mild to moderate Alzheimer's type dementia. A 2010 meta-analysis found Gingko biloba to be effective for a variety of types of dementia.
  4. Alpha lipoic acid (ALA): ALA can stabilize cognitive functions among Alzheimer's patients and may slow the progression of the disease.
  5. Vitamin B12: A small Finnish study published in the journal Neurology8 found thatpeople who consume foods rich in B12 may reduce their risk of Alzheimer's in their later years. For each unit increase in the marker of vitamin B12  the risk of developing Alzheimer's was reduced by two percent.  Remember sublingual methylcobalamin may be your best bet here.

 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/11/07/peanut-butter-coconut-oil-alzheimers-detection.aspx  Link back to Mercola.com webiste.
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