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Interview with
Dr. David Perlmutter
What made you first start investigating the
link between dietary carbohydrate and the
decline of cognitive function?
We’ve known for well over a decade that the risk of developing
Alzheimer’s is dramatically increased in diabetics, so it seemed to
me that even subtle blood sugar elevations might well be damaging
for the brain. As it turned out, researchers at that time had just begun
publishing their findings that supported this concept, and it has now
become wholly validated.
What inspired you to write Grain Brain?
I have never derived much satisfaction in just treating the symptoms
of brain diseases. No one has really brought to the public’s attention
the notion of preventive medicine as it relates to the brain. And it’s
not for lack of scientific support. So Grain Brain was written to provide
people with the tools not only to reverse some of the most pernicious
brain disorders, but, perhaps more importantly, to keep them from
happening in the first place.
Have you seen substantial pushback
regarding the book? It’s very controversial,
from a traditional nutritional standpoint, to
recommend a protocol so far from the USDA’s.
Surprisingly, there has been almost no negative response to Grain
Brain. I suspect this is because the book was written based upon more
than 200 scientific research publications that support my central thesis.
The grain industry has naturally come out in an attempt to derogate my
work, but again, the support has been so welcomed.
14 December 2014 eNewsletter
Paleo Magazine recently had a chance to sit down with
Dr. David Perlmutter, neurologist and author of Grain Brain.
How do you respond to more active
athletes, who seem to struggle in the
face of decreased glucose consumption?
An example of this would be Harvard
organic chemist PhD Mat LaLonde and
his experiment in performing CrossFit
workouts while adhering to a low-carb
Paleo diet. Mat later reported that he
crashed very badly, from lack of dietary
glucose, after a few months on this
protocol.
The key here is that if you intend to pursue a low-carb,
high-fat diet and engage in endurance events, you must
be fully keto-adapted. That means you must maintain your
physiology in a state whereby it remains deprived of carbs
and derives energy from fat, all the time. This is the approach
that has allowed us to survive as hunter-gatherers for more
than 2 million years.
Do you think there is one single most
damaging food for brain health? Soda,
perhaps?
Sugar—in any form, whether honey, maple syrup, agave or
even fruit juice.
Why do you think your book is seen
as so controversial? Politics, the food
industry and the substantial loss
of profits they could