June 23rd, 2020 | 4pm - 5pm MDT
New research suggests that the risk of Alzheimer’s disease can be dramatically reduced by simple steps we can take now. Foremost among them are changes to our food choices. For all who are seeking agency to combat this untreatable disease, changing our diet may be the part of an answer we seek.
Most people are familiar with the role of nutrition in obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular health, but do not realize how nutrition can also influence the brain, particularly the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Neal Barnard presents scientific findings on the role of fats, vitamins, and certain metals on brain health. Dr. Ornish’s current clinical trial to reverse and prevent Alzheimer’s, includes not only the importance of a vegan diet, but also hours of meditation, exercise, and support group or social connection.
Neal Barnard, MD, FACC, is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, a board-certified psychiatrist, and President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Dr. Barnard has led numerous research studies investigating the effects of diet on diabetes, body weight, and chronic pain, including a groundbreaking study of dietary interventions in type 2 diabetes, funded by the National Institutes of Health. His work paved the way to understanding type 2 diabetes may be a potentially reversible condition for certain patients. Dr. Barnard has authored more than 90 scientific publications and 20 books for medical and lay readers, and is editor in chief of the Nutrition Guide for Clinicians, a textbook available to all U.S. medical students.
Dean Ornish, M.D., is the founder of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF, and author of 7 bestselling books, including UnDo It. For 43 years, he has directed pioneering research showing, for the first time, that a comprehensive lifestyle medicine program may reverse the progression of heart disease and early-stage prostate cancer as well as beneficially change gene expression and begin to reverse aging by lengthening telomeres. The “Ornish diet” has been rated “#1 for Heart Health” by a panel of experts at U.S. News & World Report for 9 years from 2011-2020. He received the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the University of Texas, Austin; the National Public Health Hero Award from the University of California, Berkeley; and others. Dr. Ornish was recognized as a “TIME 100 Innovator;” by Life magazine as “one of the 50 most influential members of his generation;” by People magazine as “one of the most interesting people of the year;” and by Forbes magazine as “one of the world’s seven most powerful teachers.”
