What's behind 'Grain Brain': Are gluten and carbs wrecking our brains and our health?

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What's behind 'Grain Brain': Are gluten and carbs wrecking our brains and our health?
Nov 20, 2013 | Alternet | Ari LeVaux

"Barely two months after publication, Grain Brain is already a bestseller, and many people are wondering if they should take drastic dietary action in order to save their brains."

Celiac disease is widely known to cause digestive problems. That's just the tip of the iceberg, according to the book Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers, by David Perlmutter. The intestinal difficulties associated with celiac disease are caused by an immunological response triggered by gluten, similar to an allergic reaction but less violent. This response, which leads to inflammation in the gut, can happen elsewhere in the body, too. Inflammation is at the root of many diseases and complications, including, Perlmutter argues, brain decay. Gluten can lead to inflammation in the brain, which Perlmutter believes leads to conditions like dementia and Alzheimer's.

A practicing neurologist, Dr. Perlmutter's experiences with patients, along with medical research he's studied, have led him to piece together a theory behind brain degeneration that's based on a foundation of gluten and high blood sugar. He also argues for the importance of cholesterol to maintaining brain health, and makes a compelling case that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are bad for the brain.

Grain Brain frequently veers from the brain to other parts of the body that Perlmutter says are damaged by gluten and carbohydrates and of the general dangers of fat avoidance. You may have heard some of these ideas elsewhere; Perlmutter is clearly aligned with the likes of Robert Lustig, a pediatrician who writes of the ills of sugar, and Gary Taubes, one of the first to demolish the idea that dietary fat and cholesterol are responsible for heart disease.

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