As we age one of our biggest fears is the onset of dementia. Dementia is described as a group of symptoms affecting our thinking, memory and social interactions severely enough to interfere with our daily life, with Alzheimer’s Disease as its most progressive form. An exciting study, the first to actually analyze the extent to which you may offset your genetic risk of dementia by living a healthy lifestyle, has just been recently published in JAMA and presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2019.

Participants with not only the high genetic risk to dementia but an unfavorable lifestyle (which included diet, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption) were almost three times more likely to develop dementia compared to those with low genetic risk and favorable lifestyle.

These findings showed that one can actually take action to try to offset their genetic risk for dementia simply by sticking to a healthy lifestyle. Participants were 60 and older, 196,383 adults of European ancestry from UK Biobank, identifying 1,769 cases of dementia over a follow-up period of 8 years.

Divided up into 3 groups of high, intermediate and low genetic risk for dementia, they grouped them into favorable, intermediate and unfavorable categories based on their self-reported diet, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

The lead author of the study, Dr. David Liewellyn, from the University of Exeter Medical School and the Alan Turing Institute, said, “This research delivers a really important message that undermines a fatalistic view of dementia. Some people believe it’s inevitable they’ll develop dementia because of their genetics. However, it appears that you may be able to substantially reduce your dementia risk by living a healthy lifestyle.

Reading this information made me realize even more the importance of a health challenge I took on more than 25 years ago. Now it is being called the “Prove It Challenge” ~ simply by adopting a daily nutrition routine with a strip of clinically backed vitamins and minerals and replacing one meal a day with a “Life Shake”, it can help one feel healthier, more energized, more focused, and ready for anything ……perhaps even the dreaded dementia!

With this new study by the Alzheimer’s Association, living a healthy lifestyle does make a difference. An interesting study (The Landmark Study) led by an acclaimed nutrition researcher with the University of California, Berkeley, showed that people who used these supplements had much healthier biomarkers for heart, brain, and cognitive health compared to non-supplement or other product single-supplement users. 11% lower cholesterol ratios, 33% lower levels of triglycerides, 36% lower levels of homocysteine (an indicator of the brain and cognitive health) and 59% lower levels of C-Reactive Protein, were all as a result of the use of these supplements.

Just as I was excited so many years ago to launch my own journey to a healthier life, I am equally as excited to read this latest study, again reinforcing that adopting a healthier lifestyle can indeed reduce one’s risk of developing dementia or even worse, Alzheimer’s Disease.

I hope you will accept my challenge to feel amazing in 30 days ~ guaranteed and keep feeling amazing by making health and nutrition a priority by keeping up your routine every day. Go here to learn more about the #ProveItChallenge. For an exciting webinar, September 25th by Dr. Brouse on how to avoid Dementia, register here.

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