Coconut Oil: Combating Alzheimer’s through the Production of Ketones

Background:

• 5.7 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s. It is the most common type of dementia that develops over time affecting ones memory, thinking, and behavior. It is a progressive disease and is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. No cure is currently available, however, many treatments have been developed to combat symptoms.
• Coconut oil is considered a “super food.” It is high in saturated fats, but has a much healthier effect on the body compared to typical fats normally digested. They are shorter chains than thus digest much quicker allowing for fat burning and are often also used for cosmetic purposes. The fats contained in coconut oil is used as a quick source of energy or turned into ketones which has many benefits for the brain allowing for better function.
• Alzheimer’s was seen to cause a lack of glucose absorption in certain areas of the brain, however, coconut oil was found to promote the production of ketones. Ketones can in turn can provide an alternative way to fuel these nerve cells lacking glucose along with offsetting symptoms.

Clinical Study:

• Long-term: beginning first with weekly checkups then monthly.
• Sample size: 100 people.
• A one-ounce drink blended with coconut oils is to be ingested twice a day, once in the morning and the second at night.
• In order to combat any placebo effects, the participants will be into 50/50 where half will be in the placebo group and other half will take the coconut-infused drink.

Determining Participants:

• A waiver must be signed given the knowledge that participants are allowed to leave the study at any time along with details of the unknown risks requirements of undergoing CT, MRI, and PET scans during checkups.
• Participants must also fulfill the requirements of this study by attending all checkup sessions along with ingesting the one-ounce drink everyday.
• Participants must already be showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s and most not have any history of outbreaks from consuming coconut-related products. Also, those with high cholesterol should not take part in this study due to risk of increased cholesterol levels.
• Way-of-life should not be changed drastically during the trial period along with any medication doses should not change.
• Must have a close-by person who will be able to answer survey questions in order to determine any drastic/visible changes throughout the study period.

Anticipated Results:

• Through continuous checkups, if participants continue to show improvements in symptoms and brain function, coconut oil can indeed be considered as an ingredient for combating Alzheimer’s. Future studies will be required to determine the certain amounts and the length required to completely offset the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

References:

http://alzheimer.ca/en/Home/About-dementia/Alzheimer-s-disease/Risk-factors/Coconut-oil
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil