Book: The Mindspan Diet

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Nick
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Book: The Mindspan Diet

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"The Mindspan Diet" byr Preston Estep III, PHD.

I'm about 80 pages into this book and want to recommend it to all (with or without the E4). For starters, the info density of this book is much greater than many diet related books and so it reads a bit slower. Secondly, it is of particular interest to anyone interested in reducing AD risks as well as overall health risks (no use to developing cancer trying to avoid AD).

I've read a lot of diet related healthstyle books. It is somewhat of a hobby (I guess I need to get out more). This book is different. It may not be a drastic change to your thinking (depending on your diet perspective) but it will add depth to what you've read elsewhere and it has changed my thinking and understanding of what I've already read elsewhere. For example, he discusses why some people's diets can be rich in pasta (carbs) yet have great health. And why YMMV.

If you want to jump to a topic near and dear to E4's, jump to page 57. Here he makes the case for why iron is sooo bad especially for E4's.

I got mine from the local library but may actually buy a copy. (An aside, if your local library system does not have it, check to see if your state has a statewide search tool. In MN I can search the state and for the most part, can get any book in the statewide system delivered to my local library via: https://mnlink.org/)

As usual, comments are welcome...

Let me add...it seems if you read enough, you'll come up with a book that can justify just about any opinion. This significantly complicates coming to a conclusion.
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Re: Book: The Mindspan Diet

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I haven't read the book, and not sure what scientific studies the author references for his iron & AD thesis (quick glance seems to be a lot of "associations", e.g. fortified iron foods), but check out the Ferritin thread in the forum. There's been NO direct causative proof of serum iron, or brain ferritin, and AD causation. Having said that, why not run on the low end of plasma iron, with the caveat that women need to be more careful watching levels.

https://apoe4.info/forums/viewtopic.php ... t=ferritin
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Re: Book: The Mindspan Diet

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Not sure where to post this (here or the Ferritin thread), but I'll start here.

Here is a new publication from the same group looking at cerebrospinal fluid ferritin:
http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneu ... le/2587485
Association of Cerebrospinal Fluid Ferritin Level With Preclinical Cognitive Decline in APOE-ε4 Carriers

This same group also published autopsy data that I mentioned in this post:
https://apoe4.info/forums/viewtopic.php ... tin#p29791

Here is a graph of the data:Image

I personally went out and found a multivitamin that did not include iron after seeing that!
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Russ
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Re: Book: The Mindspan Diet

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Just noting before I forget that Chris Masterjohn's most recent podcast is about iron and his own struggles with it.

https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/2017/01/ ... _sf_s=iron

I have not listened, but as he's a 3/4 himself, may have some especially good and relevant information for us.

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Thx4thegenes
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Re: Book: The Mindspan Diet

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Thank you for the book recommendation.

Also, I might mention that I recently posted a few articles on the "For those of us with elevated Lp(a) thread and you may not have read them if you do not have this concern, but this article mentions iron excess and it's possible relationship with strokes and heart disease.

http://knowledgeofhealth.com/something- ... rol-world/
Nick
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Re: Book: The Mindspan Diet

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To summarize this book in the few words below is like saying that to go to the moon you get on a rocket and go.

The book is heavily based on population studies focused on those areas where people live the longest (and are fully functional in their advanced age). He refers to it as Mindspan. When you study those areas, you find that diet is somewhat surprising. As such he questions and pokes holes in the low fat craze, the low carb craze, protein crazes and most other diets that focus on reducing or emphasizing a specific item or groups of items.

He begs the question, with real world studies of long mindspan groups, of what is the issue with grains. How about carbs in general. Areas where folks have the longest mindspans they consume cabs and a fair number. Is it the sugar impact or is it iron? Spoiler, iron is far more damaging than the glucose impact. Spoiler, we iron fortify grains and food products and that is not the case everywhere.

How about milk consumption. Truth is that in some areas of the world, where they are 90%+ lactose intolerant, comparing milk consumption here to there may be ridiculous. Turns out that consuming milk while being lactose intolerant may be healthy and the inverse is not.

One thought to take from this book, and so many others, is not so much specific to the diet, as to the nature of the foods in the diet.
- Wheat today is not the same wheat of a 100 years ago or 1,000 or what is consumed elsewhere
- What we call pasta is not the same as what pasta is like in by the locals in the Mediterranean Diet.
- The genetic makeup of those in the Mediterranean diet is not the same as northern Europeans and their descendent.
- Milk today is not the same as milk of yesteryear
- Meat today is not the same as meat of yesteryear
- Animal studies don't always translate to similar human results
- How we prepare and eat rice is not the same as elsewhere
- Ground grains and nuts is not the same whole grains and nuts
- UPDATE: what is good for you at one point in your life may be not so good at another point.

Suffice to say that the dirt is in the details.

I did not cover this book well herein and still think it is worth your read (get from a library if you have doubts about owning it). If you have shunned grains and for your last meal you fried up a chunk of beef in the cast iron pan hoping to maintain ketosis, you'll have some things to think about.

Like so much dietary information, the more I know, the less I can conclude other than there is no clear answer. That said, I still believe that the Mediterranean diet is still preferred over the Standard American Diet and most westernized diets. Real food is better than factory food. Original food is better than modified, hybridized, GMO food.

Note that I'm not yet finished with the book. And note that you may feel different based on your read and knowledgebase.
Last edited by Nick on Sat Feb 04, 2017 6:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Stavia
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Re: Book: The Mindspan Diet

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DrJafa sent me this link today

https://youtu.be/qrdy5IcCLis

Chris Kresser at AHS12 about possible role of excess iron in CVD and neurodegenerative diseases. And no its not as simple as obesity=fatty liver=raised ferritin. Iron may be implicated directly. He mentions apoe4 specifically.
If this is already on the ferritin thead I apologize.
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Re: Book: The Mindspan Diet

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The Mindspan book, relative to AD, focuses on the APOE (mostly the 3/4 variants) and APP genes:
- APOE transports iron into the brain (??? 3 & 4 only or all variants??)
- Some ethnicities that carry the 3/4 gene do not have the same risks as others
- App gene protects the brain but like many other functions, some things that protect can also harm

Here are his thoughts on the process (condensed by me):

We have sufficient information to build a simple but complete AD model:
- The AD process starts with high iron stores and/or increased transport via the 3/4 variant
- This leads to the brain's increased APP protein production
- Per his words "Iron acts like a match in your home, and APP like a small fire blanket"
- Cleanup crews attempt to clean up the mess after the APP suppresses the iron mess/damage
- Some of the APP "blankets" are left behind. This small bit is Amyloid B which drives plague formation
- Over time this builds up in the brain
- The A673T variant provides protection to a VERY small percentage (<1%)
- as Amyloid B accumulates, more and more damage occurs
- The cleanup cells are progressively overwhelmed. They replicate frequently and the telomeres shorten, eventually to the point where the cells do not replicate properly. The functioning and replication slows or stops.

He consistently uses the equation:
GENES + ENVIRONMENT = TRAIT

Using his view applied to the above equation:
COMMON (+99%) APP VARIANT + HIGH IRON = AD

Thus to reduce AD (not cure existing development) you can reduce iron. You cannot change the gene as we all know.

I hope this captures his view accurately. Mostly the purpose of this post is to comment about The Mindspan Diet book and not so much go down any of the ratholes the book may present.

If this is worth a separate topic thread, I'll leave it to those on the forum better educated as to creating a separate thread.
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Re: Book: The Mindspan Diet

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The following study results link supports the potential iron issue: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2739739/

If you just want the conclusion:
Low and high hemoglobin concentrations in older persons are associated with a lower level of cognitive function in old age, particularly in semantic memory and perceptual speed.
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