Dr. Martin shares a 12 week study that’s showing inflammation was reduced by 30% when taking probiotics. A really interesting study that used C-reactive protein (CRP) testing to determine inflammation levels in participants.
Inflammation damages blood vessels primarily, but it also affects the brain. More studies are referencing the gut-brain axis and the importance of having healthy bacteria – why everyone needs to be taking probiotics!
In today’s episode, Dr. Martin also goes over 10 things to keep doing if you want to get Alzheimer’s. Nobody wants to get Alzheimer’s, but if you keep doing these things, your risk goes up dramatically!
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, good morning. Hope you're having a good start to another day. Okay, I want to read to you this morning the results of a study in the Journal of Frontiers and Aging Neuroscience. And this was a 12 week study. It's really interesting. They used the CRP. So what is CRP? You guys know this, C-reactive protein. What is that? That's an inflammation marker. So they did a 12 week study, placebo and the other individuals, 60 patients, 30 of them got placebo, 30 of them got probiotics. Listen to this... C-reactive protein was tested and the MMSE, which is a cognitive test for up here. Your cognitive test, it's called the MMSE. So if we had Dr. McKeown on with us and others in the psychology field and that, they'd tell you all about that test. It's a cognitive test to see your mental acuity.
And it was a 12 week study. 30 participants got probiotics, 30 participants got a placebo. Then they tested these two biomarkers. One, the amount of inflammation in the body, and secondly, the cognitive function. Okay, so here's the stunning results. They were stunning. After 12 weeks, the placebo group was not given probiotic, they were given a placebo, their inflammation markers went up, their CRP, by 45% in 12 weeks. And their MMSE scores, meaning their cognitive scores, went down from 8.49 to 8. Now, the probiotic group, their inflammation markers were decreased by over 30%. The other one went up 45%. The other one went down. Their inflammation went down by 30% and their mental acuity went from 8.67 on the MMSE test to 10.57, a two point rise, which is pretty significant in 12 weeks. The moral of the story, the connection between the gut and the brain... and one of the foundational things you need to do, and I mean everybody, is probiotics.
We just live in a world where those bacteria, the war that goes on inside your body, your good guys are constantly being disrupted. They're constantly being disrupted with all the chemicals, with all the medications. I'm not telling people not to take their meds. I'm telling people you need to replace that bacteria. If you ever take an antibiotic... I'm not telling you not to take an antibiotic, the greatest discovery of the 20th century. I'm just telling you, it's a double-edged sword. You're taking pain killers. You got pain. I understand that, chronic pain. "Doc, what can I do without pain killers or anti-inflammatories?" Yeah, I get it. Problem is they destroy your friendly bacteria. And all these chemicals, they destroy your friendly bacteria. PUFAs. You know what PUFAs are? Polyunsaturated fatty acids, fast foods in the middle aisles of your grocery store. They disrupt your microbiome. They disrupt your friendly bacteria.
What has that got to do with anything? Well, look what the test showed. Not only is your inflammation… Because inflammation, remember, we always say it, it's not Houdini. Inflammation doesn't come from nowhere. There's always something, and one of the problems is when you have a disruption in the gut, in the bacteria, your microbiome, the body creates inflammation. Inflammation affects blood vessels primarily, and it affects the brain. Your mental acuity. I always tell people, look is Alzheimer's complex? Well, sure. Your brain is complex. There's more than one factor. You can't control everything in life. And I've talked to you many, many times about your genetics. You need to override your genetics. You need to take control.
So in this study, interesting, when you think of it like probiotics, bacteria, they got their own little DNA. And it's amazing. Even at that level, you couldn't see them if your life depended on it. You've got trillions of them. You're always going to live, guys... Always going to live with viruses and bacteria. They're nothing new under the sun when it comes to those things and they're not bad, they're not bad. It's not so much what's out there. There'll always be bacteria and viruses out there. Always. What are you going to do? Live in a bubble the rest of your life? There'll always be that. It's the host. It's you. It's your body. It's your immune system. That's what you can take care of. Your body is unreal. How it has the ability, not only to regenerate, but to protect you. I've been screaming as you well know for these last 18 months, will somebody please talk about the immune system. Please let's get our immune system in good shape. It's not part of the narrative I guess. That's what frustrates me. And metabolic health. Keep your metabolism healthy because every chronic disease has a link to, including Alzheimer's, to your metabolic health.
I just wrote down nine or 10 things here. If you want to get Alzheimer's, of course you don't, but here's how you'll get it. Number one on the hit parade for Alzheimer's, the gut is there, but it's not number one. Number one on the hit parade. And that's why they call it type 3 diabetes. They don't call it that so much anymore, but that's what they first said. Type 3 diabetes. Why? Because sugar and your brain don't get along. I've been teaching you what sugar does. It disrupts. It damages. It does a lot of things, but one of the things it does, it disrupts and damages your blood vessels. And believe you me, folks, you're not going to have a healthy brain if your blood vessels are damaged. You need oxygen up there. You need blood flow. So if you want to get Alzheimer's, just look around the world and watch how people eat today.
And you wonder why this disease is number 3 in North America in terms of death. The third leading cause of death in North America is Alzheimer's. In the United Kingdom it's number one. Imagine that. But again, when you read the book, The Reset, I explain what happens there. Alzheimer's is a metabolic disorder. It's an insulin disorder. It's a food disorder, primarily, primarily. So if you want to get Alzheimer's, don't change your diet. Eat like the rest of North Americans eat by and large, which is very, very poorly. It's carbohydrate loaded food. It's PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids. It's the food industry. It's sugar. It's high fructose corn syrup, which is the worst of sugars. Again, like we've discussed, high fructose corn syrup, your body don't even know what that is. It really doesn't. And so it metabolizes it much differently. It can't be used for energy. So it's stored in your liver, in the Costco parking lot. It jams itself in there and it creates non-alcoholic fatty liver. So the number one thing, if you want to get Alzheimer's, is stick to the North American diet. Stick to it. You'll be on your road to Alzheimer's.
Number two, you want to get Alzheimer's? Stay out of the sun. Remember you are a human solar panel. Stay out of the sun if you want to get Alzheimer's. Oh, it drives me crazy guys. Drives me crazy how people make the sun the boogieman. And again, I didn't say burn. I'm just telling you, stay out of the sun… you're going to be in trouble. Your brain will be in trouble. You got solar panels up there too. You want to get Alzheimer's? Don't sleep. Don't sleep. That's very damaging to the brain. You know, again, just repetition guys. What happens in your brain when you sleep? Okay, and I don't mean sleeping pills. If you want to get Alzheimer's, then take sleeping pills. You'll be sedated, but your brain is going to be damaged by that. I hate to be negative, but I'm telling you, sleep. Hey, some people need less than others, okay, I get that. Everybody's different there. But at night, the night shift comes into the brain and it takes away that debris. It's called your glial cells and your glymphatics, not lymphatics, but glymphatics. And they clean up the brain. They take away the debris, the garbage is gone. But it only happens when you sleep.
And you can go back to the sun for a minute. Go back to the sun because one of the hormones, and a lot of people don't know this... Melatonin became famous, what 15 years ago, 20 years ago, as a supplement. And again, I had a radio show. So, you know, people asked me "Melatonin, melatonin, melatonin, Doc. What about it? Can I take it? Is it good for me?" And well I said, look, I'm not so big on melatonin as a supplement, but you make melatonin when you're in the sun. And melatonin, it's really important for a good sleep. You get it two ways. One, when you're in the sun and your eyeballs get the sun. Isn't that interesting? Melatonin is more eyeballs. "Doc. I can't be in the sun because my eyes are so sensitive." Okay. But can you do it for a couple of minutes? Just try not to wear your sunglasses. Because you're making melatonin and melatonin is essential for your circadian rhythm, for you to sleep.
And do this with your kids, your grandchildren, whatever. Dark, dark, dark, dark, dark at night. Guess what happens? Your body's making melatonin. Light, light light during the day, dark, dark, dark at night. And you make melatonin from that. From the darkness. You tell me your body's not unbelievably made? So that's why I've never been big on melatonin as a supplement. If you like it, I got no problem with that. What I've seen over the years with melatonin as a supplement is that it has a shelf life, meaning that some people, "Oh yeah. It worked for me for about two weeks and then it didn't work anymore. Because your body actually makes it, so get in the habit of getting sunshine during the day. VitDerma And then dark, dark, dark, pitch black, no light at night. Wear a mask around your eyes if you have to. Pitch black. You want to get Alzheimer's? Stay out of the sun. Don't sleep.
You want to get Alzheimer's? Here's another factor, stress. You know what stress does? Cortisol. Again if I scare you. I come behind you. It's dark at night. You're walking. Somebody's behind me. That's stress. That's alright. That'll save your life. There's nothing wrong with that. You're going to turn around and punch me or run. Okay? That's how your body's supposed to work. The fight or flight. Problem is with stress is if it doesn't get turned off, then it pours gasoline on inflammation. It pours gasoline on inflammation and that'll affect your brain guys. It'll affect your brain. A small vessel disease. Your little wee capillaries and little wee arteries, small little arteries in your brain, bringing you oxygen. That gets damaged by inflammation. But inflammation oftentimes bad food, high stress, no sleep, no sun.
Want to get Alzheimer's? Then become a vegetarian or a vegan. Yeah, you want to get Alzheimer's, you'll be on the road. You need animal cholesterol. Another boogieman. Another thing that medicine got wrong: the sun, cholesterol, don't eat too many eggs, don't eat red meat. Every day, every day guys. Every day I get asked a question about red meat, those poor cows. I'm a cow doctor. They eat grass and you get good meat. You want to get Alzheimer's? Then listen to the world out there when it comes to nutrition. Just listen. Do what they do. They are on the broad road to destruction in their brain. Your brain is made up of cholesterol and I know your body makes it. It makes 85%. I understand that. You can't live without it. It's not the boogieman. And please, if you insist on hammering down your cholesterol, you're playing right into the trap. Low fat brain is an Alzheimer's brain, is a dementia brain. It shrivels up. It shrinks.
I'd rather be called fathead. I've been called worse than that. I've been called worse than fathead. I take fathead as a compliment. Eat fat, eat cholesterol. It's only found in the animal kingdom. How can that be bad for you? How can it be bad for you? “Doc, it's acidic.” Oh, you want to give me a headache? Tell me that meat is acidic. You want to get Alzheimer's? Avoid it. If you avoid it, you're going to get it. So if that's what you want, guys, I don't care. You're going to have to undo everything you see on the internet and TV. And it's propaganda guys. It's propaganda. The big food companies are behind it. This meatless craze. Ugh, meatless craziness is what I call it. I see that stuff in the grocery store and I need to be held back. I want to go scream. Read the ingredients. You want to get Alzheimer's? Eat that stupid stuff. Don't even give it to your dog. Please.
You want to get Alzheimer's? Then avoid cholesterol. You want to avoid it? You're going to give people high fives because your cholesterol is low. That doesn't make you healthy. It just follows the narrative of the craziness in which we live. Guys, it's not true. Every day. And I mean it, not only red meat, but “Doc, what about LDL?” Can I promise you something? If you were to go back into my biochemistry books in the 70s, there wasn't one doctor of any kind talking about LDL. They talked about cholesterol and how good it was for you until all of a sudden it wasn't. The cereal companies. They took over the dieticians. They took over medical schools and they started teaching you need to eat cereal instead of bacon and eggs. I'm telling you guys. I'm old enough to have seen it. And our nutrition classes started to change. Oh cholesterol, LDL. It's because they found a drug to lower LDL. Statin drugs. You know what they're finding with statin drugs? I'm just going to tell you what the research is showing.
You want to get Alzheimer's? You want to get Alzheimer's? Statin drugs, cholesterol lowering medication. Guys, it came out of not science, it came out of propaganda. And here we are today after 40 years and more of statin drugs and heart disease, which it was aimed for. Remember what it was aimed for. Cholesterol medication was aimed directly at heart disease. It didn't talk about the brain or anything like that. It was aimed at heart disease and every cardiologist, every physician in North America and pretty well worldwide, but North America the worst, it was hammered day and night, night and day, cholesterol is the boogieman. Get it down, get it down, get it down. And when we get it down, you're no longer going to have heart disease. I'm telling you that was the mantra. Hello? It didn't work. We have more heart disease than ever before. It didn't work.
We were looking for love in all the wrong places. Cholesterol's not the bad guy. Fat isn't the bad guy. There's only one bad fat. Those are hydrogenated fats. The preservatory fats that they put in every middle aisle of the grocery store foods just about. Those are your bad fats, not the fat around meat. Not the fat in eggs. Not the fat in cheese and cream and butter. That's not bad fat. What number am I on? You want to get Alzheimer's? Then don't take probiotics. We just gave you the study at the top of the program. Cognitive, memory, your hippocampus improves with probiotics in this study in 12 weeks. Leaky gut, leaky brain. The connection between your gut and brain. You don't want that.
And let me finish with this one, because I haven't mentioned it yet. If you want Alzheimer's then don't exercise. Don't move. We've taught this at the Martin Clinic for many, many, many years. Vitamin E, the real vitamin E, is exercise. It's amazing what it does, how it helps your brain. It helps everything, but it really does help your brain. And remember what part of your body especially, especially is connected to the brain? Three seconds. One, two, three. What part of your body specifically... Everything you do in exercise going to be good, but what part of your body? Your legs. Strong legs, strong brain. Like Tony Jr. says when he goes to the gym and he has a leg day, you know when they say, "Oh, it's leg day today," he says, "I think a brain day." Yeah, legs and brain especially. Stronger those legs are, the better your brain works. The better your gut is, the better your brain works. The more cholesterol you eat, the better your brain is. The more sun you get, the better your brain is. The less sugar you eat and crappy carbohydrates, the better your brain is.
And we all want a healthy brain. I haven't met anybody yet, imagine, I haven't met anybody that says, "Oh, I just can't wait to lose my memory." I haven't met anybody yet. You know, some people have had a tough life. You'd think they'd want to not remember that, but they still want their memory. I don't want to outlive my brain guys. I don't. Neither do you. Somebody write that list down. Maybe you can share it on a... Because if I got to type out that thing on our Facebook group, it'll take me a day. I don't want that. Some of you guys are good. Put up the list of the things that we talked about this morning. But isn't that interesting? In the Journal of Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. I didn't even know there was a Journal of Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. I do now. I flagged this study. It's fascinating in 12 weeks what happens with your noggin up there. Okay?
Okay guys, nNow for those who haven't signed up yet, we're doing a webinar tonight featuring Dr. Tony Martin Jr., Anthony Patrick to be exact. He's the brains behind the operation here. So for those of you who haven't met Junior, he's on tonight. If you haven't signed up, then sign up. 7:00 PM eastern tonight we're on. Friday is Question and Answer, but we're going to do question and answer tonight too. So if you got your questions, you're going to be able to put them right up and we'll answer them tonight. Got it? So if you haven't signed up, sign up. Going to be good. We promise interesting. And like I said, if you're not a member of the Martin Facebook group, then join. You see the book behind me there. Maybe you can see it on the shelf. The Reset. Number one selling health book in Canada. Great Christmas gifts. Really is. Change your life. 30 days to change your life. 30 days to change your brain. Maybe I'll do that one next. Love you guys. And we'll talk to you soon.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, with your hosts, Doctor Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode and thanks for listening!