It appears that people are wondering if I somehow stumbled on to some magic bullet that slowed down, or stopped Dotty's Alzheimer's.
By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Specifically, I get asked often about what dietary supplements she took.
In the beginning she took a lot of supplements, never Ginkgo biloba, never coconut oil.
After a while, and after doing loads of research, I did settle in on a few items. However, the major decision was to get most of what we needed from a Mediterranean diet, a short list of foods, and a few pills.
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Here is the link to the Mediterranean diet. In my opinion this should be eaten so you get the kinds of nutrition you need. This diet is important for caregivers. You need a lot of energy to care for an Alzheimer's patients and you can get it from this diet, and by eating fruit in between meals.
Dotty, by the way, often supplemented her diet with potato chips, eggs, candy, pretzel sticks, and ice cream. As time went on I relented on the strictness of diet. It more or less happened after Dotty started writing here on the Alzheimer's Reading Room. Her fans, more or less, told me to lighten up and give her more of what she wanted to eat. I took their advice to heart, and I did.
Here are the out of the box everyday items.
- Cinnamon. Just shake it in coffee, cereal, or oat meal. My personal favorite and must go to item.
- One half Aspirin. Dotty took that everyday and so did I.
- 2000 Omega-3.
- A good multiple vitamin.
Things we ate a couple of times or more a week like clock work.
- Salmon
- Chicken
- Spinach
- Broccoli
- Kale
- Pears, Apples, Oranges. Pears are a must.
- Nuts, Figs
Basically, we were looking for foods, not pills, that were high in antioxidants, promoted good health, and had some medical benefits based on science.
So the answer is, no we didn't take a whole bunch of stuff that came out of a bottle. We preferred to find what we needed in good nutritious foods.
Just so you know, when Dotty was 93 years old we were still going out on Friday night around 6 PM, and coming home after 11 PM.
That Dotty could party. I guess I could also.
On a side note. I had more naps in the last seven weeks than I had in the eight and a half years that I was caring for Dotty.
I'm going to cut the naps out shortly. Gotta get back to the 17 hour day.
Related content.
- Dr Oz on Poop and High Fiber Foods
- Scientific Evidence For and Against Dietary Supplements
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- Are Alzheimer's Caregivers the Forgotten?
- Alzheimer's Disease and the Five Stages of Grief
- Urinary Tract Infection, You Can Learn From My Experience
- Frightened, Bewildered, Apprehensive, Anxious, Angry
Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 3,711 articles with more than 302,100 links on the Internet. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
