Eat to Cheat Dementia by Ngaire Hobbins

Eat to Cheat Dementia by Ngaire Hobbins

More than 350,000 Australians are living with dementia. Worldwide, the number is close to 47 million. Indeed if dementia was a country, the enormous costs involved in treating and caring for those affected would make it the world’s 18th largest economy.

In her latest, groundbreaking book, specialist dietitian and author Ngaire Hobbins unravels the complex science of nutrition and its links to brain health, cognitive decline and dementia, in language for the everyday reader.

“The science is clear,” Ngaire says.

“What you eat has a powerful influence on your brain both in terms of providing the resources for peak function and what is needed to protect it from the cell damage that could contribute to dementia.”

“While we don’t yet know what causes dementia and there’s no known cure, there are things we can do to reduce our risk of developing the condition and, importantly, to ensure that those who have it can live as well and productively as possible.”

Eat to Cheat Dementia explains for every-day readers and health professionals alike what we know about preventing dementia and offers practical advice to help those either living with the condition or who are caring for someone who has it:

What can you eat to boost brain function?
How does food influence the extraordinary interplay between gut bacteria and our brains?
How are diabetes and dementia related?
What foods help reduce the inflammatory and oxidative damage that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia?

Eat to Cheat Dementia approaches the often-fraught issues around eating for those living with dementia with sympathy and a practicality that can benefit anyone involved in their care.

It examines many well-publicised foods and diets and provides the facts on what is likely to work and why as it shares practical advice and eating suggestions designed to boost brain health.

In short, Eat to Cheat Dementia offers people living with the condition and those who care for them vital guidance on how to live life well.

“Far too often, the power of nutrition to help maintain independence and quality of life is overlooked following a dementia diagnosis,” Ngaire says.

“Nearly half of all people with the condition will have lost weight over the year prior to their diagnosis.”

“If this is allowed to continue unchecked, ongoing weight loss and the associated muscle reduction will accelerate the cognitive decline and physical frailty that can lead to a premature move into assisted care.”

“Those diagnosed with dementia can enjoy many years of independence, and my goal in writing this book has been to ensure they have every chance to LIVE those years to their fullest.”
“Food is the one thing over which individuals, their family, friends and carers can have some control, yet too often it is overlooked following a dementia diagnosis.”

“Food and shared meal-times not only bring joy and comfort but support both physical and cognitive health.”

Eat to Cheat Dementia is an invaluable resource for anyone wanting the facts about eating to maximize brain health and provides those living with a diagnosis of dementia practical, sensible strategies to allow good food to remain an integral part of a life well-lived.

What’s normal, what’s not and what to eat to support both body and brain; the influence of bodyweight, diabetes and all-important activity levels; the impact of inflammation and oxidative damage; the fascinating, emerging science of the effect on brain health played by the microorganisms that live naturally in the human gut, and much more.

Eat to Cheat Dementia guides people living with dementia and those who care about them to an understanding of the possible problems cognitive issues can raise and how those issues can be dealt with so that eating and meal-times continue to bring enjoyment as well as sustenance.

The result is not only a far better quality of life for all concerned but also significant savings to the health system flowing from reduced hospital admissions and the delayed move to assisted care.

Eat to Cheat Dementia – released in Australia and New Zealand, 11 April 2016.

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