ARP: Week 76

Focus: Understanding that your nervous system is listening, and giving it signals of safety.
Repetition: My nervous system is safe. My body knows how to heal. I am held. I am whole.

Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Why They Are Type 3 Diabetes, and the Patient Ancestral Work That Reverses and Prevents Them

A Word Before We Begin

Alzheimer’s and the other dementias are among the most feared and most misunderstood conditions of our time. The usual story is that they are mysterious, mostly genetic, and untreatable, and that all we can do is manage the slow decline with the medications tried so far. ARP tells a very different and far more hopeful story.

Alzheimer’s, and much of the rest of dementia, is at its root a metabolic disorder of the brain. The brain has become so insulin resistant that it can no longer use glucose properly for energy, so the brain cells, sitting in a sea of glucose they cannot get into, slowly starve. This understanding has been growing in the medical literature for years and has a useful name: Type 3 Diabetes. The brain has become diabetic.

As with every other diabetic and insulin resistant picture, our answer is not pharmaceutical; it is metabolic, ancestral, and faithful. We bypass the broken glucose pathway, run the brain on ketones, and rebuild the wider terrain. When dementia is met early enough, it very often reverses. When it is met later, the decline can be slowed a great deal and the quality of life raised a great deal.

“Alzheimer’s is Type 3 Diabetes, the brain starving in a sea of glucose it can no longer enter. Run the brain on ketones, rebuild the terrain, and the body’s metabolic wisdom comes back to itself.”

This week we walk through the Type 3 Diabetes picture, the other drivers underneath dementia, and the practical work of reversal and prevention: nutritional ketosis at the centre, rebuilding the gut and microbiome, gently clearing metals and mould, deep sleep, sun, grounding, daily movement, food and supplements with the B Ladder, acupressure, a loving social life, and a sample day. Like everything in this work, it is a long, faithful daily practice, and like everything else, the body and the brain know how to heal when they are given what they need.

What Alzheimer’s and Dementia Are

Dementia is a broad word for the gradual loss of cognitive function: memory, thinking, language, judgment, finding your way, and organising a day. Alzheimer’s is by far the most common form, marked by a slow build-up of amyloid plaques and tau tangles and a loss of brain volume over years and decades. Vascular dementia comes from small strokes and reduced blood flow to the brain. Lewy body dementia comes from misfolded protein deposits that affect movement and thinking together. Frontotemporal dementia affects the frontal lobes first, changing personality and language. In ARP these share a great deal of common ground, and their reversal and prevention rest on much of the same work.

For many years the plaques and tangles were treated as the cause of Alzheimer’s, and that view has produced little useful treatment. The newer and far more useful understanding, the one we follow, is that the plaques and tangles are not the cause but the consequence, the marks left behind by a brain that has been struggling metabolically for many years. The cause is the metabolic struggle itself, and that is what we work on.

Type 3 Diabetes: The Brain’s Metabolic Starvation

Every cell in the body needs ATP, its energy currency, to do its work. Cells make ATP either by burning glucose, with insulin’s help to get the glucose inside, or by burning fat and ketones, which do not need insulin and come in through a different door. A healthy body can use either fuel, and the brain, our most energy hungry organ, runs beautifully on either. The traditional peoples with the longest-lasting health moved easily between the two fuels through the seasons, while the modern body, after decades of sugar, grains, and starch, has lost much of that flexibility.

Here is what happens in the Alzheimer’s brain, in the simplest terms. Decades of high carb, high sugar eating keep insulin high. The body’s cells, including the brain’s, slowly become resistant to insulin’s signal; insulin pounds harder on the door, and the door answers less. This is insulin resistance. The brain cells can no longer hear insulin well enough to let the glucose in, so the blood is full of glucose while the brain starves for fuel. In that slow starvation the brain starts to lose function and volume, and the plaques and tangles appear, partly from the distress in the cells and partly as the brain tries to cope with inflammation and damaged proteins. Then the decline shows: memory thins, language slows, finding your way gets harder, and personality changes. The brain is, simply put, hungry and inflamed.

When this diabetes is in the pancreas, muscles, and liver, we call it type 1 or type 2 diabetes. When the same insulin resistance is also in the brain, researchers working where diabetes and neurology meet have named it Type 3 Diabetes. The logic is the same; only the location is different. And it responds to the same metabolic answer: lower the body’s need for insulin by lowering carbohydrate, switch the main fuel from glucose to fat and ketones, and the brain, no longer depending on a fuel it cannot use, runs cleanly again.

Why Nutritional Ketosis Is at the Center

Nutritional ketosis, when the body runs mainly on fat and ketones instead of glucose, is the heart of Alzheimer’s and dementia work, and it deserves to be clearly understood. Several things together make it the answer.

Ketones bypass the broken glucose pathway. They enter the brain through a different transporter that is not insulin resistant, so the brain that could not feed itself on glucose feeds itself easily on ketones, and the starvation ends.

Ketones are a cleaner fuel. Burning them makes less oxidative stress and inflammation than glucose, so a brain in ketosis is a less inflamed brain.

Ketones are also messengers. Beta-hydroxybutyrate especially raises BDNF, the brain’s growth and repair signal, lowers inflammation, supports the brain’s self-cleaning (autophagy), and steadies many of the genes involved in repairing neurons.

Ketosis lowers insulin, and as the body’s need for insulin falls, insulin resistance everywhere, including in the brain, begins to reverse over months and years. Ketosis supports the mitochondria, which are central to the brain’s health, and rebuilds capacity that has thinned. Ketosis steadies blood sugar, smoothing out the big glucose swings that damage small blood vessels and contribute to vascular dementia. Ketosis lowers the chronic, body-wide inflammation behind so much of dementia. And ketosis is well tolerated for the long term; it is the metabolic state most of human history was lived in, and our bodies and brains were built for it.

How We Enter Ketosis the ARP Way

We go into ketosis gently and patiently, which matters so much in dementia work, because a brain that has run on glucose for a long time needs a slow transition, not a sudden shift.

Set aside all sugar, grains, starches, sweet fruit (avocado is our menu fruit), legumes, seed oils, alcohol, and processed food, which the ARP menu does anyway. Build every meal around animal foods: meat stock, red meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, organ meats, fermented dairy, aged cheese, and generous animal fats. Begin by adding a teaspoon of animal fat to your soups, and increase by one teaspoon each week, because the body has to adapt slowly. Eat two meals a day with no snacks, around 10 am and 2 or 3 pm, leaving a long overnight fast when the brain does much of its repair and clearing.

After about week three, start checking ketones and glucose with a home meter, such as a Keto-Mojo. The best numbers are around 2.0 mmol/L or higher for ketones and 60 to 80 mg/dL for glucose. It can take a long time to get there, and that is alright. We do not use the glucose-ketone index. It is completely fine if it takes time to get into ketosis, and completely fine not to feel more energy for a long while; the ketones do their repair work first, and the energy follows.

For a body already in cognitive decline, MCT oil (starting low and building) or a clean ketone ester where it fits can give the brain its first taste of clean fuel quickly and ease some symptoms while the deeper shift happens. Stir MCT oil into coffee, warm meat stock, or the warm sipping eggnog from our Wasting article. Start with half a teaspoon and build to one or two tablespoons a day.

The Other Drivers Beneath Dementia

Insulin resistance and Type 3 Diabetes sit at the centre of Alzheimer’s, but several other drivers usually travel with it, and addressing them is the rest of the work.

Heavy metals, especially mercury and aluminium, are deeply involved in Alzheimer’s. Mercury comes from amalgam fillings, large fish, and old industrial exposure, and it builds up in the brain. Aluminium comes from cookware, antiperspirants (through the skin), old vaccines, baking powder, and many other sources. Both damage neurons directly. Our metal work is gentle, staged, and only begins once the body is ready, and the full staged chelation work lives in the Ancestral Regeneration Protocol Facebook group.

Mould and biotoxins from water-damaged buildings are more and more recognised as a driver of cognitive decline, including CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome) and the dementia pictures linked to it. If there is mould in your home or workplace, addressing it is part of the brain work: oiling wood, sealing the mattress under natural fibre bedding, dehumidifying, fixing leaks, and sometimes moving. See our Shingles article for mould remediation.

Chronic infections play a part too: the spirochetes of Lyme disease, the herpes family viruses (HSV-1, EBV, HHV-6, and CMV, all found in Alzheimer’s brains), Porphyromonas gingivalis from gum disease, and Candida and other fungal overgrowth. Our four-layer pathogen protocol addresses these gently and slowly once the gut and terrain are sturdy enough.

Glyphosate and the wider toxic load damage the gut barrier, the blood-brain barrier, and the nerves, and drain the manganese, magnesium, and zinc the brain depends on. Our animal-based, low glyphosate menu addresses this directly, and our SIBO article covers glyphosate in full.

Heart disease and poor blood flow to the brain drive vascular dementia and matter in Alzheimer’s too. Reversing insulin resistance, restoring healthy fats, gentle daily movement, and lowering stress all support the heart and blood vessels.

Gut dysbiosis and a leaky gut send a steady stream of inflammatory signals to the brain, which is why rebuilding the gut is our foundation.

The brain’s mitochondria are especially vulnerable to all of the above, and we restore them with foundational nutrients, ketones, B vitamins (B1 above all), CoQ10, carnitine, magnesium, sun, sleep, and gentle movement.

During deep sleep, the brain’s glymphatic system clears out beta-amyloid and other debris. A body that has not slept deeply for years has not been cleaning its brain, and deep sleep is one of the most powerful daily ways to prevent Alzheimer’s.

Chronic stress and isolation matter too; a brain held in survival mode, or left alone, declines faster than one held in safety and community.

Missing nutrients are central to brain repair: the B vitamins (especially B1, B6, B9, and B12), choline, the omega-3s EPA and DHA, vitamins A, D, and K2, zinc, magnesium, selenium, and the amino acids. The protective hormones that fall around menopause matter as well, and restoring the wider hormonal terrain supports the brain. Anaesthesia, surgery, and statins have all been tied to cognitive decline, and the wider rebuild supports the body through and after them.

Deep Sleep: The Brain’s Cleaning Hour

Of all the daily practices, deep sleep deserves its own section. The brain has a remarkable cleaning system, the glymphatic system, that switches on during the deepest stages of sleep and physically washes out the day’s waste, including beta-amyloid, the very protein that builds up in Alzheimer’s. A body that does not sleep deeply for years does not clean its brain, and the waste builds up. This is one of the great practical findings of recent dementia research, and it changes how we approach the work.

Go to bed before 10 pm whenever possible, because the deepest sleep happens in the first half of the night and depends on falling asleep before the cortisol rhythm wakes you. Sleep in a pitch-black room with a sleep mask, so your brain can make melatonin and reach the deeper stages. Turn off electronics and blue light at sundown, with only warm, low light in the evening. Get morning light in your bare eyes within an hour of waking to set the rhythm that anchors your night. Do the full-hour bedtime body scan into sleep: flat on your back with no pillow, arms slightly out, palms up, in a pitch-black room, and if you use a recording, play it on an old phone in airplane mode inside a Faraday bag with wired headphones. Keep your bedroom cool, because we sleep deeper in cooler air. Stop eating several hours before bed, since the long overnight fast supports the brain’s cleaning. Take magnesium glycinate and a cup of lemon balm or passionflower tea before bed. Say the same memorised prayer or affirmation every night. If there has been mould in your home, address it, because mould fragments and your body’s response to them disturb the deepest sleep directly.

The Daily Work That Supports the Brain

Beyond ketosis and sleep, the brain is supported every day by a wide and beautiful collection of simple practices.

Sun, Light, and Rhythm

Get morning sun in your bare eyes within an hour of waking, the single most important signal for your daily rhythm. Get bare-skin sun through the day in moderation for vitamin D, mood, and your mitochondria. Watch the sunset with bare eyes to anchor your evening, and avoid blue and bright light after sundown to protect your night.

Movement

Bounce gently on the earth with bare feet every day to support lymph and circulation, including to the brain. Take slow daily walks, especially outside in nature, since walking has been studied extensively for cognitive support. Dance gently to Mozart or Gregorian chant, which coordinates both sides of the brain and is joyful in itself. Do gentle fascia work and lymph self-massage, including the face and head massage that supports circulation to the brain, and the head acupressure points below, daily. Never do cardio, HIIT, or running, because they overwhelm a healing body.

Grounding and Nature

Stand barefoot on living, healthy earth every day for 20 to 30 minutes or longer. Spend time among trees, near moving water, and with birdsong, all deeply supportive of the brain. Eat outside as often as you can, for sun, air, earth, and parasympathetic calm all at once.

Learning, Engagement, and Community

Learn something new every day, a word, a skill, a piece of music, a prayer, or a poem, because a brain that is learning is a brain that is growing. Read good books, especially slow, deep, beautiful ones, with a pen in hand to mark and underline, because active reading builds the brain. Write by hand, letters, your gratitude journal, and lists of accomplishments, since the connection between hand and mind is a great support for thinking. Sing, especially songs and hymns you know by heart, since singing uses many brain systems at once. Memorise prayers, poems, Scripture, and songs every day; memorising is brain medicine. Have slow, deep, present conversations with people you love, practising memory and language together. Regular contact with safe, loved people supports cognitive resilience more than almost anything else. Use your non-dominant hand for small daily tasks like colouring, brushing your teeth, or gentle drawing, which gently reorganizes the nervous system. Spend less time on screens and more time with the real world, your body, the air, and other people.

Stress, Somatic Work, and Trauma

Do the morning body scan in the proper position, flat on the floor with no pillow, arms slightly out, and palms up, for twenty minutes if you are working or a full hour if you are home. Add the two short body scans through the day and the long bedtime body scan into sleep. Do cold face dips with humming, three times in all, to tone the vagus nerve, and hum, sing, and gently chant through the day. Breathe slowly, with left-nostril breathing before meals and sleep. Check in with your emotions every day with a hand on your heart, noticing what is here, feeling it for a minute, and validating it. Reframe fearful thoughts as they come. Laugh every day with beloved comedies, animal videos, and family play. Surround yourself with beauty every day: Mozart, Gregorian chant, birdsong, the faces of those you love, art, and the slow, ordinary beauty of nature.

Detox Baths

Take daily baths in warm water with Epsom salt, baking soda, and unrefined sea salt. Add vitamin C powder and bentonite clay to the bath water only if your tap water is chlorinated or fluoridated, and never take them internally. These baths support the body in clearing the toxins and metals that have been part of the picture, and they are deeply calming to the nervous system.

The Microbes Most Wanted in Dementia Work

Akkermansia muciniphila: consistently low in dementia and central to the gut-brain connection; brought in once the mucosa is sturdier.
Lactobacillus plantarum 299v: always the first strain when histamine is high; supports acetylcholine and the vagus nerve, which directly support thinking.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG: makes GABA, calms the nervous system from the gut, and supports immune balance.
Bifidobacterium longum BB536: balances the immune response, lowers inflammation, and supports the gut-brain connection directly.
Bifidobacterium infantis: foundational and immune-teaching.
Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 (BioGaia): supports oxytocin and parasympathetic tone and is broadly supportive of the brain.
Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3: makes glutathione right in the gut, central for a brain under inflammatory and oxidative load.
Clostridium butyricum MIYAIRI 588: makes butyrate, which supports the brain; available through Japanese pharmacy import sellers.
Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745: when fungal overgrowth is part of the picture, on rising, twice daily, for three months.
Daily kimchi (Mother In Law’s or Sunja’s medium spicy cucumber kimchi) for L. sakei and the wider terrain.
Our foundational L. fermentum CECT5716 and B. subtilis HU58, with HMOs, from the start.

The Pathogen Protocol Where It Is Needed

When chronic infection has been part of the dementia story, and very often it has, with Lyme, the herpes family viruses, P. gingivalis from gum disease, or fungal overgrowth, we layer the four-layer pathogen protocol onto the wider rebuild once the mucosa is sturdy.

Hour 0 is NAC with cellulase or another matched enzyme.
Hour 1 is the matched quorum sensing disruptor: ajoene from aged garlic for broad action, quercetin for histamine-stirred bodies, berberine for Gram-negatives, and allicin for fungal overgrowth.
Hour 2 is the matched antagonist (S. boulardii for fungal, S. salivarius K12 for the mouth, or the chosen Lactobacillus strain) with lactoferrin.

Go gently, starting with quarter doses and building slowly. See our Chronic Bacterial and Viral Infections article for more.

The Foods We Use

Meat stock every day, well salted and simmered three to four hours. Red meat, beef and lamb daily, rich in lysine, branched-chain amino acids, zinc, iron, and B12, all central to brain health. Small oily fish (sardines, anchovies, mackerel, herring, and wild salmon) for the EPA and DHA the brain is built from. Shellfish (oysters, mussels, scallops, and shrimp) for minerals, gentle amino acids, and the zinc and copper the brain needs. Eggs, especially the yolks, rich in choline (which makes acetylcholine, the brain’s memory messenger), all the amino acids, and the fat-soluble vitamins. Heart, kidney, and spleen early in the protocol, and liver later, once your detox pathways are working; when liver is welcome, beef or lamb liver is one of the most concentrated brain foods on earth. Generous animal fats: tallow, lard, schmaltz, duck and goose fat, butter, and ghee. The brain is about two thirds fat, and it is rebuilt from these. Generous fermented dairy and aged cheese: yoghurt, kefir, cultured cream, and three-month aged cheese. Daily kimchi (Mother In Law’s or Sunja’s medium spicy cucumber) for L. sakei. Approved vegetables, cooked soft in fat or meat stock: carrots, onion, garlic, mushrooms, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, rutabaga, turnip, radish, and fresh herbs, for about 20 to 30 grams of carbohydrate a day to keep ketosis steady. Daily raw grated carrot with a little olive oil to bind recirculating hormones. Chicory tea daily, away from meals. Mineral water and well-salted meat stock through the day, and generous mineral salt. MCT oil, 1/2 teaspoon building to 1 to 2 tablespoons daily, stirred into warm tea, meat stock, or the eggnog, especially while you are still getting into ketosis. Set aside all sugar, grains, starches, sweet fruit (avocado is our menu fruit), legumes, seed oils (especially important in brain work because they are so inflammatory), alcohol, and processed food.

Supplements for the Brain

Foundational

Cod liver oil and high-vitamin butter oil (or a good ADK supplement) for vitamins A, D, K2, EPA, and DHA.
Extra DHA from a clean fish oil, since about a quarter of the brain’s tissue is DHA.
Zinc carnosine with copper, in a 10:1 to 15:1 ratio.
Magnesium, 400 to 600 mg daily. Magnesium threonate crosses into the brain most readily and is especially useful here, and glycinate works well too.
MSM, built up slowly to 3 to 5 g a day in divided doses.
Vitamin D3 with K2, 5,000 to 10,000 IU daily in the dark half of the year, aiming for a 25(OH)D level of 60 to 80 ng/mL.
Selenium, 100 to 200 mcg daily, which helps make glutathione and protects the brain.
Iodine, very low to start and built up slowly, away from food.
Boron, at least 30 mg daily, which helps clear fluoride and aluminium from the brain.
Tapioca-based vitamin C, 1,000 to 3,000 mg daily in divided doses.
Baking soda, 1/4 to 1 teaspoon morning and evening in warm water, away from food.
Electrolytes, potassium and magnesium daily, in citrate forms for most people and other forms where MCAS makes citrates a problem, with potassium built up slowly toward 4,000 mg and magnesium to bowel tolerance. The recipe is in the Ancestral Regeneration Protocol Facebook group.

For the Brain Specifically

MCT oil, 1/2 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons daily, for quick ketones.
Ketone salts or esters, used selectively, especially early in recovery or while still getting into ketosis.
Lion’s mane mushroom daily, which supports nerve growth factor.
Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine for healthy brain cell membranes.
CoQ10 (ubiquinol), 200 to 400 mg daily, as fuel for the mitochondria.
L-carnitine, 1,000 to 3,000 mg daily, especially acetyl-L-carnitine for the brain.
Creatine, 3 to 5 g daily, for brain energy.
Glutathione (liposomal or suppositories) to protect brain tissue.
NAC, which supports glutathione and clears biofilm in the pathogen protocol.
Rosemary, as a daily food or tea, a traditional support for thinking.
Ginkgo biloba for circulation to the brain.
Lactoferrin, our toxin neutraliser.

The B Ladder

B-complexes are a problem, so we use the B Ladder instead, always starting with B1 and B2. B vitamins are central to brain health, and the methylated forms (methylfolate and methylcobalamin) cross into the brain and support repair directly.

B1 as benfotiamine, built up very slowly toward 2,600 mg over about 9 months. B1 is central to how the brain makes energy, and hidden thiamine deficiency is one of the most overlooked findings in cognitive decline.
B2 (riboflavin), 400 mg for 5 months.
B3 as non-flush niacin, 1,000 mg for 6 months to a year; niacin has its own protective effect against dementia.
B5 (pantothenic acid), 500 mg building to 1,000 mg for 3 to 6 months. B5 is needed to make acetylcholine, the brain’s memory messenger.
B6, 50 mg for 3 to 6 months, or P-5-P 25 to 100 mg in its place where needed.
B9 as methylfolate (never folic acid), 1 mg building slowly to 5 mg, with B12 as methylcobalamin added at the same time, 500 mcg daily for 6 months to a year. B12 is often low in dementia, and restoring it often makes a noticeable difference.

Most supplements are taken with food; baking soda and iodine are the exceptions.

Traditional Chinese Medicine: Acupressure for the Brain

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the brain is governed by the Kidney, which holds the deep essence and the marrow, and the brain is called the sea of marrow. A disturbed Heart spirit shows up as a scattered or confused mind, weak Spleen energy lets “phlegm” gather in the head as foggy, slow thinking, and stuck Liver energy turns to heat that disturbs the head. The work is to strengthen the Kidney essence, calm the Heart, strengthen the Spleen and clear the fog, and bring the Liver back into balance. Press each point for 30 to 60 seconds with steady, calm pressure.

In this view, the Kidney holds fear, and fear carried over generations can quietly drain the deep reserve the brain runs on. The Heart holds the spirit, and a scattered, ungrounded spirit is the picture of an anxious, forgetful mind. The Spleen holds worry, the thought chewed over and over, and the Liver holds anger and frustration. Naming and gently feeling these through handwritten journaling, the daily emotional check-in, song, prayer, the company of safe people, and the body-based work of the protocol is part of how the brain settles. A brain in a body that feels safe, grieves what it needs to grieve, and worries less ages differently than a brain in a body holding it all.

GV 20, Bai Hui (crown of the head): the great point for the head; central in dementia work.
Yin Tang (between the brows): calms the mind.
Si Shen Cong (four points around GV 20): used especially for the brain.
HT 7, Shen Men (wrist crease, little-finger side): calms the heart.
KI 3, Tai Xi (inner ankle): strengthens the Kidney essence; central.
KI 6, Zhao Hai (below the inner ankle): strengthens the Kidney.
ST 36, Zu San Li (below the knee): strengthens the Spleen and energy.
ST 40, Feng Long: the classic point for foggy thinking and slow thinking.
SP 6, San Yin Jiao (above the inner ankle): balances the Spleen, Liver, and Kidney.
LV 3, Tai Chong (top of the foot): moves stuck Liver energy.
GB 20, Feng Chi (at the base of the back of the skull): for the head and neck, and especially useful in cognitive work.
Ren 4, Guan Yuan, and Ren 6, Qi Hai (lower belly): strengthen the deep energy the brain runs on.

A Sample Day for Dementia Reversal and Prevention

Wake at the same time each day and drink warm water with mineral salt, and lemon if tolerated. Cold face dips with humming: face in filtered ice water for 15 to 30 seconds, then hum for 30 seconds, three times in all. Morning tea: loose-leaf tea with 1 teaspoon St. John’s wort (only if you are not on an SSRI) and 1 teaspoon mucuna pruriens, or rosemary tea for cognitive support. Red light or candlelight before dawn, then the sunrize with bare eyes. Handwritten gratitude journal, written until you truly feel the gratitude. Morning body scan, flat on the floor with no pillow, arms slightly out, palms up, for 20 minutes if working or a full hour if homebound. Memorise a few lines of a poem, a prayer, or a song. Baking soda, 1/4 to 1 teaspoon in warm water, away from food. Pathogen protocol where active: Hour 0 NAC, Hour 1 matched quorum sensing disruptor, Hour 2 matched antagonist with lactoferrin.

First meal around 10 am: meat stock with butter and MCT oil stirred in, red meat, eggs with their yolks, or fish, a little well-cooked vegetable, daily raw grated carrot, fermented dairy, and a tablespoon of kimchi. With it take cod liver oil, butter oil, extra DHA, benfotiamine and the B Ladder, magnesium (threonate for the brain), MSM, tapioca vitamin C, selenium, the foundational minerals, CoQ10, L-carnitine, creatine, lion’s mane, quercetin, and lactoferrin. Akkermansia (built up gradually), L. plantarum 299v, the foundational microbes, and daily kimchi.

Bare-skin sun and sun in your bare eyes for 20 to 30 minutes, with bare feet on the earth. A slow walk in nature, bouncing on the earth barefoot, gentle dancing to Mozart or Gregorian chant, and acupressure on GV 20, Yin Tang, KI 3, ST 36, ST 40, SP 6, LV 3, HT 7, and GB 20. Two 5-minute body scans through the day. Active engagement: read a beautiful book with a pen in hand, handwrite a letter or journal entry, sing songs or hymns you know by heart, talk slowly with someone you love, and learn a new word or skill.

Second meal around 2 or 3 pm: red meat, fish, or shellfish, well-cooked vegetables, fermented dairy and aged cheese, kimchi, the day’s measured fat, and raw grated carrot with olive oil. Afternoon sun or sunset viewing with bare eyes. A long, loving body massage with warmed lard or ghee for 15 to 30 minutes, with attention to the head, neck, and gentle face. A warm detox bath with Epsom salt and unrefined sea salt for 20 to 30 minutes. A castor oil pack over the liver, left on overnight.

Evening: candlelight, Gregorian chant or Mozart, your gratitude journal, a list of the day’s accomplishments, the same memorised prayer or affirmation, and a bite of carrot with mineral salt at bedtime if needed. Slow left-nostril breathing, magnesium glycinate or threonate, and lemon balm or passionflower tea. The bedtime body scan into sleep, a full hour, flat on your back with no pillow, arms slightly out, palms up, in a pitch-black room with a sleep mask and cool air, in bed before 10 pm whenever possible, because the deep sleep that cleans the brain depends on it.

A Closing Word

Alzheimer’s is Type 3 Diabetes, the brain starving in a sea of glucose it can no longer enter, and the other dementias share most of the same drivers. Our answer is metabolic, ancestral, and faithful. We bypass the broken glucose pathway with patient nutritional ketosis. We rebuild the gut and microbiome, and gently, over time, clear the heavy metals, mould, and chronic infections that have been part of the picture. We sleep deeply so the brain can clean itself. We eat the animal foods the brain is built from, especially small oily fish for DHA, egg yolks for choline, organ meats for their depth of nutrients, and generous animal fats for fuel and structure. We take the foundational supplements and the B Ladder, meet the sun and the earth every day, move gently, and use our minds every day with reading, writing, singing, memorising, and slow, deep conversation. We love and are loved by safe people, and we surround ourselves with simple beauty.

When dementia is met early, it very often reverses. When it is met later, the decline slows a great deal, and the quality of the time that remains is much, much higher.

Prevention is the same work, started earlier. A body that has eaten the ARP menu, lived in or near nutritional ketosis, slept deeply, sunned its skin, grounded on the earth, kept its body and mind active in love and community, addressed its toxins and infections as they came, and met its life with gentle daily attention is a body whose brain very rarely declines. The traditional peoples with the longest-lasting health usually kept their wits to the end of their lives, and we follow them.

On the hardest days, and there are some in this work, for the one living with dementia or the person frightened by changes in their thinking, remember the gentlest piece of wisdom in this whole protocol: nobody ever died from eating soup. A warm, salted, well-buttered mug of meat stock with a spoon of MCT oil stirred in, the body scan on the floor, a long slow walk in the sun, a beloved hand to hold, a few lines of a memorised poem or prayer, and the quiet faith that the brain is being given exactly what it needs are, on those days, the whole of the medicine.

“Alzheimer’s is Type 3 Diabetes. Switch the fuel to ketones, rebuild the gut, clear the load, sleep deeply, sun the skin, ground the feet, eat the animal foods the brain is built from, and engage the mind every day in love and community. The brain, given what it needs, often comes back to itself, and the brain that is well fed rarely goes there in the first place.”