General Dietary Concerns:
1) Dementia patients need to eat well balanced meals at least 3x's a day.
2) Blood work, stool samples, urine tests and hair tests should be preformed upon diagnosis to determine if the patient is lacking any vital minerals or vitamins. These tests should be repeated periodically as the patients conditions change.
3) Be sure that the patient has adequate amounts of fluids through out the day. Fever, flushing, rapid pulse, pale lining of mouth, inelastic skin, dizziness, headaches, and hallucination are symptoms that should be watched for.
4) Maintain proper dental hygiene. With dementia, patients often times they forget to keep up on dental maintenance. This could lead to eating disorders in the future.
5) Make sure that the patient is experiencing normal bowel activity. This is vital to especially if any type of detoxification program is being implemented.
6) Avoid preparing foods in aluminum cooking utensils. Aluminum has appeared in high concentrations in the autopsies of Alzheimer's patients (although no direct link has been established, but it is still best to error on the side of caution).
Dietary Guidelines:
1) An increase in foods rich in Calcium, Manganese, Sulphur, Iodine, lechine, choline, and tryptophan are recommended:
| egg yolks | | kale |
| celery | | fish |
| raw goat's milk | | veal joint broth |
| cod roe | | rice polishing |
| brewer's yeast | | nutritional yeast |
| wheat bran | | leafy greens |
| sardines | | tofu |
| nuts | | liver |
2) Fresh Juice combinations:
- Celery, carrot and prune.
- Prune and rice polishing.
- Raw goats milk and 1 tsp. sesame, sunflower, or almond butter, 1 tsp. honey and a sliver of avocado.
- Black cherry and egg yolk.
3) Foods to avoid: Red meat, alcohol, hot sauces, spicy foods, fatty foods, salty foods, caffeine, sweet foods/sugar.
Supplements and Botanicals:
1) Vitamin B-12
2) Folic Acid - 1mg/day.
3) Vitamin C - 1000mg/day.
4 Beta-carotene - 25,000 IU/day.
5) Vitamin E - 400 IU/day.
6) Ginkgo biloba - 100-400mg/day.
7) Gota kola - 100-400mg/day.
8) Physostigma venenosum (toxic) - tincture 5 gtt/day.
9) Phosphatidylcholine (toxic) - 25g/day.
Chinese Herbs:
1) Eleuthero 10+ (patent) - Kidney Jing Xu (essence deficiency).
2) Shou Wu Pian (patent) - Liver Yin Xu (deficiency).
3) Gui Li Ji (PATENT) - Kidney Yang Xu (deficiency).
4) Bu Nao Wan (patent) - Heart Xue Xu (blood deficiency).
Further Help
1) Alzheimer's Association (A.A.)- Greater Phoenix Chapter
2323 S. Hardy Dr.
Tempe, AZ. 85282.
(602) 966-1232.
2) Arizona Long Term Care - Office of Eligibility
4440 N. 36th St.
Phoenix, AZ., 85018.
(602) 954-9221 (X-2005).
3) Dial-A-Ride - Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa, Phoenix.
(602) 966-2600.
Suggested Readings
-The 36-Hour Day, Mace and Rabins, (John Hopkins Press) 1981.
-Special Care for Alzheimer's Patients (Through A.A.).
-Assisting the Person With Alzheimer's (Through A.A).
-Steps to Choosing a Physician (Through A.A.).
-Making Meal Time Easier (Through A.A.).
-Caring for the Caregiver (Through A.A.).
-Legal Considerations for Alzheimer's (Through A.A.)
-Caregiving at Home (Through A.A.).
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