If the Solution is Simple

Is Ayurveda for Alzheimer’s?  According to Ayurveda, as we get older, we increase in "vata."

Vata is the air element.  Very simplistically put, air dries you out.   Bones become more brittle.  Your brain becomes less flexible.  Dismiss this if you must, but as Einstein said, "If the solution is simple, then God is answering."

Yesterday I was with a friend who has been diagnosed with the beginning of Alzheimer's.  He is already taking boatloads of drugs.  He does brain and body exercises.  But he feels more and more loss of short-term memory. 

We had lunch and I couldn't help noticing that he was eating only foods that increase vata (the ayurvedic air element.)  Cold food.  Cold fruit.  Cold salad.  Ice water. 
Because I spent so much time in India studying yoga and meditation, I fortunately learned a lot about Ayurveda, the 4000-year-old system that has cured me of several life-threatening health issues.  It has worked for 4000 years and it has worked for me. 

Some call this "anecdotal" not scientific.  I don't agree because my anecdotal experience with ayurveda was my own experience and it cured me. $10,000 spent on drugs and doctors did not.

When I saw what my friend was eating, (vata increasing foods) I looked up Vata and Alzheimer's.  Sure enough, in Ayurveda, Alzheimer's is a vata imbalance.  Imbalance of the air element.  Our bodies are seeking balance between the main elements of air, fire and water.  Too much or too little of any will through us off balance.

Years ago, I heard about Dr. Dale Bredesen when he was at UCLA.  He was researching a more natural way of preventing Alzheimer's.  I was thrilled because I had heard that if we live to be 85, one in three of us will have it. 

So, I called him up, went to see him at UCLA, he explained his theory to me, and showed me videos of patients before and after his protocol.  One ,in particular, was a doctor.  He had two practices when he was diagnosed.  He was told to go home, sell his practices, get his affairs in order, because it was all over.  (Hopefully, they didn't say it like that.)

Instead, this doctor went on the Bredesen protocol, got well, his wife said "I have my husband back." And he bought a third practice.

I thought I could help Dr. Bredesen raise research funds.  I was sure I could, because I have years of fundraising experience.  To me, this would be a breeze.  I talked to 224 people.  Older wealthy people.  They should be interested.  No luck. 

If it was this hard for me, can you imagine how hard it must have been for Dale Bredesen to spend years trying to turn around a ship?  Our culture is so convinced that only drugs are the answer when the solution is simple, they can't hear it.

Finally, Dr. Bredesen wrote a book, "The End of Alzheimer's" that stayed at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list for weeks.  And now he has an infomercial where he sells his solution and his supplements. 

Recently I have heard people criticize him for that.  But what would you do?  If you knew you could help people, but the naysayers criticized you, would you quit? 

We have to be free to exchange energy, ideas and feelings.  We have to encourage each other in our Self-discovery.  Heart to heart exchanges with others expands
our awareness.  Simple solutions are often best if only one would listen.

I'm proud of Dale Bredesen.   He’s not anti-drugs.  His protocol involves some.  But he says other things might be more important.  

I love people who march to a different drummer.  Look at me - leadership and yoga?  Plus wine?   What a joke. 

But it isn't.

 #leadershiptraining   #alzheimers