There is NO proven link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s, yet the myth continues
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4131942/
With Aluminum, there still are no studies showing direct ties between Alzheimers and aluminum, a lot of the evidence is anectdotal, but I would like someone to explain why Asians are having such problems with it, given that a)they eat a lot of rice, always have and b)this is a recent phenomenon, at a time when electric rice cookers have come to be common bother here and in Asia. Not to mention that aluminum cookware is mostly junky. My take is if there is any question about it, why chance it? I am pretty certain with the fat thing, it would make sense especially given that many older people have been told to eat low fat diets (sadly, some doctors are still spreading that as gospel, saw my cardiologist recently and he was fretting over the LDL/HDL ratio, telling me how I should take Niacin (which does change the ratio, but apparently does nothing to prevent heart disease), and that I should be eating a low fat diet, stay away from meat as much as possible, the old song and dance about diet and cholesterol…and they could be causing more harm other then promoting something that won’t really help heart disease.
I think it was the space vehicle that I read and removed all alumni pots.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a6377/4330380/
And those who think it’s safe to use them go ahead and use them.
By the time we’re our age, our memory files today are full of thousands of names and events and one more is just one more. Or retrieving is like when the hard rive is full.
But one of the things I was aware of, at 25 or 30, was not remembering every new name. My brother used to joke about being able to remember long strings of numbers for years, but not put a name to a client. He’d keep little notes.
I don’t think memory is fully understood. Personally, I’m not running off to try this or that, since every few years the thinking changes. Look at what’s been said about coffee- bad good bad good. Or sugar, vitamin D, St John’s Wort, etc.
I could keep detailed, complex contract negotiations in my head, with numbers and wording, but have always struggled with names and faces. Memory IS strange.
I have a general question that I think still flows well with OP’s general theme. Who is the expert here? What group, non-profit or drug company do we look to as an authority on this subject? There are many possible paths to consider…vitamins, general nutrition, mental brain games, physical exercise…it’s overwhelming to know what has been researched competently and is TRUTH based on fact vs. I read this on the internet so it must be true.
I am a firm believer in home remedies, knowing that I can try something that worked for my neighbor and see if it works for me. I believe that basics like good nutrition and supplements can have a role in delaying onset or supporting good general health which is important to give your body the best possible fuel to fight whatever is attacking it.
But it seems that this whole subject is splintered, and randomness seems to prevail. Just using coconut oil everyday is not a magic solution that will override years of bad choices in caring for your health.
So, what websites do you look to for current research on this subject? Who do you believe? Who do you NOT believe? My mom has dementia and is on one of the drugs thought to slow the process of this disease. But I don’t know why she is on this particular drug vs. another drug, and don’t know if we should leave her as is or try another one of the drugs out on the market. As I have researched on my own, it appears there could be a connection to a medicine my mom has taken for 25 years that may have led to earlier onset of her dementia. But, hard to impossible to prove.
Would love to hear of specific research results.
Where are you getting this information?
I fail to see the blame on rice cookers.
It hasn’t been proven there is a link between AD and aluminum.The main source of aluminum contact for people all over the world is sodas in aluminum cans, not cookware.
^ power cropper I love your post! and welcome a dialog about dementia prevention.
Sorry to hear about your mother, who is likely taking aricept or namenda, which is used early- middle stage to prevent escalation, to slow down the progression. I attended a south jersey conference in early June, and it was stated these drugs are not too successful, in fact, the " amyloid" theory, is under much review.
Regarding the concept of memory, here teepa snow -http://teepasnow.com/-
explains why our brains don’t handle more than 8 bits of information and the difference between forgetfulness and dementia.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mJk02XI_sRA
Power cropper - maybe this site, dementia today, will interest you and you might want to subscribe.
http://www.dementiatoday.com/missing-link-found-between-brain-immune-system-with-profound-disease-implications/
Rice is not good either. I don’t eat a lot of rice either and I don’t need a rice cooker to cook rice, you can cook with regular pot the old fashion way. You just have to be near the kitchen. With the rice cooker you don’t have to watch it.
I’m more worried about canned vegetables and food, the interaction of frying pan and something I cook. Who knows. Besides I was looking to get a new set of pots and pans so that was a good reason to throw my aluminum pots away.
Why?
My husband’s aunt once said that rice gives you constipation. I reminded her that two-thirds of world’s population eat rice everyday and I can’t imagine if what she said were true.
White rice is high in carbohydrate, less bad but not good either. Brown rice has some toxicity.
As far as the canned vegetables, I know that many are high in sodium and weirdly, added sugar. I had read that tomato sauce in cans is a carcinogen, so make sure its in jars. Anyone else heard that?
^ in addition to salt! sugar, a huge issue with canned foods, are the plastic linings and leaching Bpas
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/06/list-canned-foods-bpa
Hard to believe they haven’t figured that out and started changing manufacturing by now.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/9119528/Is-aluminium-really-a-silent-killer.html
Not just BPA. But I rather be on the safe side. The Teflon on aluminum cookware doesn’t help. I know my husband’s company had some research on this and he told said if it’s not safe for the environment it’s not safe for us to eat it either so I completed removed aluminum cookware.
Many processed food manufacturers have changed to glass or aseptic packaging.
I havent used anything with teflon for years. I either cook with cast iron, or enamel coating.
I use baking parchment. I also dont use cheap aluminium pans, but they arent very good for cooking anyway.
My daughter majored in environmental science, and had us read Our Stolen Future, about endocrine disruptors in the environment, which some reviewers have called the most terrifying book they have ever read.
its also been called junk science, probably by the same people who deny climate change.
But we are finally looking at cumulative effects of environmental toxins to people, plants & animals.
I took my friend shopping for workout wear yesterday, so now she is committed to taking the exercise class with me. 
Although I had a scare yesterday when she wasn’t in her dressing room and I didn’t see her in the rest of the store! (It’s a small store & opens onto the street). I still don’t know where she went, but it was a good reminder that things have changed. It is also going to be a good challenge for me, to be organized and break things down into steps.
I was a poor teacher to the kids, because I have a hard time planning, let alone verbalizing, what steps come next. Whether it was making a pie or driving a car, I just do things automatically, if I have to stop and think, it messes me up. But she is taking notes, so it is forcing me to stay focused.
I also looked up the correlation between aluminum and memory loss (alzheimers) and saw on the alzeimer’s website, alz.org, that that is considered a myth. Having shared that, I do understand that, since no one really knows what causes the disease, some may wish to take a ‘better safe than sorry’ attitude and stay away. Not to derail the thread but are there any cookware alternatives to aluminum that are easy to clean?
I too worry quite a bit about my memory. I’m going to research the correlation to statins as I’ve taken them for well over 20 years. I more recently heard about the B vitamins and now take a multivitamin high in the Bs every day.
I wish I had advice for the op but I’m trying to figure out what options I have around memory loss too.
If this is true - air pollution, exhaust fumes, living near busy roads,
Linked to alzheimers
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/05/air-pollution-dementia-alzheimers-brain
I had been taking b vitamins, but now I have trouble digesting them.
I also like my Chantal enameled steel pans, as well as an enameled Dutch oven.
I’m sure environmental toxins don’t help our health, but if air pollution was a huge risk, wouldn’t LA or Beijing, be having an epidemic?
No LA is not as bad as Beijing. It started solving the smoke problem back in the 70s. Much improved I think.