David Perlmutter > Quotes

“The simple act of moving your body will do more for your brain than any riddle, math equation, mystery book, or even thinking itself.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“Researchers have known for some time now that the cornerstone of all degenerative conditions, including brain disorders, is inflammation. But what they didn’t have documented until now are the instigators of that inflammation—the first missteps that prompt this deadly reaction. And what they are finding is that gluten, and a high-carbohydrate diet for that matter, are among the most prominent stimulators of inflammatory pathways that reach the brain.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“I’ve had plenty more patients come through my doors and leave with a pain-free head, thanks to the adoption of a gluten-free diet.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“if you cannot control your hunger and appetite, good luck managing your blood chemistry, metabolism, waistline, and, in the bigger picture, the prospect of crippling your brain.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“Elevated blood sugar stirs up inflammation in the bloodstream, as excess sugar can be toxic if it’s not swept up and used by cells. It also triggers a reaction called glycation—the biological process by which sugar binds to proteins and certain fats, resulting in deformed molecules that don’t function well. These sugar proteins are technically called advanced glycation end products (AGEs). The body does not recognize AGEs as normal, so they set off inflammatory reactions. In the brain, sugar molecules and brain proteins combine to produce lethal new structures that contribute to the degeneration of the brain and its functioning. The relationship between poor blood sugar control and Alzheimer’s disease in particular is so strong that researchers are now calling Alzheimer’s disease type-3 diabetes.14”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“New science reveals that exercise positively influences the gut’s balance of bacteria to favor colonies that prevent weight gain.”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“Strive for progress, not perfection.”
― David Perlmutter

“Our best medical journals are now brimming with high-profile, rigorous studies that show a stunning correlation between high blood sugar and risk for dementia.”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“these same chemicals found in the brain are also produced in the gut, and that their availability to the brain is largely governed by the activity of gut bacteria, we are forced to realize that ground zero for all things mood-related is the gut.”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“Test Ideal level • fasting blood glucose less than 95 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) • fasting insulin below 8 µIU/ml (ideally, below 3) • hemoglobin A1C 4.8 to 5.4 percent • fructosamine 188 to 223 µmol/L • homocysteine 8µmol/L or less • vitamin D 80 ng/mL • C-reactive protein 0.00 to 3.0 mg/L • gluten sensitivity test with Cyrex array 3 test”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“The fact that changes in our gut affect our brain’s response to negativity or emotionally stirring images is just mind-boggling. But it’s also empowering. It means that what we put in our mouths and how we feed our gut bacteria do indeed affect our brain’s functionality. IT”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“To cure disease after it has appeared is like digging a well when one feels thirsty,”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“As is the case for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, central obesity [belly fat] is also a risk factor for dementia.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“The microbiome affects our mood, libido, metabolism, immunity, and even our perception of the world and the clarity of our thoughts. It helps determine whether we are fat or thin, energic or lethargic. Put simply, everything about our health-how we feel both emotionally and physically-hinges on the state of our microbiome.”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“We used to think that eggs were evil and margarine was magical, but now we know that eggs are among the world’s most nutrient-dense foods and that margarine contains deadly trans fats.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“Your gut has its own immune system, the “gut-associated lymphatic tissue” (GALT). It represents 70 to 80 percent of your body’s total immune system. This speaks volumes about the importance—and vulnerability—of your gut. If the events that take place in the gut weren’t so critical to life, then the majority of your immune system wouldn’t have to be there to guard and protect it.”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“Archives of Internal Medicine revealed that postmenopausal women who were put on statin drugs to lower their cholesterol had a nearly 48 percent increased risk of developing diabetes compared to those who weren’t given the drug.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“The origin of brain disease is in many cases predominantly dietary. Although several factors play into the genesis and progression of brain disorders, to a large extent numerous neurological afflictions often reflect the mistake of consuming too many carbs and too few healthy fats.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“Increasing numbers of studies are confirming the link between gluten sensitivity and neurological dysfunction.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“Some of my most remarkable case studies involve people changing their lives and health for the better through simple brain-making edits to their dietary choices. They cut carbs and add healthy fats, especially cholesterol—a key player in brain and psychological health. I’ve watched this fundamental dietary shift single-handedly extinguish depression and all of its kissing cousins, from chronic anxiety to poor memory and even ADHD.”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“networks, in your brain. He remarked, “Experience coupled with attention leads to physical changes in the structure and future functioning of the nervous system. This leaves us with a clear physiological fact . . . moment by moment we choose and sculpt how our ever-changing minds will work, we choose who we will be the next moment in a very real sense, and these choices are left embossed in physical form on our material selves.”2”
― David Perlmutter, Power Up Your Brain: The Neuroscience of Enlightenment

“we’re going to explore what happens when the brain is bombarded by carbohydrates, many of which are packed with inflammatory ingredients like gluten that can irritate your nervous system. The damage can begin with daily nuisances like headaches and unexplained anxiety and progress to more sinister disorders such as depression and dementia.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“We’ve known since the late 1970s that gluten breaks down in the stomach to become a mix of polypeptides that can cross the blood-brain barrier. Once they gain entry, they can then bind to the brain’s morphine receptor to produce a sensorial high. This is the same receptor to which opiate drugs bind, creating their pleasurable, albeit addicting, effect. The”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“Those who experience symptoms complain of abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and intestinal distress. Some people, however, don’t experience obvious signs of gastrointestinal trouble, but they could nevertheless be experiencing a silent attack elsewhere in their body, such as in their nervous system.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“Some bacteria are more or less permanent residents; they form long-lasting colonies.”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“Italian researchers, for another example, have demonstrated that in elderly individuals suffering from mild cognitive impairment, those who consumed the highest level of flavonoids from cocoa and chocolate improved their insulin sensitivity and blood pressure significantly.”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“U.S. Army researcher Dr. F. Curtis Dohan was among the first scientists to notice a relationship between postwar Europe’s food scarcity (and, consequently, a lack of wheat in the diet) and considerably fewer hospitalizations for schizophrenia.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“You can improve insulin sensitivity and reduce your risk of diabetes (not to mention all manner of brain diseases) simply by making lifestyle changes that melt that fat away. And if you add exercise to the dieting, you’ll stand to gain even bigger benefits.”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

“The neurons in the gut are so innumerable that scientist are now calling the totality of them "the second brain"...

In fact, recent research is revaling that our second brain may not be second at all. It can act independently from the main brain and control many functions without the brain's input.”
― David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

“So what happens if you restrict your cholesterol intake, as so many people do today? The body sends out an alarm that indicates crisis (famine).”
― David Perlmutter, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers