Do You or Your Dementia Patient Snack on Crackers or Sugary Snacks All Day?

Be aware that overuse of sugar and sensitivity to wheat is extremely common and can create dementia-like symptoms in healthy people. Fatigue, fuzzy thinking, mild confusion, water retention, even arthritis can all be exacerbated by dependency on these products.

How do you tell if this is a problem for you or your patient? For two weeks try substituting potatoes, 100% rye bread, rice or other grains for bread and other products made with wheat including soy sauce. Eat more protein and vegetables and use a sugar substitute like stevia or give up sugar altogether for the same time period. If you don't have another health condition creating the symptoms and you are not allergic to anything else you should see a significant change within that period of time.

Be warned! This is not an easy task! Just like any other physical dependency, the body tends to crave the very substances making it sick. Not only that, sugar and wheat are everywhere in our society. Sugar includes honey, corn syrup, maltose, dextrose, maple syrup, jellies and jams, etc. Wheat is in almost everything made with flour. Still, if you find enough substitutes to satisfy the cravings, the increase in energy and clear thinking alone may be the worth the effort.

From The Spiritual Journey of Family Caregving. Buy it now directly from the author.