Dementia prevention 1: Quercetin before bed helps clean-up sick & underperforming brain cells

But only if you are metabolically flexible...

Diagram: neuroprotective effects of Quercetin (this is not the full list).

Metabolically flexible

Metabolically flexible means that your body has been (re)trained to switch between glucose oversupply to glucose undersupply easily and in stress-free fashion.  This switch occurs approximately 6 hours after your last meal. In day time it makes your feel uncomfortable and at night it keeps you anxious and awake- see the discussion that follows.

Important note: early is better than later.

Dementia is the end point of a process that starts in your 20’s. The way to avoid dementia it is to start supplementing when you are 30 - not when you are 60! That being said, it’s never too late to start.

Quercetin for brain health

Quercetin is good for all sorts of health reasons and has a very high safety margin. If you choose to supplement with Quercetin especially for brain health, it’s best to take it before you go to bed.  Taken before bed, Quercetin helps improve the quality of your brain's regenerative sleep (this form of sleep is REM-rich dream sleep and happens in the early hours of the morning).  With this in mind, it’s important that you are actually able to get that early morning sleep!  Older people – especially those who aren’t metabolically flexible and obese, and having high blood sugar -  often can’t.  They can't because their body switches into an adrenalin alarm state.

Are you an older person with poorly controlled blood glucose, and are you prone to wake up with racing thoughts between 2 and 3 am? – That is the adrenalin alarm state which occurs due to your fall back on to the adrenalin response. Adrenaline response happens because your liver is metabolically unhealthy and can’t easily switch from managing an over-supply of glucose to an under-supply.

A healthy liver means a good sleep right through the night!

If, however you are metabolically flexible, your liver is healthy and easily switches from glucose overload to glucose undersupply, without the need for an adrenaline surge.  This means that you are less likely to wake up and feel hyper-alert in the small hours of the morning, and you will be able to get your all-important brain regenerative sleep.

(the hyper-alert state is due to a fall back on to the adrenalin response that occurs because your liver can’t easily switch from over-supply of glucose to under-supply, which raises a mild alarm state (an adrenalin state). 

Provided you haven’t eaten for at least three hours before bed, and you also improve your metabolic flexibility by:-

1. avoiding processed foods (which are high in quick-release sugars and vegetable seed oils)

2. doing regular aerobic exercise (I suggest hill walking if like me, you are over 60)

3. eating during a restricted time period each day (ideal for most people is to eat between 11 am and  7 pm, with a feed of unprocessed nuts or modest amounts of cold pressed coconut or olive oil outside of that time).

Quercetin supplementation for healthy sleep and general brain health

The following are my recommendation:-

1. I recommend taking 500 to 1,000mg before bedtime. 

2. A teaspoon of coconut oil in green tea will help; it absorb better.

3. While no harm has been noted with doses up to 1,000 mg daily for 12 weeks in humans, it’s recommended to take a break from dosing on a regular basis.  For example,  1 month on and 1 month off.

4. Toxicity in rats could not be demonstrated at doses ten times the above this dose, even after 2 years. 

5. Quercetin with Bromelain is a commercial supplement that consumers rank highly, with very noticeable effects for sinusitis

References

1. Neuroprotective Effects of Quercetin in Alzheimer’s Disease

2. Quercetin: What It Is, How Much You Need, and Where to Find It

3. You Can Eat Your Way Towards Dementia—or a Strong and Healthy Brain