 Each of us has about 6 billion miles of DNA. How does our body keep it from getting all tangled up? There are special proteins called histones, which act like spools with DNA as the thread. Enzymes called sirtuins wrap the DNA around the histone spools, and in doing so, silence whatever genes were in that stretch of DNA, hence their name sirtuins, which stands for silencing information regulator. Although they were discovered only about a decade ago, the study of sirtuins has become one of the most promising areas of biomedicine, since they appear to be involved in promoting healthy aging and longevity. Suppression of this key host defense is considered a central feature of Alzheimer's disease. Autopsies of Alzheimer's victims reveal that loss of sirtuins enzyme activities closely associated with the accumulation of plaques and tangles in the brain that's characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. Sirtuins appear to activate pathways that steer the brain away from the formation of plaque and tangled proteins. Because a decrease in sirtuan activity can clearly have deleterious effects on nerve health, they're trying to come up with drugs to increase sirtuan activity. But why not just prevent its suppression in the first place? Glycotoxins in food suppress sirtuan activity. These so-called advanced glycation end products are AGEs. Our modern diet includes excessive AGEs, which can be neurotoxic. High levels in the blood may predict cognitive decline over time. If you measure the urine levels of glycotoxins flowing through the bodies of older adults, those with the highest levels went on to suffer the greatest cognitive decline over the subsequent nine years. As we age, our brain literally shrinks. In our 60s and 70s, we lose an average of 5 cubic centimeters of total brain tissue volume every year, but some lose more than others. Brain atrophy may be reduced in very healthy individuals, and a few people don't lose any brain at all. Normally, we lose about 2% of brain volume every year, but that's just the average, although the average brain loss for folks in their 70s and 80s was 2.1%. Some lost more, some lost less, and some men and women lost none at all over a period of four years. Researchers in Australia provided the first evidence linking AGEs with this kind of cerebral brain loss. So limiting one's consumption of these compounds may end up having significant public health benefits. Because search-win deficiencies, both preventable and reversible, by dietary AGE reduction, a therapeutic strategy that includes eating less AGEs, may offer a new strategy to combat the epidemic of Alzheimer's. Some of these glycotoxins are produced internally, particularly in diabetics, but anyone can get them from smoking and eating, particularly foods high in fat and protein. In a previous video, I listed the 15 foods most contaminated with glycotoxins, mostly chicken, but also pork, beef, and fish, which may help explain why those that eat the most meat may have tripled the risk of getting dementia compared to longtime vegetarians.