
By May 2008, Steve was in a late stage of Alzheimer’s and was scheduled to be screened for participation in two clinical trials of potential drugs. Then, I came across a press release about a medical food that was said to improve memory and cognition in nearly half of the people with Alzheimer’s who received it in clinical trials.
I learned this food’s key ingredient was medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, which comes from coconut or palm kernel oil. I calculated how much coconut oil to give him to equal the medical food dose. He was screened for the first clinical trial before taking the oil and his memory score was too low for acceptance. The following day, he screened for the second clinical trial four hours after taking coconut oil and gained enough cognition points to qualify for the trial. His clock drawing test improved dramatically in just two weeks (see Figure). He continued to improve steadily in memory, ability to function, ability to read, ability to converse, and in physical symptoms over the next 10 months as the amount of coconut oil was increased and MCT oil was added to his diet.

References
2. Caminiti SP, Ballarini T, Sala A, et al. FDG-PET and CSF biomarker accuracy in prediction of conversion to different dementias in a large multicentre MCI cohort. Neuroimage Clin. 2018;18:167-177. DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.01.019.
3. de la Monte SM, Wands JR. Alzheimer’s disease is type 3 diabetes – evidence reviewed. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2008;2(6):1101-1113. DOI: 10.1177/193229680800200619.
4. Xu W, Caracciolo B, Wang H-X, et al. Accelerated progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia in people with diabetes. Diabetes. 2010;59(11):2928-2935. DOI: 10.2337/db10-0539.
5. Feinman RD, Pogozelski WK, Astrup A, et al. Dietary carbohydrate restriction as the first approach in diabetes management: critical review and evidence base. Nutrition. 2015;31(1):1-13. DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2014.06.011.
6. Owen OE, Morgan AP, Kemp HG, et al. Brain metabolism during fasting. J Clin Invest. 1967;46(10):1589-1595. DOI: 10.1172/JCI105650.
7. Cunnane SC, Courschesne-Loyer A, Vandenberghe C, et al. Can ketones help rescue brain fuel supply in later life? Implications for cognitive health during aging and the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Front Mol Neurosci. 2016;9:53. DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2016.00053.
8. Cunnane SC, Menard CR, Likhodil SS, et al. Carbon recycling into de novo lipogenesis is a major pathway in neonatal metabolism of linoleate and α-linolenate. Prostaglandins Leuko Essent Fatty Acids. 1999;60(5-6):387-392. DOI: 10.1016/s0952-3278(99)80018-0.
9. USDA Food Database. USDA website. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov.
10. Bergen SS, Hashim SA, TB Van Itallie TB. Hyperketonemia induced in man by medium-chain triglyceride. Diabetes. 1966;15(10):723-725. DOI: 10.2337/diab.15.10.723.
11. Castellano C-A, Nugent S, Paquet N, et al. Lower brain 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake but normal 11C-acetoacetate metabolism in mild Alzheimer’s disease dementia. J Alzheimers Dis. 2015;43(4):1343-1353. DOI: 10.3233/JAD-141074.
12. Fortier M, Cunnane SC, et al. A ketogenic drink improves brain energy and some measures of cognition in MCI. Alzheimers Dement. 2019;15(5):625-634. DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2018.12.017.
13. Neth BJ, Mintz A, Whitlow C, et al. Modified ketogenic diet is associated with improved cerebrospinal fluid biomarker profile, cerebral perfusion, and cerebral ketone body uptake in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease: a pilot study. Neurobiol Aging. 2020;86:54-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.09.015.
14. Newport MT, ed. The Complete Book of Ketones: A Practical Guide for Ketogenic Diets and Ketone Supplements. Nashville, TN: Turner Publishing Company; 2019.
15. Nonaka Y, et al. Lauric acid stimulates ketone body production in the KT-5 astrolyte cell line. J Oleo Sci. 2016;65(8):693-699. DOI: 10.5650/jos.ess16069.
16. Chatterjee P, Fernando M, Fernando B, et al. Potential of coconut oil and medium chain triglycerides in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Mech Ageing Dev. 2020;186:111209. DOI: 10.1016/j.mad.2020.111209.
17. Mattson MP, Moehl K, Ghena N, et al. Intermittent metabolic switching, neuroplasticity and brain health. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2018;19:81-94. DOI: 10.1038/nrn.2017.156.
Through her personal research and experimentation with various foods and medium chain triglyceride oils, and by conferring with other scientists, Mary devised a ketone-heavy diet, including coconut oil, which produced striking demonstrable improvements in Steve’s cognition. Sadly, because of other factors, Steve passed away in 2016.
Dr. Newport now carries on his legacy as an author and international speaker on ketones as an alternative fuel for the brain. Her latest book, of many, is The Complete Book of Ketones: A Practical Guide to Ketogenic Diets and Ketone Supplements.
Dr. Newport graduated from Xavier University and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She trained in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati and in neonatology at Medical University of South Carolina. Presently she lives in Florida.
