Dr. Dung Trinh Unpacks Brain Health, Alzheimer's, Ketones, High Blood Pressure, and Preventative Measures

Dr. Dung Trinh was interviewed by our very own KETO-SISta, Christian Naughton! He is passionate about helping others proactively improve and protect their health, and he is especially interested in Alzheimer's and brain health. He draws an especially important connection between the risk factors for heart health issues and Alzheimer's, and he gives incredible insight into why an aging brain suffering cognitive decline (memory loss) may be helped by ketones, fasting, and a ketogenic diet. To watch this enlightening episode, please go here. Or you can simply review the written transcript below!

Christian Naughton [00:00:00]:

To introduce our next guest: He is a keynote speaker, best-selling author, and health educator. He speaks throughout Orange County, California on a variety of health topics, which include cancer reduction strategies, Alzheimer's risk reduction, sugar inflammation, and ketosis. He is a chief medical officer of Irvine Clinical Research and the board member for Alzheimer's Orange County, as well as a physician with Medical Memorial Care. And lastly, he's a medical missionary with Tongue Out Medical Missions. I'm so excited. Join me in welcoming doctor Dung Trinh. Alright.

Christian Naughton [00:00:41]:

Well, thank you, doctor Trinh, so much for joining us today for the Spring Into Ketosis Summit. We're so excited to have you speaking with us today. So what I would like to talk with you about today is the brain health benefits and what got you interested in that space.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:01:02]:

Sure. Specific for brain health, I have taken care of patients for close to 20 years. And, as an an internist, the majority of my patients were older adults. Mhmm. Those above the age of 65. And, and over the years, I was successful in cutting down the rate of heart disease, heart attacks. I was successful in trying to prevent strokes and lowering hemoglobin, A1C's for diabetics and things of that sort. The one, challenge that, that I've noticed over the years is that every time I make the diagnosis of Alzheimer's,

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:01:45]:

I know in my mind that, that it's a one way road. I've, you know, I mean, I've had patients who are survivors of breast cancer, survivors of heart attacks, survivors of strokes, but I don't have a survivor from Alzheimer's. And, and as I was taking care of patients, I would educate them 1 by 1 over time. Now we would have a a 10 minute session with a patient, 15 minute, and then we would talk about diet, nutrition. The problem is that what I've realized is that our medical system doesn't really allow time in a patient visit to discuss wellness. It doesn't have, it doesn't have time to discuss prevention, nutrition. Right? The stuff that we can do in our lifestyle to prevent us from even going to the doctor in the first place if we keep each other healthy and well. Do you know throughout the country how much time a patient gets to speak with a doctor in the office? It's actually been studied through surveys.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:02:55]:

Yeah. It's about 7 minutes.

Christian Naughton [00:02:57]:

Wow.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:02:58]:

So, so in a 7 minute session with a doctor, that doctor is talking about, you know, your chief complaint, reviewing your meds, reviewing your labs, putting referrals. Where is the time for preventive health? And, and where is the time to even discuss brain health and, and Alzheimer's and nutrition for brain health? And, and because of that lack of time, you know, brain health and conditions like Alzheimer's is now a epidemic. I know in Orange County, it's the 3rd leading cause of death.

Christian Naughton [00:03:32]:

Mhmm.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:03:32]:

Alzheimer's is the 3rd leading cause of death in Orange County. Nationally, it's about the 5th leading cause of death, without a cure. And, and this is why I'm kinda passionate to come on and chat about this with you guys. Because there are things we can do to to optimize our brain health. There's lifestyle activities. There's nutrition. There's intermittent fasting. There's ketones and, and stuff that we have good data behind it that's been published.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:04:00]:

And that's kinda how I got into this.

Christian Naughton [00:04:01]:

Yeah. That's so exciting. I love, I've been able to come and listen to you speak, and I learned so much from you. And, you really offer a lot of hope to people out there because the statistics are just very scary, and, I love that you always end with hope. So that's what I really like to talk about too. You talked about kind of the tools in the toolbox and things that people can do, for preventative measures. And, you know, a lot of people are drawn to these areas you talked about, you know, exercise and nutrition and intermittent fasting and ketones for, you know, fat loss is always kind of a big thing people are drawn to. But, as you mentioned, there's something so much bigger than that.

Christian Naughton [00:04:42]:

So I'd love for you to touch on that and just, you know, the brain benefits of all of these tools you just discussed.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:04:50]:

Yeah. Yeah. The, the brain is is huge because, because it runs the rest of the body. Right? And, and did you know that with each heartbeat, every time your heart beats, 25% of the blood goes through your brain with each heartbeat. 25% of your body's blood goes through your brain, and your brain is only 3% of your body's weight. Right? So an organ that's only 3% of the entire person's weight takes 25% of its circulation with each heartbeat. That's how important the brain is. A healthy brain has about a 100,000,000,000 brain cells, which is a lot of brain cells.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:05:31]:

So they're they're chatting with one another. They're connecting. Every time I have a feeling, my brain cells are chatting and connecting with one another. So every thought, every feeling is basically brain cells speaking with one another. Mhmm. Every memory that I have is a specific pattern of brain cells communicating. So my memory of, dinner last night could be maybe this pattern up here of brain cells talking. My memory of breakfast this morning is maybe this pattern over here of brain cells talking.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:06:00]:

Mhmm. And so every memory is a pattern of brain cells. In Alzheimer's, there's a plaque that builds up. Have you heard the Alzheimer's plaque? Ever heard that terminology?

Christian Naughton [00:06:10]:

Heard you talk about it. Yes. But tell us about the Alzheimer's plaque.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:06:14]:

Yes. The plaque is a protein that builds up abnormally in the brain. That shouldn't be there. We have a name for it. It's called amyloid. Amyloid beta, beta amyloid is the name of that protein that builds up over time. And what happens is that the amyloid plaque, it physically gets in the way between 2 brain cells trying to talk.

Christian Naughton [00:06:38]:

Mhmm.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:06:39]:

And so as the plaque builds up, the brain cells are no longer able to communicate. And in the beginning, when there's only a little bit of plaque, it's no big deal because you have a 100,000,000,000 brain cells. It can kinda go around that. Mhmm. And but what happens is that with our lifestyle, our lifestyle induces plaque buildup. Right? And so this is like a a 1 hour lecture that I'm gonna condense for you in like 5 minutes. Right? When we have a 1 hour lecture time for your audience, I'll give that for you. But what happens is that over time, plaque builds up.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:07:15]:

And when plaque builds up and our brain cells can no longer get around the plaque, our brain cells can no longer communicate. Mhmm. We call that memory loss. Memory loss is simply brain cells no longer able to talk to one another, and so that's what happens with Alzheimer's. Mhmm. So lifestyle plays a huge role because because we know what causes plaque buildup. Right? And, and we know that, that there are over 30 different factors that leads to Alzheimer's plaque buildup. The, the neat thing is, if you know what causes plaque buildup, you can adjust and modify your lifestyle to try to minimize plaque buildup.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:07:59]:

Right? I'll quickly give you 6 things, right, that that you can do to minimize plaque buildup. Number 1, physical exercise. Right? We recommend at least half an hour a day, 30 minutes a day of doing something physical. Mhmm. Mainly just to get your heart rate going. Right? For our seniors who are unable to exercise for half an hour because, you know, their back hurts or their knee hurts, you know, break it down to to 15 minutes twice a day. Okay. Or break it down to 10 minutes 3 times a day.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:08:30]:

As long as it adds up to 30 minutes. Right? Okay. Because when your heart is going with exercise, what are you improving to your brain?

Christian Naughton [00:08:39]:

Your blood flow.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:08:40]:

Yeah. Circulation. Right? Circulation. The more blood you can get up there, the more oxygen you can get up there, better brain function. Right? And it also washes out toxins. Mhmm. As we improve circulation. So that's number 1 out of 6. The second thing you can do is brain exercises.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:09:00]:

So that is activities that make your brains work. It makes your brain kinda stretch a little bit. Right? Whether it's Sudoku or crossword puzzles or or going to learn a new class or whatever. Right? Brain exercise makes the brain cells connect. Mhmm. The more your brain cells are connecting, the better it is. So we know that the data shows that those who keep physically active have a lower risk of Alzheimer's. The data also shows that those who keep mentally active have a lower risk of Alzheimer's as well.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:08:59]:

OK? That's number 2 out of 6. Number 3 is, socialization. Those who socialize mean, meaning those who are engaged with others. Mhmm. They're spending time with others. They're going out to meals, taking walks, joining meetings, joining clubs. Those who socialize regularly have a lower risk of Alzheimer's than those who are home alone. And it's part of that brain stimulation when you're socializing.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:09:59]:

Right? It's part, it's part of that, having your brain cells talk, connect, interact, that lowers your risk. Our brain is like a muscle. The more you use it, right, the better it gets. The less you use it, right, it would, it dwindles away. So that's number 3 out of 6. Number 4 is getting enough sleep. Sleep is huge, because sleep is restorative. Right? Sleep is when your brain gets to recharge.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:10:33]:

Right? And sleep is also when your brain gets to clean out toxins and stuff that builds up there. So I talked about the the process that leads to plaque production. Right?

Christian Naughton [00:10:45]:

Uh-huh.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:10:45]:

There's also a process plaque removal that occurs. Plaque removal occurs most when we are sleeping.

Christian Naughton [00:10:53]:

Wow.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:10:54]:

And, and we recommend, you know, maybe at least 7 hours and, a night. And it's really the deep sleep, the REM sleep that is the the therapeutic type phase of, of plaque removal when we're getting good sleep. So that's number 4. Number 5 out of 6 is, is getting your other medical conditions under control. And, and what I mean by that is, is that we we know that there are health conditions that are linked to Alzheimer's. So if I took 10 patients with Alzheimer's, 8 out of the 10 have high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a circulation problem. Mhmm.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:11:35]:

Right? Anything that messes up circulation to your body will also mess up circulation to your brain. So, so high blood pressure is a medical condition that's linked to Alzheimer's. If I took 10 patients with Alzheimer's, 4 of them have diabetes. Diabetes or sugar behind diabetes is toxic to the brain. Mhmm. And when we have another time to to chat about that, I, I do, like, entire 1 hour lectures on sugar. Right? I can connect all the dots with sugar and toxicity and inflammation and all that. But, but 4 out of 10 patients with Alzheimer's have diabetes.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:12:10]:

As a matter of fact, if you're a diabetic, your risk for Alzheimer's doubles.

Christian Naughton [00:12:14]:

Oh my goodness. Mhmm.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:12:16]:

And so the scary thing is that in America, in the United States, 2 out of 3 Americans are either diabetic or prediabetic on their way to diabetes, and, and that's linked with obesity. That's linked with our lifestyle. Right? It's all kinda linked together. So, so diabetes is a huge risk factor. High cholesterol is also a risk factor because high cholesterol basically, clogs the arteries, messes with the circulation. Right? And I'm talking specifically about high bad cholesterol. I'm not talking about just cholesterol in general. I'm talking about the, the the trans fatty acid, the saturated fatty acid, and stuff like that.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:12:59]:

Right? As opposed to the good cholesterol, which is different. Number 5 is basically, again, getting your other health conditions under control. That includes diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and, you know, obesity and things of that sort. They are all linked, believe it or not, to Alzheimer's. Any condition that increases your risk for heart disease also increases your risk for Alzheimer's. Most people don't realize that they share the same risk factors. So it's both good and bad. It's, it's bad because heart disease is the number one killer, which means most of us are at risk for it, right, in the United States.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:13:36]:

That part of it is bad. What's good though is that if you know how to lower your risk for heart disease, then you know how to lower your risk for Alzheimer's. They share the same risk factors. Number 6 is nutrition. And, and in nutrition is included the role of intermittent fasting. As as you know, I'm an intermittent faster. It plays a huge role. And when we have a chance, I'll come on and and educate you guys about the science behind that from a clinical research perspective.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:14:04]:

Like the six factors that lead to plaque production or minimize plaque production depending on what you do with those 6 factors. Right? And how much you implement them or not implement them.

Christian Naughton [00:14:15]:

Yeah. And those are all tangible things that we could all take and kinda have in our toolbox and try to implement. That's the hope that you always, you know, end your topics with it. There are preventative measures and things that we can do and work towards getting improvement on. So I love that you always share things that people can actively do to improve their areas of health and wellness, and you touched on nutrition. So I'd love for you to kinda end up our discussion talking about ways to, like, how the ketogenic diet and keto lifestyle, because I know you study a lot on that, help with longevity and just living our best selves as we age.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:14:56]:

Sure. Definitely. And so, so I do a lot of talks on on keto, as you know, because I have the data as a researcher behind keto. I have to publish clinical research. I've compiled a database, on the ketogenic diet, on the state of ketosis, right, and the state of ketosis and health benefits. We have that database. When it relates to brain health, here's the cool thing. So the brain can either use sugar for energy or it can use ketones for energy.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:15:25]:

Right? So both, both are available for brain use. When you have sugar on board, it's very rare that you'll ever have keto on board because, because, you don't get keto unless you're fasting and you're burning your own fat, right, to, to produce ketones. And, and so the brain can use both, ketones or sugar. Mhmm. If your body is a car or if your brain is a car and that car needs energy, and that energy is gas that you have to fill, right, in that car. You have to fill the gas tank for the car. Sugar is regular unleaded. Ketones is supreme or super unleaded.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:16:07]:

It's a cleaner burn for your brain than sugar is. Sugar versus ketones. Ketones burn and use, and are used in the brain at a 40% higher efficiency rate than sugar. Right? That's what the data shows. The brain prefers ketones over sugar. When patients have Alzheimer's, their use of sugar in the brain declines. It's called hypometabolism of sugar with Alzheimer's patients. We see that.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:16:37]:

We have the data on that. So they can't use sugar effectively, right, when you have Alzheimer's. But these patients can use ketones.

Christian Naughton [00:16:46]:

Oh my goodness.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:16:47]:

We have data, and, and this is a longer lecture, right, which, for another time. We have data that's been published that shows if you put a patient with cognitive decline, memory loss, on a ketogenic diet, what you're doing is that you're feeding those those brain cells that are starving for sugar because there's no energy. Mhmm. So, so now you're feeding them with ketones, which they prefer. We have data that shows improvement in cognitive decline on mild Alzheimer's disease on a ketogenic diet. And so that's amazing. Yeah. So I'll, I'll end it up there.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:17:25]:

And, on another time with more time, we'll, we'll talk about deeper stuff.

Christian Naughton [00:17:30]:

I love it. Well, you shared so much in this little amount of time. I could listen to you talk on these topics forever. But, I so appreciate you coming on to share with us just what your research is showing, to talk about your passion and how you're helping in this space and for coming on to educate us. It's always great to hear from a medical professional just, you know, all of the benefits and things that we can actively be doing to improve our health and wellness and preventative measures as well. So thank you, Dr. Trinh, for hopping on to our ketosis summit. It's such a great joy to have you with us. And, yeah, we would love to have you again the next time we do one.

Dr. Dung Trinh [00:18:09]:

Sounds good. God bless, Christian. Good to see you.

Christian Naughton [00:18:12]:

Blessings to you as well.