According to the latest statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association, a total of 5.3 million people are currently afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease at an annual cost of $172 billion in medical-related expenses. It is the 7th leading cause of death in 2010 and mortality rates have risen a whopping 46.1 percent from 2000-2006 (meanwhile death rates from stroke, prostate cancer, breast cancer, heart disease, and HIV have all DROPPED during that same period). With the baby boomer generation coming of age, the incidence of Alzheimer’s has unfortunately become more and more prevalent with the rates expected to nearly triple by the year 2050. For those 5 million plus people with Alzheimer’s disease, think about the countless tens of millions more family members who are forced to watch their loved ones deteriorate right before their eyes so that they no longer even resemble who they were before being afflicted with this terrible condition. Even worse is the realization that this family member you built such great memories with over the years now doesn’t even know who you are anymore. This has got to be one of the saddest ways to live out your final days on Earth after living so many years of your life cognizant of everything going on around you. And yet this is the reality that directly impacts so many families worldwide who are left to pick up the pieces when they’re told it’s Alzheimer’s disease.

Unfortunately, medical treatment options for Alzheimer’s patients is limited almost exclusively to pharmaceutical therapies. When a loved one is diagnosed with having Alzheimer’s disease, the medical profession tends to offer up a prescription drug and informs the family to prepare a will while the loved one still has their mental faculties and they are urged to begin making arrangements to place the Alzheimer’s-stricken family member in a nursing home. This is a ritual that has become much too commonplace with the steady rise in Alzheimer’s in recent years and it’s not going to get better anytime soon. It’s as if physicians have just thrown up their hands in defeat and given up on people who have Alzheimer’s disease thinking there is nothing more that can be done for them beyond medication (and, sadly, we’ve seen this play out with other diseases as well). But what if you could actually heal Alzheimer’s disease through some simple changes in diet and supplementation? Is it REALLY possible to transform the life of someone with Alzheimer’s by making some nutritional alterations that none of these medical experts are talking about? That’s exactly what a woman from Bedford, Indiana named Nita Scoggan wanted to find out.

After she and her husband Bill enjoyed a fantastic life together working for the federal government at both the Pentagon and the White House in Washington, DC during the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton eras, they retired back to Bill’s birthplace in Indiana to enjoy the twilight of their lives together near family and friends. They had great hopes of traveling around the world and doing the things they’ve always wanted to do. But in 1999, Nita noticed that Bill began exhibiting behaviors that had her very concerned about the condition of his brain health. Forgetfulness was becoming the norm and he even seemed like he was in a fog most of the time. She scheduled an appointment to see a series of doctors who all confirmed her worst fears–Bill was quickly approaching an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s disease. After getting past the initial shock and devastation of this grim news, Nita was told to prepare Bill to live with this for the rest of his life. However, she refused to think the man she loved would be in a virtual vegetative state for his remaining days and so she implored the savvy research analyst skills she honed while working at the Pentagon to begin reading all studies that she could get her hands on about nutrition and supplements as it relates to Alzheimer’s disease. What she discovered and had never heard about before absolutely astounded her!

Grains and other sugary/starchy carbohydrates were making Bill’s brain run sluggish and so she had to immediately cut down on his consumption of these brain-draning foods. Additionally, when she came across a little-known supplement called Phosphatidylserine, the changes she began noticing in Bill when he took high doses of it were dramatic–the impact of his Alzheimer’s disease reversed and he began getting BETTER. The amazing transformation back to the Bill she knew and loved for so many years didn’t happen overnight, but within two years the negative effects of his Alzheimer’s disease was no longer apparent. He had been healed thanks to the changes in his nutrition and vitamins that Nita had implemented. It was this protocol that became the basis for the books and resources she now offers people who are interested in trying this method on their own family members with Alzheimer’s disease.

One of my longtime readers told me about this remarkable story earlier this year and so I contacted Nita about doing a podcast interview. When I heard back from her, Nita said she thought it would be a lot more convincing for me to come visit her and Bill in person to capture them on video. Since I already do regular YouTube videos, I thought that was a great idea. When I asked where they lived she responded, “Oh, it’s a little small town in Indiana you’ve probably never heard of called Bedford.” Well, as fate would have it, I had heard of it because my wife Christine’s family lives in this exact same town! While we were on vacation there last week for our annual family reunion, I drove just 1.6 miles from Christine’s grandparents’ house to meet up with this delightful couple who welcomed me into their home with open arms enthusiastically ready to share their miraculous story of love, determination, and a pursuit of the truth about Alzheimer’s disease.

This truly is a breathtaking tale of triumph for healthy low-carb living and in finding natural ways to combat the diseases that plague modern society. When conventional medicine chooses to give up on patients they think have no hope for recovery from something like Alzheimer’s disease, it’s time for people like Nita Scoggan to step in and shout it from the rooftops the truth that she has discovered and witnessed happen for people like her husband Bill. Sure, some will dismiss this as just one anecdotal story and that it doesn’t prove anything scientifically. But it’s difficult to argue with the results she and others are seeing using fresh real whole foods and dietary supplementation.

How many families are needlessly suffering with the ravages of Alzheimer’s believing their doctor was right when he said there is nothing more he can do for their loved one? How many just give up because they think it’s an inevitable fate? Let this tale of love starring Bill and Nita Scoggan encourage you today as you listen to them share what it was like going through this experience–in their own words–and how they are now helping others who are going through a similar fate. This is arguably one of the most remarkably uplifting and inspiring interviews I have ever and probably will ever conduct and I’m privileged to share it with you today!

Before I left, I gave Bill and Nita an autographed copy of my latest book 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb because I included a chapter in there about neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and how a very high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet is showing great promise in the research as a treatment option for what neurologist Dr. Larry McCleary calls “Type 3 diabetes.” And, of course, I had to share the incredible results that Dr. Mary Newport and her husband Steve have seen with his Alzheimer’s diagnosis by simply adding in coconut oil and MCT oil to his diet (read the case study she published in July 2008). This is an exciting trend happening in Alzheimer’s treatment since traditional methods are showing little to no progress in patients with this disease. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to witness with my own eyes how well Bill interacts today (and he is much more lucid than most people in their upper 80s are!). You would never know that man has had Alzheimer’s disease–and thanks to the tenacious investigative work of his wife Nita, he never will again!

If you would like to learn more about the work Nita Scoggan is doing sharing how she helped her husband recover from Alzheimer’s disease naturally, then visit her web site NitaScoggan.com or drop her an e-mail at nita.scoggan@gmail.com. I know she’d love to hear what you think about Bill’s health turnaround and to help you with your friend or loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s try to beat it, too. Tell her you found out about her from Jimmy Moore at “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb.”

Jimmy Moore is the popular blogger, podcaster and author of Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb who lost 180 pounds on the Atkins diet in 2004 and quickly established himself as a highly influential layperson in the field of health and nutrition. His wildly successful Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Blog has been educating, encouraging and inspiring readers since 2005 and his accompanying iTunes podcast The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore is one of the most listened to health broadcasts online today featuring hundreds of enchanting interviews with the leading voices in the world of diet and healthy living! Jimmy’s latest book compiling all the knowledge he has learned along his journey is called 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: How The Health Low-Carb Lifestyle Changed Everything I Thought I Knew. He lives in Spartanburg, SC with his beautiful wife Christine and their four crazy cats!