Zakin, The Alzheimer's Solution, and Growing Forward
In my junior year of college, my maternal grandfather passed away after suffering from Parkinson’s Disease for far too many years, and adrift (at that point he was the most loved person in my life and I had never lost someone I loved so dearly) I took a friend’s advice and decided to throw a cathartic ceramics class onto my already over-filled schedule (<— I was the kind of hardworking college student who was doing 60-80 hours of part-time jobs outside of my full-time class schedule).
Due to a fateful fluke (it was the only class available that worked within my time constraints), I ended up in the sunlit classroom of Richard Zakin, and that luck altered the course of my whole life and granted me a soul I grew to love just as dearly as my grandfather, and with such an acute rawness that it has taken me three years since his death to write about him and I have already filled 2 towels with tears in the attempt.
Zakin was light reflecting light reflecting light. To know/love him was to be swept up in his mirthful wisdom, his pure enthusiasm, his child-like curiosity (he never stopped wondering or learning), his fathomless creativity, his endless food delight, and his staggering generosity (within I show some of the many pieces he gifted us through the years <— he was also an internationally recognized ceramics master and has a piece in The Everson), and if it weren’t for that wise sweet soul I wouldn’t have Ian (or thus Q) in my life. Though neither of my own grandfathers were ever able to meet Q, he was able to have two love-filled visits with Zakin and both were dear treasures to us. (That photo above is the last time we saw Zakin, he was preparing to move to Ohio to be with his beloved wife Helen, and when we went to say goodbye he showed us what he was working on —he was always creating— and the metaphorical passing-the-colored-pencil baton to Q motion makes my throat lump and my heart fill with love and gratitude). Through the lessons Ian and I both learned from Zakin, Q has taken that artful/mirthful/light-filled torch and is forever running ahead of us just like our much loved mentor and friend.
Zakin passed away from complications of Alzheimer’s, but unlike my grandfather I’m not sure it would be right to say he “suffered”, and he made it clear he didn’t welcome such terminology. Even as his beautiful brain was filling with neurofibrillary tangles akin to the designs he’d etch/paint/draw, he was still able to find (and relay) silver-linings on his path and the insights could benefit us all.
Continue for: the one & only Richard Zakin; information/resources about Alzheimer’s and 4 world-renowned doctors working hard to relay the research that could prevent you (and your loved ones) from succumbing to this disease (<— even if you have a heightened genetic line-up of ApoE <— if I could go back in time I would have been sharing all of these books with Zakin, and he was the sort of open-minded soul who would have gladly received them); examples of foods we ate this week that fit within the “Azheimer’s Solution” (and also fits within the parameters of pediatric nutrition class I’m taking… and also fits with the United Nations/World Health Organization/etc guidelines for environmental sustainability… and also saves fellow species from suffering/extinction… what a win-win why-isn’t-everyone-doing-this?!?! win, eh?); and joy & action through our week.
Life Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward like Zakin always was.
Much like Q can make a game or joy out of every moment, Zakin also had a knack for filling spaces with laughter. Here seen: it’s the first time Q had met him, and to warm Q up Zakin was making a game out of poking his foot. It caused Q to laugh and then we got that same much-loved, much-remembered delightful Zakin giggle that reverberated around a room like sunlit wind-chimes.
Zakin started as a painter, transitioned to ceramics with a unique style of drawn/etched painted and glazed surfaces, and in his later years (because he was always, always learning and growing forward), he mastered digital art.
Here seen: a photo from this brilliant article about him which I’ll quote below.
The word "fighting" is used almost reflexively in defining the day-to-day strategy of many people facing serious illnesses. When someone is confronting a disease, we tend to fall into the use of familiar descriptions: They are battling, struggling, fighting to recover.
Richard Zakin doesn't exactly see his journey in that way.
He is a professor emeritus at SUNY Oswego, where he built a reputation as a ceramist, both as an artist and as an author and researcher whose inquiries into ceramics included, for instance, revelations about the legendary Adelaide Robineau, of Syracuse.
Zakin taught for decades. He wrote extensively. He keeps some of his favorite pieces on wooden shelves in the home he shares with his wife, Helen, also a professor emeritus at Oswego, a fine arts scholar known for her expertise in stained glass.
At 78, Zakin has gone through a transition. He now prefers doing his art digitally, through computer imagery. That is wildly different than ceramics, Zakin said, yet there are similarities -- such as the way, with either approach, you center on the use of forms.Monday, he sat at a desktop, tapped a few keys and one of his images appeared. The dominant color was an exquisite caramel-orange, almost the shade of a gourd. It is a color, Zakin said, he always "wanted to find, and couldn't find" through ceramics.
In that way he is still breaking ground, still moving forward ....Even as he lives each day with Alzheimer's disease.
It is a neurodegenerative disease, a form of dementia that involves the progressive loss of memory and subsequent changes in behavior. Of Americans 65 or older, one of every nine has the disease, which moves at different speeds in different people.
About three months ago, doctors confirmed Zakin has Alzheimer's, although he said he'd been noticing worrisome signs of the disease for a few years.
In response, he's embraced many daily disciplines. He reads. He times himself as he exercises. He listens to multiple kinds of music, including classical.
He also writes down his reflections, his observations, on life with Alzheimer's. Monday, during an interview, whenever he faced difficulty in finding the right words to make a point in conversation, he'd pull out his notebooks and locate the particular thought he wanted to share, such as:"You want to talk about problems. I want to talk about possibilities."
No, Zakin said, Alzheimer's does not always have to be a fight. He is an artist, and he does not believe good artists ever stop learning. He spoke of how -- whether it is with ceramics, or at a computer screen -- the moment of high revelation within art is when your work takes on a final shape, a kind of power, you did not fully expect:
"A surprise," he said.
That happens for him, too, with this disease.
Alzheimer's is a struggle, but he also sees it as a pathway, an exploration. At first, yes, he'd become frustrated and frightened when he had trouble finding things he'd set down, or when he'd be unable to find words for the concepts that rang clearly in his head.
But he stepped back, he said, and tried not to allow raw emotion to overwhelm him. He listened to his therapists and physicians, and he did plenty of reading on his own, and he found his way to philosophies about the illness that made sense to him.
Or, as Zakin wrote in one of his notebooks:"What you want to do is make Alzheimer's work for you. You need to create a system of concepts, ideas and objects." One of his unexpected discoveries, Zakin said, is the way the disease causes you -- again and again -- to in some ways rebuild "your own personage."
He compares it to a wound, a broken bone. The body and the mind are remarkably resilient, he said, and they will compensate for trauma by building strength in other places. So he believes there are "reserves" in his mind that he can call upon for help. He finds himself turning not only to sheer intellect but to a kind of intuitive link between mind and body that he rarely used before, and he agreed emphatically when asked if he perceives Alzheimer's in this way:
It is as if he has moved into a new territory, and he is seeing something the rest of us cannot quite see, and he is calling back to tell us about what he's found and what he's learned. For instance, Zakin said: In the old days, he rarely remembered his own dreams. Now they are vivid, brilliant, and they stay with him for a while after his eyes open in the morning.He said he is different, more open, in the way he interacts with others: He believes that he is more interested, more curious and concerned about strangers and casual acquaintances than he was in the days before he had Alzheimer's.
If you wrap everything together, Zakin said, all these lessons he's taking in about how to cope, his response is less about fighting than about observing and learning.
"I'm seeing another way of doing it," he said of day-to-day life, a strategy he will embrace for today, for tomorrow, for as long as he is able - and one he hopes comes through in what he says Saturday.
Maybe, he said, others dealing with Alzheimer's will listen to him and say, "This guy has some interesting stuff," and within their own difficulties they will find some spark of revelation.
Spend two hours with Zakin, and you quickly realize he retains what matters most to him: At core, he is himself, an artist and educator who happens to live with Alzheimer's, a guy who tries to learn every day from the surprises.
What he knows -- what he keeps proving -- is that life itself is teaching.
It’d be great for the heart and soul if all of us could approach disease with the spirit of Zakin, but if you want to prevent disease in yourself, your children, or whatever loved ones you have, there is research harking ways to alleviate this damage and it behooves of us to listen because not only could we keep our precious memories, we could be helping the earth’s sustainability (ie pushback on climate change and prevent tipping points that doom us all) and prevent millions of species extinctions while we’re at it.
Above and the next 2 below are from Dr Michael Greger’s book “How Not To Die”
Above and below from Dr Neal Barnard’s “Power Foods for the Brain”
And above is a book I have not read yet, though I have listened to now 5 different podcasts with Neurologists Dean and Ayesha Sherzai and I could not recommend it or them more. Once I get through the 3 books I’m currently reading, it’ll be up to bat. :-)
If you want to read books by 2 doctors who are making it their life’s mission to show souls how we can prevent Alzheimer’s, look no further than the amazing Team Sherzai.
They’ve written 2 bestselling books based off their research: The Alzheimer’s Solution and The 30-Day Alzheimer’s Solution: The Definitive Food and Lifestyle Guide to Preventing Cognitive Decline.
Dr. Dean Sherzai, M.D., PhD., completed his medical and neurology residencies at Georgetown University with a subsequent fellowship in neurodegenerative diseases at the National Institutes of Health, followed by a second fellowship in Dementia and Geriatrics at the University of California, San Diego. He also holds two Masters Degrees; in advanced sciences at UCSD and a Masters in public health from Loma Linda University, received his Ph.D. in Healthcare leadership at Loma Linda/Andrews University and completed the executive leadership program at Harvard Business School.
Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, M.D., finished two residencies at Loma Linda University; preventive medicine and neurology. She also holds a master’s in advanced sciences from UCSD. Subsequent to completing her residency Dr. Sherzai completed a fellowship in vascular neurology from Columbia University, and is currently enrolled to finish a PhD in women’s leadership. Ayesha also has a culinary degree, giving her a unique understanding of nutrition as a powerful tool for disease prevention.and now teaches large populations how to make tasty, easy, and healthy food for their brain health.
You can also listen to any of the below podcasts:
“Best and Worst Foods for Alzheimer’s Disease | Drs. Dean and Ayesha Sherzai” -Physician’s Committee Podcast
“OPTIMIZING BRAIN HEALTH” - Rich Roll Podcast
“AVOIDING A STROKE WITH NEUROLOGIST’S DRS DEAN & AYESHA SHERZAI” - Plant Proof Podcast with Nutritionist Simon Hill
“Optimize brain health and prevent Alzheimer's & dementia with neurologists Drs. Dean & Ayesha Sherzai” - with Medical Students Muzammil Ahmad, MSc & Cass Warbeck, BSc
“Team Sherzai MD - Your Brain's Destiny is in the Palm of Your Hands” - Rip Esselstyn (son of world-renowned cardiologist Caldwell Esselstyn)
Years ago we didn’t know what is now out there ready and waiting for our mental absorption. If you knew there was a way to prevent losing the names and faces of the ones you love, wouldn’t you want to try? If you knew that path could also save the environment for the loved ones and species in your wake, wouldn’t it become an easy decision to transition?
There is so much healing, betterment, and kindness waiting around the corner of growing forward.
What the heck are Blue Zones?
The Blue Zones are 5 populations which have been studied in detail by medical researchers, anthropologists, epidemiologists and demographers & show the greatest longevity across all human populations on Planet Earth. On average, they live 10 years longer than the average Westerner and their populations have 10x as many centurions (people 100+ yrs of age).
Zakin absolutely loved food. It was rare to have any conversation with him where food didn’t come up, and if you were eating something he was always eager for a shared piece.
One of my favorite comical memories of him also now causes the heart to wail at my nutritional ignorance:
One day I was taking a break at the bookstore I used to work at, was eating my daily (atrocious) lunch of a big ol’ slice of pepperoni pizza, and Zakin came in for something. He walked on over to have a chat with me as I ate, and midway through our conversation I noticed he was eating something and saw he was plucking the discarded pepperoni on my plate (I’d peel them off and save them til the end <—insert mental retching now) and eating them without a care. “Hah! Oh, pardon me!” he said, “They just looked so good!”
What were we talking about that day? I’ll never remember. What do I wish we were talking about? The environmental impacts (and unnecessary cruelty) of that pizza, the carcinogenic classification (<— by the World Health Organization) of that pepperoni, or how all of the above was terrible for his beautiful brain. Additionally, since Zakin was all about “possibilities, not problems”, I dearly wish he was around now so I could hear his thoughts on the climate solutions in front of us that so many want to ignore.
Above and below from “We Are The Weather” by Jonathan Safran Foer
Where was I when I made my decision? Next to the love of my life. Was it easy for him to wake up to the imperatives and join me? Nope. It was the one time I was pulling him ahead instead of the reverse.
In my last year of college I met Ian (who was also a student of Zakin’s and has a feast of his own heart-filled memories of this much-loved man) and though I loved Ian, I was at a directionless point in my life where I was convinced I was best not settling down (and dragging someone down with me), and was ready to go wander away to grad school (which I never did and am darn grateful I didn’t because I had no clear idea of what I even wanted to study), and Zakin sat me down one afternoon and said, "If I were you, wherever you go, I’d keep Ian alongside you because he is rare in his strength of character and kindness. He is as good for you as you are for him, and together you will be better and stronger.” He had never given me such direct life advice (only ceramics or food advice) and the words struck like lightning. Though I was a hot-mess of raw emotions (I was overcoming years of abuse —something Zakin had also overcome in his childhood and was quite open about with us students— and my mental health was a nightmare) Ian saw through the haze to whatever it is that he still sees, and the two of us have now spent 16 years growing forward together. Without Ian perpetually pushing me toward growth, I would have happily wallowed in my own melancholic misery, and due to that motivation/support I've turned into the environmental powerhouse/klaxon I am today.
The only picture I have with Zakin and his wise/sweet/strong wife Helen.
First piece we ever received from Zakin.
One of the many things I loved about Zakin is that he nurtured each individual student’s realm of creativity. Though he had a distinct style, there was never a feeling that you need to follow in his lead, in fact he delighted in all the various wavelengths he encountered. (<—My ceramics and Ian’s ceramics could not be more different than Zakin’s).
Prior to his class, my only artful dalliance was photography (which I eventually also studied and learned to develop/print my own work),but Zakin encouraged me to view all mediums as a vector for expression and through him I learned to be comfortable drawing, painting, sculpting, molding art out of whatever was at hand. I even became a better writer. He truly redirected my own myopic-minded view of the world, and taught me how to view life openly and with perpetual curiosity. <— That’s also become an essential pillar in our parenting of Quillan.
My personal favorite and given to me as a gift when we told him I was pregnant with Q. The plant is not potted in the piece (I’m not that reckless :-D) it’s held within a glass jar inside.
The piece he gave Ian at the same time. <3
A good example of the sgraffito approach Zakin excelled at.
Generations of Art, Love, & Light (and 3 of the dearest souls in my life): Zakin, Ian, Q.
So how are we growing forward over here? After decades of reveling in the Standard American Diet (<— my favorite foods were any-and-all-cheeses, chicken wings, ribs, pizza, and any-and-all-candy), we transitioned 100% Plant-Based and are almost entirely Whole-Food (we dabble in some oils and do so minimally and rarely).
For the 6 week pediatric nutrition class I am taking with nutritionist Kiran Sidhu, we needed to start documenting what we were feeding our kiddos and this was from a day this week:
Breakfast: something we're calling Butterbean Bars because they are always hiding 4 cups of butterbeans (lima <--blends up super creamy) in each batch. We've done them with peanut butter (Peanut Butterbean Bars), but this one had pureed strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries in it, and the rest of it is whole-oatflour, flaxmeal, and dates. (Sprinkled coconut on top). Served with almond butter (that's 1.5 tb but it spread out big-time because its natural and thus part liquid, it seems) and clementines.
Lunch: mixed sushi with bean-curd dumplings.
Dessert (unpictured): dark chocolate with hazelnuts.
Dinner: black bean mac and plant-based "cheese", amino&garlic braised kale, and sauteed mushrooms, topped with Almond "Parm".
Smoothie: Oatly, Strawberry, Mango... and I should have reminded him to clean his hands after gardening, but maybe that's just a little microbiome booster?
New morning routine for the next 6 weeks: listening to class videos and taking notes, while Q cruises through breakfast (<— whole-grain pumpkin muffins made by his grandmother, served with nut butter and clementines.)
Another Q breakfast: whole-grain-and-seed bread with peanut butter, cinnamon, and apple.
Lentil Tacos, with cashew queso, quick-pickled cabbage, romaine, and olives.
I wish Zakin was still here, so we could have him (and Helen) over for dinner, because I now love to cook (he only knew me in my junkfood/fastfood days), he loved to eat, I ache at the memory of his gravelly voice exclaiming delight over a tasty offering (and we wax poetic over everything we eat these days), and the conversations I imagine him having with Q make my heart inflate-deflate.
Q Dinner: Plant-Based Split Pea Soup (hiding pureed kale), black rice, bell peppers, and almond parm.
Q Lunch: (we are forever dipping our feet back into soy, bloated bellies be darned, because it is beneficial for your health and microbiome) Miso Soup with Millet Noodles, Seaweed, Braised Broc, Pumfu, and Furikake.
Q’s Favorite Quick Lunch (ie when I’m in a hurry and we need something super simple, filling, and delicious): Braised Broc, Black Rice, Peanut Sauce, and Furikake.
We have some manner of smoothie daily. This one was: mixed greens, blueberries, strawberries, dates, and oatmilk.
Big Time Love: he spends all day, every day with me (<— he’s home schooled), and when I have to leave for Board of Education meetings he follows me to the front windows and blows me kisses.
What I came home to from the Board meeting on Tuesday: inspired by Queen’s Gambit, Q asked Ian if he could teach him how to play chess. Now it has become an obsession and he wants to play it each day.
And that sweet brain is chugging through his advanced (<— but not genius-level like the Sherzai kids! :-D) kindergarten curriculum too. <3
Favorite medium these days is colored pencils, and he's doing some great work vwith them.♥️
His biggest passion is nature (and being full immersed in it), so I’ll take all the learning progress I can get. <3
T-Ball Sign-Ups and Inch Worms.
And every day is packed with physical activity, because that is just as important for your brain as your food. Zakin excelled at this and did Tai-Chi, Q runs here-there-everywhere, can’t tell a story without hopping around like a spore, and has started to do impromptu arm exercises like below.
We play “tag” to encourage running every day.
Papa <3
Creek Time at our beloved Bob’s and carrying him back because his feet kept slipping on the sharp creek rocks.
And it’s not all food and activity: love and community are also essential. Q sends out multiple letters a week to loved ones, but my favorite is his series of facts he sends my aunt (from a fact book she gave him).
A plant he saw and bought (with his own saved-up birthday money) for his beloved Aria. I also tucked in a cutting of a goldfish plant given to me by his paternal great-grandmother.
Zoo Date with Aria
A reminder to avoid all single-use plastics and if you must use them: THROW THEM AWAY. Otherwise they end up in habitats that have no capacity to handle them.
Our current favorite habitat: the backyard wonder of our neighbor Bob’s slice of forest (filled with skunk cabbage and no end of fun nooks to explore).
Creek Play with another neighbor’s granddaughter. <3
The cold joy of spring creeks. <3
Passions, Love, and Sharing.
Q was recently gifted three butterworts from local painter Scott Bennet because they share a zeal for carnivorous plants, and when he realized they were great at catching various house flies, he offered one to his sweet grandma (<— who was the first person in the family to buy a Nepenthes and sparked him on this journey).
3 Generations of Cappellos and the woman who has shepherded them all with a fathomless span of love (holding the shared butterwort).
Mosquito!
What’s the most impactful thing you can do as an individual to help your kin, community, millions of species, and planet? Transition as plant-based as possible.🌎♥️
Why? Plant-Based foods are environmentally imperative 🌎. They also promote ideal health💪 (which takes stress off our overburdened health care system), are inexpensive🙌, delicious🤤, & compassionate. 💕
Why imperative, though? 🤔We’re approaching (& have crossed) climate tipping points that will doom our kin & millions of other species. 😱📣Reducing/eliminating animal products is the *most impactful thing an individual can do* to prevent worse. 🌎🔥
Why? Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined, it’s tied to water waste/loss/pollution (<-- freshwater is our most precious resource💧), land loss/deforestation (<-- exacerbates climate change by reducing our ability to sequester carbon🔥🌎), ocean acidification (<-- FYI 50-85% of earth’s oxygen originates from oceanic plankton🌊) & vast species loss/extinction/suffering💔📣🌎
Plus, consuming animal products is tied to increased risk of cardiovascular disease❤️🩹, diabetes👎, cancer👎, and chronic disease👎; whereas Plant-Based feasting is linked to preventing/reversing some of our most common diseases (<— like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer); plus it promotes ideal health & robust strength (ie Olympians, Weightlifters, Endurance Athletes are thriving via PBWFs too). 🎉🙌♥️
What organizations are promoting plant-based diets for best health and environmental stability? National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Yale, the United Nations, Harvard School of Health, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Kidney Foundation, even the Parkinson’s Foundation.
We’re all overwhelmed in one way or another, but for the sake of our kin (and the millions of species we share this planet with) we need to start pivoting forward. As someone who once rarely ate green things & used to eat animal products at every meal, I can assure you that is possible, affordable, enjoyable, & purposeful to pivot Plant-Based. In fact, our whole family is now healthier/stronger than ever. 🙌♥️
Anecdotally, our son had failure-to-thrive, was also plagued with perpetual ear-infections/sinus-infections, and had an omnipresent runny nose. What was he eating? Grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, eggs from organic-fed/well-loved chickens from a neighbor, every meal came with vegetables, and we limited junkfood. He was healed via a plant-based diet: he’s launched out of that diagnosis and the last time he had a sinus-infection (or was sick at all) was in 2019 when he had some cheese at a school Christmas party. Before shifting to PBWF’s he was sick every month, and how he’s a robust, vital, thriving kiddo. 🙌🎉♥️
If you think any of the above sounds over-reached/absurd/impossible, please go read the links above. I understand the inclination to hackle-raise (<—because I was once totally there) but the science is clear: any step we make forward is imperative (<—and again “STEPS” is the focus. Don’t leap, just start making steps!). It’s as simple as starting with one meal a week and growing from there.💕
We have the ability (deliciously, healthfully, kindly, inexpensively) to *preserve/protect* the planet we share with millions of species & our kin. How are we going to use that power today?✌️🤟🖖
