What's the betting it can be affected with dietary changes?
You and me both - else I have just over 5 years til my brain peaks.
Has anyone else here read this? Does it stand up to close inspection?
Yes, I've read it. I'd recommend it, not that I've noticed any difference but, I'm old enough that I'm willing to take some pains wrt my brain. Exercise is a big one, btw. But yeah, it should be cheap or, even in a library. I remember there were a couple similar books that came out around the same time. But this biochemically based one, was what I picked.
As for the guy being a charlatan or something, calling it a 'program' is just his set of recommendations. He's got ~30 pages of journal citations, he was a neurosurgeon so he had to keep up. This kind of nutrition isn't an established science yet, you have to scrounge papers. If you're curious, if you stumble across it in a bookstore, where he talks about Acetyl-L-Carnitine is pages 104-105.
To quote him: (after much praise in general for ALC) "ALC also appears to retard the age-related drop in nerve growth factors, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps rebuild new brain and nerve tissues. In addition, in structures that deteriorate over time, such as the myelin sheath, ALC appears to slow and perhaps even reverse the degenerative process - at least in mice". .. rec dosage: 100-500mg / day (1500-2000 has been used in Alzheimer's patients without side effects). It's expensive though, US $37 for 120 x 500mg. But /all/ books put exercise way up on the list; it can help regenerate .. I forget which brain structure but, they're all good :)
But _you_ probably won't see this reply either :/