How Sugar Harms the Brain
In the 1800’s, the average person consumed about 4–6 pounds of sugar per year. Currently, the USDA reports that the average American now consumes anywhere from 150 to 170 pounds of sugar in a year. The World Health Organization in their guidelines on sugar consumption points out that sugar is a major concern when it comes to the prevention of noncommunicable diseases, which are the leading cause of death.
Sugar and the Brain
Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be the third leading cause of death behind cancer and heart disease. Approximately 5.2 million Americans are affected by this severe form of dementia. What most people don’t know about Alzheimer’s is that it’s also referred to as “type 3 diabetes,” since there is such a close association between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
Quick Review: When you consume carbohydrates, your pancreas releases insulin so that glucose can be absorbed by the cells in the body. In type II diabetes, your cells become insulin resistant. This leads to increased insulin production and high blood sugar levels. A diet that is high in sugar increases the risk of developing type II diabetes.
Type II Diabetes is a risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s. Many tissues in your body have insulin receptors which assist with transporting glucose into cells. Historically, the brain was not thought to be dependent upon insulin to absorb glucose. We now know that the brain has insulin receptors, and newer scientific studies have shown that the brain might actually produce insulin along with the pancreas.
We’re familiar with insulin resistance in many of the tissues in the periphery of the body, but the concept of insulin resistance in the brain, or central nervous system, is a relatively new concept. Insulin resistance can actually be present for a long period of time before a patient is actually diagnosed with true type II diabetes. If a patient alters their diet in that time, there may be an opportunity to greatly improve their outcomes. There are theories proposed that in Alzheimer’s patients who aren’t diabetic, they simply haven’t had enough time to move past that insulin resistant period.
When we look strictly at the effects of sugar on the brain, an article from the American Academy of Neurology reported high glucose (sugar) levels with reduced memory performance. They believe the findings are related to glucose exerting a negative influence on the learning-relevant areas of the brain.
How To Improve Brain Health
Reduce Sugar Intake — As I’m sure you’ve gathered from the information we’ve already discussed, one of the first things a person might want to do is reduce their sugar intake. While your brain uses glucose on a regular basis, it doesn’t have to use glucose for energy. Your brain can also use ketones, which are readily available as fats are broken down in the body. (See our Ketogenic Diet article.)
Improve Gut Flora — I will be writing a future article that goes in-depth on the “gut-brain axis,” but one way a person can improve brain health is by making sure that they optimize their healthy gut flora. This is most commonly accomplished by either taking probiotic or eating fermented food.
Eat Healthy Fats — As we discussed, the brain can use ketones in place of glucose. Healthy fats like coconut oil contain Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT) which are a great source of ketones.
Weight Training and Exercise — If you’ve been a long-time reader, you’ll be familiar with a study we presented in the past that actually showed patients with neurodegenerative diseases like dementia saw improvement after many weeks of weight training.
There are currently no cures for dementia so there’s obviously value in prevention. Making the proper changes now, and keeping your families educated on the available research can save a tremendous amount of heartache down the road.
