The famous saying goes, “you are what you eat” and now research has shown that what many of us are eating could be damaging to our brains. A study, by scientists in California, has revealed that a typical Western diet could lead to long-lasting memory problems, especially if consumed from a young age.
More specifically, the research carried out on rats found that the brain can be damaged by eating high fat, high-sugar junk food.
Our brains are also more vulnerable to the effects during childhood, they said.
As reported by Medical News Today, the team investigated the effect of such foods on levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh), which is important for memory, including learning, arousal, and attention.
Low levels of ACh have been linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia in the UK.
As part of the research, juvenile and adolescent rats were fed an assortment of foods.
These included foods high in fat and sugar as well as crisps, peanut butter cups and high-fructose corn syrup. However, they were also given water.
A control group of rats were fed standard rat food and water.
When reaching adulthood the rats underwent memory tests.
They were introduced to new locations and new objects. After some days, the rats were reintroduced to these areas, with one new object having been added.
While the control group exhibited curiosity regarding that object, the experimental group appeared not to notice anything had changed.
The researchers observed compromised ACh signalling in the experimental groups’ hippocampus, a region closely associated with memory and learning in both rats and humans.
Speaking to Medical News Today, the study’s senior investigator Scott Kanoski – professor of biological sciences at University of Southern California Dornsrife, explained: “The hippocampus is a brain region that is particularly susceptible to various environmental and biological insults.
“This is particularly true during the juvenile and adolescent periods when this brain region is still developing.
“Our diet model produced acetylcholine disruption in the hippocampus in the rats analogous to disruptions observed in Alzheimer’s disease.
“However, more work is needed to understand how early life dietary and metabolic factors influence long-term risk for Alzheimer’s and other related dementias.”
Eating an unhealthy Western diet early in life was also shown to alter the gut microbiome, something that plays a key role in our overall health.
However, when the rats switched to a healthy diet later on the alterations were “largely reversed”.
According to a previous study, published in The Lancet, around 40 percent of dementia cases are preventable.
Experts say taking the following steps could lessen your chances of developing dementia:
- Aim to maintain systolic blood pressure of 130 mm/Hg or less in midlife from around age 40 years
- Encourage use of hearing aids for hearing loss and reduce hearing loss by protecting ears from high noise levels
- Reduce exposure to air pollution and second-hand tobacco smoke
- Prevent head injury (particularly by targeting high risk occupations and transport)
- Prevent alcohol misuse and limit drinking to less than 21 units per week
- Stop smoking
- Lead an active life into mid, and possibly later life
- Reduce obesity and diabetes.
