You probably already know that high-sugar and high-fat diets are bad news for your health. Sugar and fat saturated diets promote symptoms as annoying as breakouts and as deadly as diabetes. The most obvious turn offs with these diets are the fatty pounds that make it hard to squeeze into your favorite pair of jeans.
But if excess fat, chronic illness and bad acne aren’t enough to get you off your junk food addiction, consider what it does to your brain – the most complex organ in your body. What you’re packing in your stomach, and maybe your child’s lunchbox, could be the difference between brain health and brain illness.
Effects of High Fat and High Sugar Diets on Cognitive Function
According to a study at Oregon State University that was published in the journal Neuroscience, compared to a normal diet, high sugar and high fat diets negatively alter the gut bacteria that influence our cognitive flexibility. This study was also supported by the Microbiology Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
The research was done on laboratory mice that consumed different diets before being put through a variety of tests such as water maze testing to monitor changes in their mental and physical function. Mice are often used in studies because they provide a model relevant to the human body on the subject of aging, spatial memory, obesity and other issues.
After four weeks on a high-fat or high sugar diet, the mental and physical performance of the mice during various tests dropped compared to mice on a normal diet. These effects were more serious with a high-sugar diet, with results showing impaired learning for both long-term and short-term memory when consuming high sugar foods.
More on Cognitive Flexibility
When the researchers speak of cognitive flexibility, they are referring to the ability of the brain to adapt and adjust to changing situations. A person with high levels of cognitive flexibility immediately adapt to changes in plans, determine the next best method, and remember the newfound method the next morning.
Naturally, those with poor cognitive flexibility are more frazzled by sudden changes and will take longer to adjust.
Cognitive flexibility can be exercised in everyday tasks such as finding another route home, or finding substitutes for food dishes.
High Fat and High Sugar Diet Effects On Gut Bacteria
The tests also analyzed associated impacts of high-sugar/high-fat diets on various types of gut bacteria. Researchers believe that our gut bacteria, a complex mixture of about 100 trillion microorganisms, can communicate with the human brain by releasing compounds that act as neurotransmitters, stimulate sensory nerves and the immune system, and affect our many biological functions.
How Your Gut Bacteria Affects Your Mood
Now, it’s not just the food that influences your brain; your gut bacteria influences it too, a scientists have only scratched the surface in regards to what the gut bacteria can do.
Researchers do know that the gut bacteria releases neurochemicals that relay messages to the brain. Bacteria in the gut is more widely known for producing vitamins and breaking down the food we eat.
These chemicals include the same chemicals used by neurons to communicate and regulate mood like dopamine, serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). A study in Norway found that certain bacteria were more likely to be associated with depressive patients.
To date, anxiety, depression, and several pediatric disorders including autism and hyperactivity have been linked to gastrointestinal abnormalities. Hopefully, the medical community can use this new found knowledge to treat a variety of mental illnesses.
The Western Diet
Thank the Western diet for the amount of sugar and fat we consume. Much of the foods found in our grocery stores are saturated in salt and sugar, much more than the daily recommendation and contain very little nutrients. These unhealthy foods contribute to a wide range of chronic illnesses, including the obesity epidemic and the increased incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
Some key culprits in our high sugar, high fat diets include:
- Take-out foods, often fried and swimming in fat and grease
- Soda and store-bought juices containing ridiculous amounts of sugar
- High levels of meat consumption
- Addictive, high sodium snacks i.e. chips, fries, salted nachos
Consume more foods with probiotics such as yogurt, kefir, and fermented foods to keep your gut bacteria healthy.
In summary, a high-sugar and/or high-fat diet has long been known to have negative effects on our health, but now, it seems that our unhealthy diets change our gut bacteria too, and those gut bacteria influences cognitive function. The secret to a healthy, happy brain could be to eat a balanced diet that won’t throw off your gut bacteria.
