Sugar Harms the Brain
Scientists were interested in the relationship between dietary sugar intake and the impact on the hippocampus, a brain structure involved in emotion response and memory. Prior research has shown that people under stress often consume high sugar and high fat foods as a coping strategy.
Much neuroscience research is conducted on rodents because their brains are so similar to the human brain. New research on female rats examined the impact on genes in the hippocampus of rats that were stressed and had a high sugar diet available to them.
Exposure to early life stress reduces the expression of hippocampus genes that are important to stress regulation and the birth of new brain cells. This research showed that a high sugar diet produced a similar deficit in gene reduction. This leads researchers to believe that high sugar diets may produce mental health issues in humans that are similar to those that emerge as a result of early life adversity.
Another rat study showed that consumption of a high sugar diet early in life had a negative impact on memory tasks.
Finally, in a human study where participants consumed either a high-sugar and high-fat yogurt snack or a low-sugar and low-fat yogurt snack, in addition to their normal diet for 8-weeks, demonstrated that processed food that is high in fat and sugar rewires the brain in the same way that drugs of abuse do. This rewiring process inspires repeat behavior, the increased consumption of highly-palatable energy-dense food.
Takeaway: Consumption of foods that are high in sugar:
Rewires the brain to prefer and consume high sugar food;
Has a negative impact on hippocampus functioning, and a health hippocampus is important to memory and learning; and
May also contribute to mental health challenges.
Sources
Maniam, A., et al., Sugar Consumption Produces Effects Similar to Early Life Stress Exposure on Hippocampal Markers of Neurogenesis and Stress Response, Front. Mol. Neurosci., Jan 2016, Frontiers | Sugar Consumption Produces Effects Similar to Early Life Stress Exposure on Hippocampal Markers of Neurogenesis and Stress Response (frontiersin.org).
Noble, E., et al., Gut Microbial Taxa Elevated by Dietary Sugar Disrupt Memory Function, Translational Psychiatry, Mar 31, 2021, Gut microbial taxa elevated by dietary sugar disrupt memory function | Translational Psychiatry (nature.com).
Sharmili Edwin Thanarahah, et al., Habitual Daily Intake of a Sweet and Fatty Snack Modulates Reward Processing in Humans, Cell Metabolism, Mar. 22, 2023, Habitual daily intake of a sweet and fatty snack modulates reward processing in humans - ScienceDirect.
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