We are what we eat. The nutrients we get from food provide us with the vitamins, proteins and minerals necessary for the body to carry out physiological functions and respond to daily activities. A balanced and healthy diet It is a necessary condition if we want to live longer and better.
In that sense, avoid ultra-processed products or foods high in fat, sugar, or salt; it is part of the path to full longevity. Scientific studies give reasons why this is so.
This does not mean that a single serving of French fries causes brain damage, research explains that a diet with excessive consumption of these foods extended over timecan not only make us gain weight, but also cause effects on cognitive function.
Sugar is present not only in the two tablespoons that are used each day to sweeten coffee or in the cup that we use to prepare homemade puddings or cakes. It is a substance that is included in a large amount of industrial and natural productsoften in a wayhidden” in beverages such as soft drinks or sodas, in industrial baked goods and also in fruit juices.
The brain is sensitive to the amount of glucose (sugar) it receives. “High blood sugar levels, over time, go damaging the blood vessels in the brain that carry oxygen-rich blood”stand out the specialists of the Mayo Clinic USA and point out that a prolonged excessive consumption over timeit can lead to brain atrophy and cause problems with memory and thinking and ultimately cause vascular dementia.”
Sugar intake is also associated with development of obesity, a disease defined by an excessive increase in body fat. Also diabetes is a pathology linked to high blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes usually appears in patients who are overweight or obese and is related to the type of diet.
Likewise,obesity and type 2 diabetes are risk factors for cardiovascular or neurodegenerative pathologiessuch as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. Some options to lower sugar intake are to replace sweetened beverages with water, fruit juices with vegetable smoothies, and low-fat dairy products.
Ultra-processed foods often include high levels of sugar, fat and salt. In addition, they are usually high in calories and low in other nutrients. Everyday examples of these products areFrench fries, frozen pizzas, sausages, industrial dressings, sauces or prepared foods.
A recently published extensive research linked ultra-processed foods to cognitive impairment. The study was presented by a group of Brazilian scientists during the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2022, in San Diego, USA. The experts evaluated more than 10,000 people for a decadewith an average age of 51 years.
The volunteers were subjected to cognitive testsWhat immediate and delayed word recall, word recognition, and verbal fluency; and they were also asked what their diet was like.
“People who ate more than 20% of their daily calories from processed foods had a 28% faster decline in global cognition and a 25% faster decline in executive functioningcompared to people who ate less than 20%”, explained one of the authors of the study and a researcher in the department of pathology of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São PauloDr. Natalia Gonçalves.
Previously, another large study evaluating 5,038 participants gave similar results. “A dietary pattern characterized by higher intake of red and processed meat, legumes, and fried foods, and lower intake of whole grains was associated with higher inflammatory markers and accelerated cognitive decline at older ages”.
exist Different types of fats in food. Lipids found naturally in animal products like meat and dairy are not the worst choice. And they even exist good fatssuch as Omega-3 acids found in fish, avocados, chia seeds and walnuts.
Industrially produced trans fatsknown as hydrogenated vegetable oilsThey are the ones we should be concerned about.. These artificial trans fats can be found in vegetable shortening or margarine, French fries, sweet and salty snacks, hamburgers, cookies and industrial puddings or muffins.
A extended high-fat diet will not only cause weight gainunhealthy levels of cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. According to a recent study by Australian and Chinese researchers, cognitive abilities deteriorate with such a long-term diet. “Obesity and diabetes affect the Central Nervous Systemwhich exacerbates psychiatric disorders and cognitive decline,” the researchers said.
A previous study, carried out by the University of Kyushu, in Japan, analyzed the diet of 1,600 people for 10 years and its effects linked to neurodegenerative diseases. The work, published in the prestigious scientific journal neurologyindicated that trans fats at high blood levels can increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia by 50% to 75%.
In recent years, scientists have discovered that inflammation in the brain, also known as neuroinflammationplays an important role in the development of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which in turn are risk factors for serious chronic diseases.
A study, the first of its kind, led by researchers at the University of Georgia, USA, revealed the relationship between neural activity and blood flow in the brain and how cognitive function is affected by salt intake.
“When neurons fire, there is normally a rapid increase in blood flow to the area. This relationship is known as neurovascular coupling or functional hyperemia and is produced through dilation of blood vessels in the brain called arterioles”detailed Javier Stern founding director of the Center for Neuroinflammation and Cardiometabolic Diseases of the State of Georgia and author of the study.
The researchers monitored salt intake because the body needs to monitor sodium levels very precisely. “When salty foods are consumed, the brain detects it and activates a series of compensatory mechanisms to bring sodium levels back down. If a lot of salt is consumed chronically, a hyperactivation of neurons of vasopressin. This mechanism can induce excessive hypoxia, which could lead to brain tissue damage”, the researchers concluded.
Excessive alcohol consumption causes a reduction in brain volume, metabolic changes and alteration of neurotransmitterswhich are the chemicals that the brain uses to communicate.
Researchers from the Universities of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, USA, published a study in the journal Nature Communications in which they looked at alcohol consumption, even at levels most would consider moderate (a few beers or glasses of wine a week).
They examined the associations between alcohol intake and brain structure using multimodal imaging data from 36,678 adults healthy of UK Biobank. With their findings, they were able to determine for the first time the consequences that mild to moderate alcohol consumption causes to brain mass, with reductions in overall volume.
As they detected, the link became stronger the higher the level of alcohol consumption. For example, in 50-year-olds, as average alcohol consumption increases from one unit of alcohol (about half a can of beer) a day to two units (a pint of beer or a glass of wine)associated changes occur in the brain, equivalent to two years aging.
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