It doesn’t matter whether you like to eat fatty or sweet foods. One study showed that both a high-fat and high-sugar diet can lead to cognitive impairment in the long term. Cognitive abilities include, for example, memory, will, and the ability to plan, reason, and solve problems.
Fat and sugar: it’s not worth it!
Do you like fatty cheeses, sausages, pork belly, donuts, cakes, chocolate and fried foods? It could cost you parts of your intelligence! Or are you already forgetful from time to time? Do you find it difficult to find powerful arguments in discussions? Do you prefer to avoid problems instead of solving them? Do you like to postpone making plans until tomorrow or, even better, the day after tomorrow?
Maybe your diet is to blame? If you love a high-fat or high-sugar diet, then your cognitive abilities continue to deteriorate – as a 2015 study by Oregon State University indicates.
Fat and sugar rob memory and mental flexibility
Compared to a diet that was described as balanced by the researchers involved with 13 percent fat and 62 percent carbohydrates, both a high-fat and high-sugar diet led to a significant loss of cognitive flexibility in the study. So, a lot of fat and/or a lot of sugar could cost you the ability to adapt to new situations in life and find a solution for everything.
The high-fat diet studied consisted of 42 percent fat and 43 percent carbohydrates. (So it wasn’t a ketogenic diet, or even a low-carb diet, which many people often immediately assume when they hear the term “high-fat diet.”)
The high-sugar diet consisted of 12 percent fat and 70 percent carbohydrates, these 70 percent carbohydrates also consisted largely of sugar (sucrose).
The effects of diet on cognitive abilities were particularly dramatic in the high-sugar diet. This can affect both long-term and short-term memory. Sugar also seems to significantly limit the ability to learn – which had also been confirmed by previous studies in which the influence of diet on behavior was investigated.
Fat and sugar change the intestinal flora
The researchers at Oregon State University also discovered the reason why a lot of fat and a lot of sugar can have such a negative effect on mental abilities and thus behavior. A diet rich in fat and sugar changes the composition of the intestinal flora very much ( 1 ) ( 2 ).
Altered intestinal flora damages the brain
“It is becoming increasingly clear that the intestinal flora communicates with the human brain,”
reports Kathy Magnusson, a professor in the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine.
She continues:
“It has long been known that too much fat and too much sugar are quite unhealthy for a variety of reasons. Another reason is their negative influence on the intestinal flora. So it is not only the food itself that affects the performance of the brain, but also the way the food affects the intestinal flora. The bacteria of the intestinal flora now release substances that act as neurotransmitters (messenger substances), then stimulate nerve cells or the immune system and can thus influence a large number of functions,”
said professor Magnusson.
Alzheimer’s due to too much fat and sugar
Imagine driving home on a route that is very familiar to you and that you drive very often. One day the road is closed due to construction work and you have to find a new way home. A person with a healthy level of cognitive flexibility can adapt very quickly to the changed situation and quickly look for the next best route to get home.
However, with limited cognitive flexibility (and without a navigation system), the search for another way home would not only be stressful but also very long and sluggish. But that’s exactly what happens over the decades when you like to eat foods rich in fat and sugar. Cognitive flexibility decreases.
It is no wonder that diets such as the typical Western diet, which is particularly high in fat and sugar, are associated with many chronic diseases, including an increased incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Nowadays, it is all the more important to rehabilitate the intestinal flora at regular intervals in order to compensate for the negative influences of unfavorable nutrition.
Rehabilitating intestinal flora
The rehabilitation of the intestinal flora is anything but complicated. Ideally, two preparations should be used for this purpose. One to improve the intestinal environment (liquid preparation, e.g. P3 liquid) so that the desired intestinal bacteria can settle and maintain them permanently, and another for the targeted development of the intestinal flora (capsule preparation, e.g. Super-Pro). Here you will find some of our programs for balancing and repairing your gut.
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