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Do you try to eat a healthy diet but can’t resist that sugary treat? Those foods laden with sugar may be sabatoging your effort to be healthy. As concerns rise over the lasting health effects of modern diets, researchers are studying how eating habits shape memory and brain function.
To better understand the link between diet and brain health, researchers analyzed 27 preclinical studies in rats and mice examining how cognitive function changes after transitioning from unhealthy diets to healthier nutrition. Earlier research suggests that diets high in fat and sugar can negatively affect cognition and behavior, but the lasting impact of those effects after switching to healthier nutrition is still unclear.
While the researchers primarily examined diet and memory, they also monitored other signs of cognitive effects, including activity levels, motivation for food, and behaviors linked to anxiety and depression. In the rodents exposed to unhealthy diets for at least two weeks, moving to healthier nutrition for as little as 24 hours led to better memory test results than staying on high-fat, high-sugar diets.
Memory improvements were more noticeable after rodents switched from high-fat diets to healthier nutrition. In contrast, diets rich in added sugar, even when combined with high fat, showed minimal recovery, pointing to sugar as a possible barrier to memory restoration.
The study found that reducing sugar intake improved memory in rodents that had consumed high-sugar diets, though their memory performance still fell short of rodents maintained on healthy diets throughout the study.
To view the original scientific study click below:
Cognitive and behavioural effects of high-fat, high-sugar diet reversal: a systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies
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