Just about everyone has a
guilty pleasure when it comes to food. Whether it be chips, candy
bars, or pastries, everyone will find something bad for them that
they wish they could eat without consequence. Unfortunately for us,
there are consequences, grave consequences. Normally with this
introduction one would assume that this is a paper about physical
health. While it technically is you would most likely not link this
problem with your physical health, but your mental health. The
threats that trans fats and high fructose corn syrup present
themselves in the forms of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. To
be completely honest, I wish it was on these more physical problems
because so far the only one of posing me a threat is heart disease
due to genetic predisposition. Unfortunately, I have another genetic
predisposition that this post is about, one that you would not expect
to be affected by the foods you eat, Alzheimer's.
This was pretty shocking
news to me as well, because in my youth only connection that I really
thought there was between food and the brain was that it is fuel. If
you are hungry you can't really think about anything else no matter
how hard you try, and if you get too hungry thoughts become sluggish.
Then came a bit more information as I got older: that there are
chemicals that foods contain that can make your brain perform a
certain way. For example ginseng will make you feel a little bit
sharper, and that on the opposite ends of the spectrum the tryptophan
in turkey can make you sluggish and sleepy. Now I understand that
the brain is an extremely complicated system and that there is the
potential for anything to happen. But, before I was presented with
this theory about Alzheimer's I thought that as long as I protected
my physical health from its effects, junk food could hold no sway
over my life.
However, due to recent
research there is a movement in the scientific community calling for
this theory of food being linked to Alzheimer's to be considered more
seriously. Some scientists have even gone as far as calling
Alzheimer's “diabetes three”. There are two main components of
this theory of a linkage between Alzheimer's and diabetes. The first
part being how blood sugar affects the brain. If blood sugar held in
the blood cells is too high this will weaken the blood vessels and
weak blood vessels weaken the organ they are providing blood to.
This is the main symptom in diabetes. The brain requires a lot of
blood to work properly, so one can see how high levels of blood sugar
can cause changes in cognitive function. In the body the regulator
of blood sugar is insulin, which calls for muscle and fat cells to
convert glucose to glycogen and fat, respectively. These are both
useful forms of glucose. However, if your cells ignore these calls
from insulin due to overuse, called insulin resistance, or if your
pancreas does not produce enough, the glucose remains in the
bloodstream. This causes the blood vessel issues, applies to every
part of the body, and causes further problems everywhere it affects.
Would it really be that much of a leap to connect it to brain
problems as well?
The second part of the
theory is the implication that this insulin resistance in the brain
leads to the formation of the beta amyloid plaques. These masses of
protein are thought to be the main trouble makers in Alzheimer's
pathology. A Brown university neuropathologist named Suzanne de la
Monte studied the effects of blocking the path of insulin to rat
brains. These rats showed neuron degeneration, physical
disorientation, and looking at their brains showed all the signs of
Alzheimer's disease.
That is the scientific
evidence, but what kind of other connections can we draw between
Alzheimer's and diabetes, specifically Type 2 diabetes? One that
should definitely be considered is the meteoric rise of both diseases
in recent years. Studies linked below from both the CDC and
Plattsburgh State University show that as time has progressed new
cases of Alzheimer's and diabetes have been increasing. Both graphs
show steady increase in each disease begins in the mid nineties. Now
this certainly isn't when highly processed food came to the forefront
of American culture, that had happened long before. But, we must
consider that the effects of these diseases are slow, and that the
degeneration would take the course of years.
I don't want you to get me
wrong here, I'm not saying that avoiding chips is an Alzheimer's
vaccine. The point I am trying to make is that there is a lot of
evidence that insulin resistance or lack of insulin in the brain may
be a factor in Alzheimer's neurodegeneration. That if, like me, you
have a fear Alzheimer's taking away your last years, better safe than
sorry.
Posted By Hunter Alexander (4)
I have read articles about certain foods that can possibly help prevent or atleast hold-back the effects of alzheimer's disease such as certain nuts,and clams (can't remember any others at the moment). Do you think that these foods could possibly countereffect eating high sugary foods?
ReplyDeleteI have also heard that learning something knew such as playing an instrument or a language may also help fend-off alzheimer's disease.
Tonya Sulham (3)
Yes, there are definitely certain foods recommended by doctors to prevent Alzheimer's. Seafood and nuts are large components of that. Seafood especially because they are a great source of Omega 3 fatty acids which a thought to prevent Alzheimer's. Learning is definitely important as well, because keeping the brain active is one of the best ways of protecting it.
DeleteHunter Alexander (1)
I'm a little sensitive to sensationalist titles, and I think claiming that the food we eat is causing Alzheimer's is quite a stretch. The paper from Brown you talked about linked insulin deficiency (type 1 diabetes) as well as insulin resistance (type 2) to neurodegeneration caused by Alzheimer's. Type 1 is genetic and has nothing to do with obesity or processed foods.
ReplyDeleteJoseph Starrett(3)
This article brings up a good point of highlighting the correlation between what humans eat with the function of their brain. Although, this article is specifically focused around preventative measures for Alzheimers and diabetes by paying attention to our snacking habits, our nutrition is correlated with a lot of consequential diseases. I find that if people focus more on having a balanced diet that follows the food pyramid, a lot of the complicated suggestions on what to or not to eat to prevent any disease would be re- solved.
ReplyDeleteMarshall Moini(2)
This is very true. There are a lot of people that make no effort in eating a balanced diet and wonder why they suffer the consequences later. It is strange that the issue of nutrition is such a big thing in our country, but there are a lot of factors involved. As sad as it is, there are social and economic barriers preventing people from getting healthy diets.
DeleteHunter Alexander (1)