What
is the correlation between sugar and brain function? It turns out that
this relationship, like any relationship, has it's good points and it's
bad points. Have you ever felt the excitement and agitation of a sugar
buzz? And then the lethargy of a sugar crash? Your brain needs some
sugar to function, yet too much sugar can be harmful. We all love to
have those sweets but must learn to enjoy them in moderation.Overeating,
poor memory formation, learning disorders, depression—all have been
linked in recent research to the over-consumption of sugar. And these
linkages point to a problem that is only beginning to be better
understood: what our chronic intake of added sugar is doing to our
brains.
According to USDA, the average American consumes 156 pounds of added sugar per year. That's
five grocery store shelves loaded with 30 or so one pound bags of sugar
each. If you find that hard to believe, that's probably because sugar
is so ubiquitous in our diets that most of us have no idea how much
we're consuming. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
puts the amount at 27.5 teaspoons of sugar a day per capita, which
translates to 440 calories—nearly one quarter of a typical 2000 calorie a
day diet.The key word in all of the stats is "added." While a healthy
diet would contain a significant amount of naturally occurring sugar (in
fruits and grains, for example), the problem is that we're chronically
consuming much more added sugar in processed foods, generally in the
rapidly absorbed form of fructose.
Glucose
Glucose
is a form of sugar that your body creates from the carbohydrates you
eat. Once the glucose is made it gets into the bloodstream so that your
muscles and organs can use it for energy. In fact, your brain needs at
least 125 to 150 grams of glucose per day to function. It's usually the
only source of energy for the brain. The brain's neurons must have this
supply of energy from the bloodstream since they aren't capable of
storing energy, like fat, for later use.
But
not all sugar is equal. There are different forms of sugar that your
body uses for energy, some more harmful than others. The brain needs a
steady supply of energy that will last until more energy comes along.
Spikes in this supply are dangerous and cause things such as
hyperactivity and 'sugar crashes'. The sugar from fruit will get into
the bloodstream at a steady rate as the fruits digests in the stomach.
Fruits also provide great sources of vitamins, minerals and fiber, so
fruit sources of sugar are great for the brain and your body.
Complex
carbohydrates such as starch also break down in the liver to form
sugar. These strands of energy take a longer amount of time to break
down, so this source of sugar works well with the brain in much the same
way as fruit. They can provide energy for hours without diminishing.
One thing to think about though about complex carbohydrates is that they
contain appetite enhancers and so tend to cause people to overeat,
unlike fruit.
Refined
sugars and brain function are a big no-no. These are the sugars we
typically find in abundance on store shelves and in the average North
American diet. The sugar energy from soda, cookies and desserts, flood
your bloodstream with glucose almost immediately. At first you get an
initial 'sugar high' as the sugar queues serotonin, a brain chemical
that makes you feel happy, to be released into the brain. The massive
increase in blood sugar signals the pancreas to start pumping out large
amounts of insulin. Once the insulin gets into the bloodstream it soaks
up the sugar to store for later use, depriving the brain, other organs
and muscles of energy. These are the beginnings of the infamous 'sugar
crash' as you become weak, tired and unable to focus. The 'sugar high'
combined with the ensuing 'sugar crash' causes you to crave even more
sugar, most likely resulting in a damaging cycle of sugar binging. So
avoid refined sources of sugar as much as possible.
David DiSalvo of Psycholgy Today writes that Research indicates
that a diet high in added sugar reduces the production of a brain
chemical known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Without
BDNF, our brains can't form new memories and we can't learn (or
remember) much of anything. Levels of BDNF are particularly low in
people with an impaired glucose metabolism—diabetics and
pre-diabetics—and as the amount of BDNF decreases, sugar metabolism
worsens.
In
other words, chronically eating added sugar reduces BDNF, and then the
lowered levels of the brain chemical begin contributing to insulin
resistance, which leads to type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which
eventually leads to a host of other health problems. Once that happens,
your brain and body are in a destructive cycle that's difficult if not
impossible to reverse.
Another
connection between sugar and brain function concerns dysfunction.
People who regularly eat too much sugar over a long period of time often
become diabetic. These people often have dwindling mental capabilities.
They are more at risk to develop depression and different cognitive
problems with memory, processing information and recognizing spatial
patterns. It can even lead to dementia. Also, people who suffer from
diabetes have a 65% higher incidence of Alzheimer's disease than those
who are not diabetic.
Research has also linked low BDNF levels to depression and dementia. It's possible that low BDNF may turn out to be the smoking gun in these and other diseases, like Alzheimer's,
that tend to appear in clusters in epidemiological studies. More
research is being conducted on this subject, but what seems clear in any
case is that a reduced level of BDNF is bad news for our brains, and
chronic sugar consumption is one of the worst inhibitory culprits.
Other studies have focused on sugar’s role in over-eating. We intuitively know that sugar and obesity are
linked (since sugar is full of calories), but the exact reason why
eating sugar-laden foods seems to make us want to eat more hasn’t been
well understood until recently.
New research has
shown that chronic consumption of added sugar dulls the brain’s
mechanism for telling you to stop eating. It does so by reducing
activity in the brain’s anorexigenic oxytocin system, which is
responsible for throwing up the red “full” flag that prevents you from
gorging. When oxytocin cells in the brain are blunted by
over-consumption of sugar, the flag doesn’t work correctly and you start
asking for seconds and thirds, and seeking out snacks at midnight.
What
these and other studies strongly suggest is that most of us are
seriously damaging ourselves with processed foods high in added sugar,
and the damage begins with our brains. Seen in this light, chronic
added-sugar consumption is no less a problem than smoking or alcoholsm.
And the hard truth is that we may have only begun to see the effects of
what the endless sugar avalanche is doing to us.
Manufacturers
today put sugar in everything from the bread in your pantry to the
turkey on your table. That makes sweet ol' sugar the ultimate
supervillain—or at the very least a driving force behind heart disease
and diabetes.
SNEAKY SOURCES OF SUGAR
ASIAN SAUCES
Asian
sauces—or at least American versions of Asian sauces—are notorious
sources of hidden sugars. The viscous liquids that give us sesame
chicken, sweet and sour pork, and beef teriyaki aren't all that
dissimilar from pancake syrup. Check the nutrition label for ingredients
like corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup, and watch out for
anything that ends in "-ose" (dextrose, maltose). These are all forms of
sugar. Then be prepared to do some math—most bottled sauces list
nutrition information for impractically small serving sizes. Who uses
only 1 tablespoon of sauce?
FRUIT SPREADS
Jams,
jellies, and preserves seem like healthy breakfast alternatives to
butter and cream cheese—and they are if they contain only fruit. But
many fruity toppings house a shocking amount of added sugar. Smucker's,
for instance, packs three different sweeteners into its classic
Strawberry jam. Why three? Because if the company used only one, it
would have to list "sugar" as the first item on the ingredient
statement. By spreading the impact over three sweeteners, it can push
fruit to the top of the ingredient list and hide the sweeteners below.
It's a common trick used by food processors to make their products look
healthier than they are. Just remember that fruit is its own natural
sweetener. Opt for an unadulterated version like Polaner's All Fruit
spreads, which—true to name—contain nothing more than fruit and fruit
juice.
SALAD DRESSINGS
You
may not be aware of that salad saboteur lurking in your pantry. When
the so-called "light" dressings take out fat, they often add sugar in
its place. Take Ken's Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette, pictured here. It
contains as much sugar in each serving as some ice creams do in each
scoop. And what's worse, it's laced with food starch. Although
technically not sugar, it reacts in your body in almost exactly the same
way. That means that in addition to the 12 grams of sugar on the label,
you're also taking in a heavy dose of blood-sugar-spiking starch. Let's
call this dressing what it really is: salad frosting.
SPAGHETTI SAUSE
There's
no need to add sugar to tomato sauce because tomatoes are naturally
sweet. So why do processors insist? Because instead of using fresh olive
oil and vegetables, they're often making their sauces from cheaper
vegetable oils, dehydrated veggies, and other subpar ingredients. Sugar
is a quick fix: It makes everything taste like candy! To that point,
Francesco Rinaldi lists sugar as the second ingredient in this sauce,
which brings the total impact to nearly 3 teaspoons of sugar in each
serving. Your best bet? Go with a no-sugar-added option like Ragu's
Tomato Basil. It contains just tomatoes, onions, and spices. And be sure
to also look out for the sugar count of barbecue sauces—another
tomato-based sauce notorious for sneaky sweeteners.
OATMEAL
Oats
have been linked to heart health, weight loss, and cancer prevention,
so it's natural to assume that oatmeal is always a nutritious breakfast
choice. But many food producers spoil the whole-grain goodness by
flavoring their oats with artificial ingredients and loads of sugar.
Quaker's Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal Express, for example, takes its name very
seriously—it contains as much sugar as two Pillsbury cinnamon rolls! A
touch of sugar is one thing, but unless you want to eat dessert for
breakfast, go with a lower-sugar option. Or better yet, make your
oatmeal from scratch so you can control the sugar load. (Tip: Berries
are the perfect way to sweeten naturally.
"WHEAT" BREAD
Studies
have shown that whole grains improve your heart health, keep you full,
and help you lose weight, but not all bread products labeled "wheat" are
true whole grains. Restaurants and supermarket aisles are rife with
whole-wheat imposters containing enriched flours and sugars intended to
improve the taste of wheat products. So even though you don't typically
file bread under the "sweets" category, your daily sandwich could be
loaded with refined carbs and sugars. The best example of the
whole-wheat bait-and-switch is the "Honey Wheat" bread Arby's uses on
its Market Fresh sandwiches. First, it's not whole wheat (enriched flour
is the first ingredient). And second, there are 15 grams (!) of sugar
in every two slices. That's more sugar than you'll find in a Hostess Ho
Ho!
YOGURT
Yogurt
is low in calories and high in protein, which is why a recent Harvard
study found that regularly consuming the stuff helps you lose weight.
The problem? Many producers pump their "fruit flavored" yogurts with
sugar. Case in point: The cups in Yoplait’s Original 99% Fat Free line
pack as much sugar as a bag of peanut M&M’s. Unless yogurt is your
weekly diet splurge, go with a less dessert-y option like Dannon Light
& Fit, or opt for plain yogurt and add your own healthy toppings
like fresh fruit and nuts.
FROZEN DINNERS
The
idea of a frozen meal packed in a nuke-able box probably doesn't get
your taste buds giddy with anticipation. Food manufacturers are aware of
this fact, so they go heavy on the sugar and/or salt. Some of the worst
offenders? Low-cal or otherwise "light" entrées. When food companies
remove fat or carbs from their items, they usually replace those
calories with excessive doses of sugar or sodium. Take Lean Cuisine's
Roasted Turkey Breast entrée, for example. Chances are you don't think
of turkey as dessert, but with 7 teaspoons of sugar, that's exactly what
you're getting if you pop one of these babies in the microwave. Again,
it's all in the nutrition label. Don't just focus on fat and calories;
make sure to look out for sneaky sugars and sodium as well.
BOTTLED TEA
In
recent years, tea has received a lot of good press for its impressive
antioxidant properties, and beverage companies have taken advantage by
flooding the market with options. But the taste of plain herbal tea
doesn't draw in the crowds, so many drink purveyors pump their teas with
high-fructose corn syrup and other cheap sweeteners to boost flavor.
Before you buy a bottle, flip it over and read the nutrition label. If
you're looking at Arizona's Green Tea, you'll notice that it has more
sugar than a Snicker's bar.
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