We are all aware that the Standard American Diet (SAD) has some health issues we all need to be concerned about. Obvious effects occur around our bellies, our thighs, and our backsides.
But what we continue to miss is how it affects our brains. My middle boy said something that emphasized this point the other day as he was eating spaghetti. He kept going back for more and more. When he was asked why he was eating so much, he stated "my spaghetti has crack cocaine in it!"
Although crack cocaine is not the culprit of food addictions/cravings, it appears processed food may have a very similar effect as far as initiating repeating and repetitive behaviors.
A recent study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, showed that after just one week of eating a Standard American Diet young people (ages 20 to 23) scored worse brain function testing and the diet encourages them to eat more of the same (eat a big meal, and still want chocolate ice cream after). The researchers showed that one week of eating a high fat, high sugar diet causes changes to the hippocampus region of the brain, which is involved in memory and appetite control.
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This study mimicked previous studies that have shown that junk food impairs the hippocampus in animals. What this simply means is that eating a Standard American Diet (SAD) causes you to eat more of a SAD, which of course will make you sad, both in the body and brain. Processed foods lead to a subtle cognitive impairment that affects your appetite and promotes overeating in otherwise young and very healthy people.
This effect, although not studied, is likely greatly emphasized the longer you do it and the older you are. This may be one of the reasons why it becomes so much harder to lose weight as we get older.
A simple awareness of what crosses our lips and forethought in our eating patterns before sitting down for a meal may be the only ways to override (or at least lessen) the changes that occur in the brain with the Standard American Diet. As the old saying goes, that is certainly very applicable to health and well-being, "fail to plan, plan to fail."
Link:
Brain function and the Standard American Diet - Idaho State Journal
