Scientists at the Charité University Medical Centre in Berlin claim that sugar and carbohydrate consumption could be placing you at an increased risk of dementia. They believe that eating large amounts of sugar and some forms of carbs could harm the brain’s structure and function.
The team found that high levels of glucose were associated with a poorer memory in otherwise healthy adults, which could lead to more instances of dementia. The research supports previous claims that high blood sugar levels are linked to a smaller hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for remembering facts and events and also long-term memory).
They studied the short-term and long-term glucose markers in 141 healthy adults. The participants sat a memory test and also underwent an MRI. The results showed that those with higher glucose blood levels had a poorer memory and a smaller hippocampus.
Agnes Flöel, the study’s co-author and a neurologist at Charité said the results “provide further evidence that glucose might directly contribute to hippocampal atrophy”. However, she also claimed that further work is needed to explore the correlation between brain health and sugar consumption.
