New Delhi (NVI): Eating food that is high in salt, fats and added sugars referred to as the Western-style diet, could harm your cognitive abilities, research finds.
According to the Macquarie University in Sydney, research found that people who eat Western-style diet are more likely to suffer from “impairments in hippocampal function”
The hippocampus is an important part of the brain which helps control short-term and long-term memories. It is the part of the brain that is damaged by Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
The researchers recruited 110 students aged 17-35 and split them into two groups – a control group and one that would go through the experiment. They were all fit and healthy, with a body mass index (BMI) between 17 and 26.
The group eating the Western-style diet were told to eat toasted sandwiches and milkshakes, Belgian waffles, and fast-food meals, all of which were high in saturated fat and added sugar.
The control group was given two low-fat, low-sugar breakfasts of toasted sandwiches and milkshakes and then asked to stick to their normal eating habits for the rest of the test.
Each group was given memory tests to complete. By Day 8 of the experiment, there was “a significant main effect” on the results of the Western-style diet group.
The findings support the results of a similar piece of work undertaken at Macquarie in 2017.
People in the Western-style diet group were more likely to suffer from “impairments in hippocampal function” the researchers found.
Heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes are three of the most well-known adverse effects of a typical Western diet.
Their impact is now being felt in parts of the world that have not traditionally eaten these kinds of food.
This has been particularly evident in China where a significant change in eating habits has accompanied the country’s rapid economic transformation and increased urbanization. This has led to the spread of Western-style food – but it has also led to the spread of Chinese waistlines.
Obesity rates in China have increased from 1% to 20% and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there may be 120 million overweight and obese people in the country.
In the US, there are about 93.3 million obese adults – around 39.8% of the population. More than 70 per cent of US adults are classed as either overweight or obese.
The healthiest diets are those that include a lot of fresh food, plenty of fruit and vegetables, and little in the way of saturated fats.
The Japanese diet is one of the healthiest. Food tends to be steamed or simmered, rather than fried, and many things are eaten raw. Another healthy alternative is the Mediterranean diet, which contains plenty of seeds, legumes, whole grains, fish, seafood and extra virgin olive oil.
Promoting healthy lifestyles is a major concern for global policymakers. As highlighted in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2020, illnesses like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory diseases, along with mental illness, could cost the global economy an estimated USD 47 trillion in treatment and lost productivity by the end of this decade.
