What you drink affects how you think!

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You think you’re being smart by choosing a small soda instead of a 32-ounce giant. But a 16-ounce soda contains an amazing 10.5 teaspoons of sugar, most of it in the form of fructose. That’s bad news for your brain. High blood sugar leads to inflammation in your hippocampus, the area of your brain that processes and makes memories. Not surprisingly, rats that drank sugar water for six weeks experienced brain changes that hampered their memory and learning.


“What you eat affects how you think,” says Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, professor of neurosurgery at the University of California-Los Angeles School of Medicine. In one study, older adults who ate the most sugar were 1.5 times more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) within one year, compared to seniors who ate the least sugar. MCI is a forerunner to Alzheimer’s disease.


“While nutrition affects the brain at every age, it is critical as we get older and may be important in preventing cognitive decline,” Margaret Morris explains. That means seniors who eat poorly may have more trouble thinking clearly and remembering. Feed your brain right. Make sure you eat foods that will keep your mind sharp into your 80s and beyond.

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  • FC&A Staff Writer