A new study in rats has found that eating typical Western junk food while the brain is developing could cause memory issues.
The study, published in the Brain, Behaviour and Immunity journal, found that consuming an unhealthy diet in early life disrupts memory.
Junk food and memory issues
Researchers at the University of California gave one group of young rodents, which were all between 26 and 56 days old, foods high in fat and sugar that represent a Western diet. This included Ruffles potato chips, Reese’s peanut butter cups and high-fructose corn syrup.
They gave another group a standard healthy diet and performed behavioral and metabolic assessments, one of which tested the rats’ memory by introducing them to a location containing random objects.
The study reintroduced the rats to the same area days later, with one new object, and found the animals which ate the healthy diet were curious about the new object, while the ones who ate the junk food did not notice that anything had changed.
It concluded that Western diet consumption during early life developmental periods is “associated with impaired memory function, particularly for hippocampus dependent processes”.
The hippocampus is a region of the brain that is primarily associated with memory, and vital for learning, memory, and spatial navigation.
It also found that these “episodic memory impairments” remained even when the rats who were given the junk food were given healthy diet afterwards, suggesting that the memory issues were long term and couldn’t be reversed.
Diet and cognitive function
This isn’t the first study to link the Western diet to cognitive decline. One 2017 report found that eating excessive foods rich in saturated fat and refined carbohydrates is linked with reduced cognitive function, cognitive decline, and dementia.
“High fat and high sugar foods are highly rewarding and excessive consumption leads to enduring alterations in brain regions involved in learning, memory, and reward,” it said.
Several micronutrients like B group vitamins and iron, as well as many polyphenols play a crucial role in cognitive health, and low-fat diets are protective against cognitive decline, another review adds. Diets like the Mediterranean and Nordic are linked to a lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
MedlinePlus explains that good nutrition is important in keeping people healthy throughout their lives, from babies right up to older adults. It can help people live longer and lower their risk of health problems like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Good nutrition is about regularly choosing healthy foods and beverages that give your body the energy and nutrients that you need every day, including proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and water. Less healthy foods should be eaten in moderation.
