Sugar tastes good.

Sugar makes eating enjoyable.

Sugar makes us feel satiated.

Sugar makes us feel better. 

But how does sugar affect your brain? Is it true that it can cause cognitive deficits and spur us toward dementia?

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Most of us love sugar. Sweetness is the one flavor we strive to smell and taste.  She is our companion when we are sad. She makes us feel happy and satisfied. Sugar is our friend, (BFF), our buddy. She never lets us down. We treat ourselves to sugar when we need a mental or physical boost of energy in the morning and mid-afternoon. And of course, we look forward to our dessert after our evening meal, sometimes before the meal. 

Sugar gives us the get up and go we need when we are in a slump and gets us through our day. For many of us, she is the monkey on our back and we want more of her tasty treats. It reminds me of The Chronicles of Narnia, the lure of the Queen’s Turkish Delight. One taste and we desire more. 

The taste buds on our tongue are sensory organs that allow us to experience bitter, sour, salty, and sweet flavors. The most addicting is the sweet taste of sugary foods. 

Sugar is an essential part of our life and she is a source of fuel for our body. Sugars from plant-based foods, fruits and carbohydrates are digested and absorbed from the intestines into the blood stream and transported to all cells throughout the body to provide energy.  

The brain is the most energy-demanding organ because of the work of the neurons, our nerve cells. This organ requires at least 25 percent of our sugar intake to be used as fuel. Thinking, memory, and learning are closely linked to our glucose levels. When blood sugar is low the brain is affected leading to poor attention and decreased cognitive function. When blood sugar is high, confusion, blurred vision and fatigue are common symptoms.

Sugar, as our foe

Sugar is inflammatory to our brain and body. High blood sugar is toxic to the nerves in the body leading to nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy). Sugar is an irritant to the inner lining of blood vessels because it is abrasive, and in response the body creates plaques, which can lead to blood clots traveling to the heart (heart attack), to the brain (a stroke), to the eyes, (blindness) and it is considered to be a contender in the development of Alzheimer’s Disease. 

Sugar, our friend, causes mental and physical destruction in the body. How good of a friend is she? 

Companies that produce sugar-based products use psychological and sociological techniques to make us buy their products that are laced with sweetness. Chemists who work for food companies help make food tasty and addictive. They recruit medical students, physicians, sociologists, and psychologists to assist them in finding the right amount of sugar, that is put into a food item and measures how long it will last in your body until you crave your next sugar fix. 

Did I use the word “fix”?  In studies, sugar is considered a drug similar to cocaine and narcotics. It targets the pleasure area of your brain and this region starts to crave the blissful feeling you have when you eat sugar loaded products. Sugar lights up the brain in the same area that cocaine illuminates the brain. 

Sugar is often disguised in food. Instead of listing it under the most common names for sugar (sugarcane, corn syrup, fructose), companies discreetly list it by other names.  

For example, instead of adding 100 grams of sugarcane to a food, companies might add 10 grams of 10 differently named sugars to confuse you. But the product still contains 100 grams of sugar. 

Listed below are some other names for the sweet treat. Some you will recognize and others you may not ever heard before. 

Agave nectar, Coconut palm sugar, Coconut sugar, Confectioner’s sugar, Corn sweetener, Corn syrup, Date sugar, Dehydrated cane juice, Caramel

Barbados sugar, Barley malt, Barley malt syrup, Beet sugar, Brown sugar, Buttered syrup, Cane juice Cane juice crystals Cane sugar Carob syrup Castor sugar, Coconut palm sugar, Coconut sugar, Confectioner’s sugar, Corn sweetener, Corn syrup, Date sugar, Dehydrated cane juice, Demerara sugar, Dextrin, Dextrose, Evaporated cane juice, Free-flowing brown sugars, Fructose, Fruit juice concentrate, Glucose, Glucose solids, Golden sugar, Grape sugar, HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup), Honey, Icing sugar, Invert sugar, Malt syrup, Maltodextrin, Maltol, Maltose, Mannose, Maple syrup, Molasses, Muscovado, Palm sugar, Powdered sugar, Raw sugar, Refiner’s syrup, Rice syrup, Saccharose, Sorghum syrup, Sucrose Sugar (granulated), Sweet sorghum, Syrup, Treacle, Turbinado sugar, Yellow sugar.

Surprising, isn’t it?

Recent studies have indicated an unhealthy relationship between the consumption of fructose, and the aging of our body. Using an animal model, scientists linked excess glucose consumption to memory and cognitive deficiencies.

Diabetes, Type 1 or Type 2, have an adverse impact on the brain.  High blood glucose and insulin levels can affect the brain’s functional connectivity, which is the linking of brain regions that share functional properties. High blood sugar levels can cause the brain to atrophy or shrink. It can lead to small-vessel disease, restricting blood flow in the brain, causing cognitive difficulties. If on-going, Diabetes can result in the development of vascular dementia.

We live in a culture that pulls us in the wrong direction regarding the food we eat. Treats are found everywhere. In the grocery and convenience stores, along the checkout lines, candy is displayed on both sides of the aisle. A treat is just an arm’s reach away. Visit a bank and you will find a cup containing lollipops on the counter. I went to have my hair cut and a display of colorful, chocolate coated pops stared at me as they sat on the counter. Temptation is everywhere. 

Our environment seduces us, and it is a planned event by food companies to influence us toward sweets. We buy them and the companies who manufactured them become richer. We are in a toxic food culture, and who is vulnerable? Everyone. 

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends no more than 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugar per day for women and 9 teaspoons (38 grams) for men. Yet, the average American consumes 19.5 teaspoons (82 grams) every day, a BIG difference.

 Interventions 

• Sugar is in every type of food product in some form. Read the labels of the food you eat and drink to become aware of the sugar content. Even organic and whole foods have sugar in them.

• Be conscious of your choice of food. Every bite of food you take is a vote. Are you voting for McDonalds, Nabisco, Frito-Lay, Coke, Kellogg’s - all sugar-based foods? 

• When struggling to make good choices, take small steps and maintain a movement in the right direction. Every month, reduce or eliminate a sugar item. Replace it with a healthy snack: apples and cheese, almonds, cheese and nuts, peanut butter and banana, an orange. Have you tried avocado on a piece of toast? Delicious. 

• Clean out your pantry of white flour, sugar and bread items. Try buck wheat flour. It has more protein, is gluten free and denser, making you feel satiated.

• Become aware of your limiting beliefs. Reorient your negative thought to a positive thought. Change “I can’t” to “I can.”

Be accountable to your health. Take care of yourself.

So, is sugar your friend or foe? 

It’s your decision.