Food bulletin: High-calorie diet deteriorates brain health, says study

Compared to 50 years ago, people currently consume an average of around 650 extra kilocalories each day, which is equivalent to a fast-food meal of a burger, fries and a soft drink, says the study’s lead author, Nicolas Cherbuin of the Australian National University.

The researchers who undertook the study found that people were also affecting their brain health with the really bad fast-food diet and little-to-no exercise in their daily lives. The study found strong evidence that people’s unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise for sustained periods of time puts them at a serious risk of developing type-2 diabetes as well as significant declines in brain function, such as dementia and brain shrinkage.

According to the study, 30 per cent of the global adult population is either overweight or obese, and over 10 per cent of the world’s adult population will have type 2 diabetes by 2030. The experts pointed out that while the link between this type of diabetes and the deterioration of brain function has long been known, research shows that the loss of neurons and their functions begins much earlier, indicating a clear association between this brain deterioration and unhealthy lifestyle choices.

People eating too much of the wrong kind of food, particularly fast food, is a big worry, the researchers stated, who warned that advice for people to reduce their risk of brain problems, including their risk of dementia, begins too late, mostly when people are in their 60s. The study urged eating healthy as the brain damage due to unhealthy eating isirreversible once a person reaches midlife.