Beware Carboholics - You May Be Damaging Your Brain!

Some experts are claiming that carbohydrate overload is bad for your brain, as well as for the rest of you.

Dr. David Perlmutter, who is a nutritionally-oriented neurologist, has created waves in the health world with his bestselling book, Grain Brain. In it, he argues that the brain thrives on a fat-rich, low-carbohydrate diet. Unfortunately, today’s proliferation of carbs is putting that equation at risk and destroying our brains.

Dr. Perlmutter conducted an exhaustive review of medical research and found ample evidence to incriminate excess carb intake as a brain-hostile practice. He warns that it’s not just your typical refined carbohydrates that are made from white flour that are problematic, but also the so-called “healthier whole grains”. Based on his research and many years in clinical practice, he believes that the unprecedented dietary domination of cheap carbohydrates during the last century has led to overconsumption and contributed to multiple problems, including dementia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression. During this time we have gone from a high-fat, low carb diet to a low-fat, high carb diet.

As Dr. Perlmutter says, we need to go beyond thinking of diet as more than just how food affects the tightness of our pants. “Diets impact the functioning of our entire body…including our brain. There’s a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the food we eat and the state of our health; it’s up to us to make smart choices and increase our consumption of those foods that will keep our bodies operating optimally.”

Grains (examples: wheat, oats, rice) are carbohydrates and carbohydrates are broken down by the digestive system into sugar. Refined grains break down quicker than whole grains, but whether refined or whole, we just eat way too many of them and often, we wash down our carb-loaded meals with sodas, which pile on more sugar. Inside the body, this high tide of sugar stokes oxidative stress that leads to inflammation and tissue damage.

When the body becomes flooded with carbohydrates, the pancreas responds by spiking its insulin production (insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar). Over time, the body’s cells stop responding to insulin (insulin resistance), leading to weight gain, belly fat, inflammation, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even to a significantly increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. All carbohydrates activate the insulin response to varying degrees.

One of the major forms of dementia is Alzheimer’s . Alzheimer’s is connected to inflammation and sugar intake. A 2013 study from the University of Washington found that higher levels of blood sugar represent a risk factor for dementia. Additionally, according to a 2012 Mayo Clinic study, a dietary pattern with a relatively high intake of carbohydrates raises the risk of cognitive impairment or dementia in elderly persons, while a high intake of fat and protein lowers the risk.
As a subplot in the carb and grain issue is the problem of gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, which isn’t absorbed well in the gut. Celiac patients cannot eat gluten, but many non-celiac individuals have problems with gluten as well.

Dr. Perlmutter’s message regarding the brain is also good for the rest of the body, including the heart. Cut down on the carbs; think low-carb, not low-fat; minimize the grains, bread, bagels, and pasta in your diet and increase good healthy fats from extra-virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts, fish, along with a bit of saturated fat from butter and meat (preferably organic and pastured or grass-fed). Fat has long been tarnished as the enemy of health, but in recent years researchers are showing that fat is important and even essential. This is the basis of a healthy Mediterranean-type diet.

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