1 week is all it takes for adverse effects from a poor diet to take hold of the brain affecting your memory, and mood. It slows your ability to recall information, and lowers one's mood. These are symptoms of cognitive impairment. In the United States, food additives are running rampant in grocery stores and restaurant chains expanding the growth of “poor diets” and their effects.
Food additives affect brain development for all, not just adolescents, and it is important to know how. And what we can do to make change within our communities.
Fats and sugars are infamous for having adverse effects on the body but what about the brain? Food additives contribute to the exponential intake of saturated fats and sugars such as high-fructose corn syrup and in the United States, but fats and sugars differ on how they affect the brain. A diet that is high in fat has been linked with a decline in retaining long-term memories. For example, retaining school information while on this diet might become increasingly harder because it is easier to retain for a short amount of time instead of a longer period of time. The NIA Alzheimer’s Association linked a high fat diet with an imbalance in antioxidants leading to cell damage. This imbalance contributes to an increased risk of a multitude of chronic memory defects such as Alzheimer's and Dementia. Furthermore, Rut Fado, a researcher at the basic science department in Spain, discovered that if exposed to a high sugar diet for as short as 8 days it can damage your hippocampus, the region of your brain that consolidates part of your memories and learning. The hippocampus works similarly to a phone and its database. For example, if you take your phone and take photos and videos of a concert you can revisit it to remember the name of the band, some of the members and more.
We are aware that phones contribute to mental health issues but what about our food? Depressive mood disorders plague our society for a multitude of reasons but one of the sources is our diet. Ultra processed foods contain an abundance of food additives which contribute to the reduction of quality within your food products. This reduction of quality also leads to an unhealthy microbiome. The microbiome within your stomach supports all of your intestines' functionality. This infracture to the microbiome's ability leads to inflammatory diseases such as diabetes in addition, problems within your brain inturn increasing the risks of depressive mood disorders. Furthermore, Biochemists at the University of Iowa claimed, when there is an increase in refined sugars in your diet such as fructose it damages the mitochondria and decreases the production of ATP in the body. ATP is produced throughout the entire body and provides energy to all living cells. ATP is like energy currency for your body. You spend ATP when you do something, and then your body has to recharge it so you can keep going. How ATP is supplied is through the mitochondria. Kaixin Wang, a biologist at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, found that mitochondrial dysfunction and abnormal ATP levels were linked with depressive mood disorders, so when the western diet is introduced to ones microbiome it damages ones mitochondria and reduces ATP production furthering depressive mood disorders in the United States. Beilharz, a scientist in neuroscience, classified the western diet as being high in saturated fat and refined sugars; this diet has been exposed to everyone in the United states due to them being sold in every market and restaurant. Therefore, we, as American citizens, need to be aware of what is being put into our food.
There are positives to food additives such as it being convenient, like going to mcdonalds to get a small snack or even dinner for the night after a long day. However, there is a price for convenience. That price is the deterioration of our brains. Convenience has a cost but our biggest way to not pay this price is to use our actions and say no.
How can we keep up with this forever expanding industry and prevent these eff ects? Education is the fi rst step to being able to read the labels and inform yourself of what is going into your foods. Looking out for Ultra Processed foods that have an abundance of chemicals within them. One of the many ways to identify these chemicals if they have suffi xes like -ate and -ide. Similarly in Ultra Processed foods they are full of unnecessary food coloring to make it look more appealing. Some dyes to stay away from are RED 40, YELLOW 6, and BLUE 1. Informing yourself and others will help people within the community keep their mind and body healthy. This aff ects you and we need to stay informed.
We can start change by informing others within our community on how food additives aff ect people's bodies. More importantly to promote organic food sources such as farmers markets, community gardens, and providing educational opportunities in community centers and schools to teach about the risks of food additives. Promoting our farmers markets not only ensures helping those in the community but also lets us know where our food is coming from and who. Community gardens promote a necessary skill, gardening, letting us know where our food is coming from. These activities promote community bonding and give options to people on where they can acquire fresh food. One of the many diets scientists have advertised is Mediterranean Diet’s which focus heavily on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seafood, unsaturated fats, low amounts of sweets and red meat. Any age can make change whether it is on a personal level or community level. This aff ects you and we need reform.
