Brain Fact Friday on ”The Damaging Impact of Sugar on the Brain and Body.”

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, for Brain Fact Friday and episode #117.  Since we just released the ground-breaking interview with Dr. Ratey on the impact of exercise and nutrition on the brain, I wanted to focus today’s episode on something that he said, that caught my attention. Since last week’s Brain Fact Friday was about “Building a Faster, Stronger, Resilient Brain, by Understanding Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)” or the compound that Dr. Ratey says is crucial for preventing cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease, I wanted to focus this episode on something Dr. Ratey said that really made me think. This week's Brain Fact Friday, you will learn: ✔︎ What sugar does to the brain, cognition and well-being.✔︎ How sugar contributes to cognitive decline and Alzheimer's Disease.✔︎ Why sugar is so addictive.✔︎ What surprising things spike blood sugar.✔︎ Healthy ways to naturally lower blood sugar. DID YOU KNOW THAT: High Glucose Levels are Toxic to the Brain and Limits the Production of BDNF He said, did you know that “High glucose levels are toxic to the brain, and limits the production of this glorious compound BDNF that has such a profound effect on cognition and well-being?” I remember a powerful quote from a BONUS episode I did for Podbean’s Wellness week[i]  that goes right along with what Dr. Ratey said, coming from Dr. David Perlmutter, who wrote the foreword to Dr. Ratey’s book Go Wild![ii] DID YOU KNOW THAT: Sugar in the brain looks like Alzheimer’s in the Brain? I wrote in this bonus episode, after watching Dr. Perlmutter’s Alzheimer’s The Science of Prevention Series, Did you know that sugar in the brain “looks like Alzheimer’s” in the brain, and that “60% of cognitive decline is related to how you handle blood sugar?”[iii]  There was a study that followed “over 5,000 people over 10 years and found that people with high blood sugar had a faster rate of cognitive decline than those with normal blood sugar—whether or not their blood-sugar level technically made them diabetic. In other words, the higher the blood sugar, the faster the cognitive decline.”[iv] So when Dr. Ratey said that “high glucose levels are toxic to the brain” I thought back to this study, and wellness episode, and thought we could take a closer look at how our glucose levels increase, with tips for healthy ways to keep our blood levels stable. I’m sure we all know that sugar is bad news for our brain, our body, and that sugar (a class of molecules called carbohydrates) will give us a rush of energy at first but will make us hungry a few hours later). Now to think that it limits the production of this key protein we all know is important for anti-aging, and Alzheimer’s prevention.  Imagine that you have half the equation right. You are exercising, watching what you eat, and allowing some treats in moderation. This would be the perfect way to live your life, according to Dr. Ratey, but I started to wonder, what are some ways that we could unknowingly be raising our glucose levels and preventing the production of this powerful BDNF protein? Other than eating a bunch of sugar, are there other things I could be doing that could possibly be raising my glucose levels without me even knowing it? Until I heard Dr. Ratey talking about how damaging sugar was to our brain, I hadn’t spent much time thinking about this lately. We don’t have to be diabetic to watch or be aware of our blood sugar or glucose levels. I mention in one of my earlier episodes[v] that it was a visit to a foot doctor around 2005 for foot numbness after exercise, that got me to eliminate sugar completely from my diet back then.  I was looking for solutions to why I couldn’t feel the top of my foot during exercise, and I didn’t show any signs of diabetes, but this doctor was writing a book, that is now released called Sugar Crush: How to Reduce Inflammation, Reverse Nerve Damage and Reclaim Good Health[vi] and he was con