Do Our Diets Affect Both Our Bodies and Our Brains?

It may be hard to resist picking up some fast food on the way home, or even having it delivered when we’re home, not to mention that occasional (or not so occasional) cookie or candy to calm our craving between meals, but it we know it’s not doing us any favors. Overeating and a diet high in fat and sugar can contribute to obesity, which in turn can raise our blood pressure, cholesterol, and risk of developing diabetes just to name a few of the potential consequences. But for all the effect on our bodies, could bad diets affect our brains as well? Psychologist Terry Davidson, director of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience at American University in Washington, D.C., seems to think so, and he’s not alone.

Davidson is part of a growing group of researchers who have found links between obesity and poor memory function, which in turn could lead to bad eating habits completing the vicious cycle. Research from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience published in 2015 found that obese people have less white matter in their brains than their lean peers — as if their brains were 10 years older. While researches still don’t know exactly how diets affect the brain, it’s certainly cause to think twice before reaching for that donut.

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