Blood Glucose and Cognitive Function

January 2nd, 2009 · No Comments · Health Consequences

Columbia University Medical Center, out with a study published in the December issue of Annals of Neurology, and reported in The New York Times:

Spikes in blood sugar can take a toll on memory by affecting the dentate gyrus, an area of the brain within the hippocampus that helps form memories, a new study reports.
Researchers said the effects can be seen even when levels of blood sugar, or glucose, are only moderately elevated, a finding that may help explain normal age-related cognitive decline, since glucose regulation worsens with age. [...]
In the study, researchers used high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging to map brain regions in 240 elderly subjects. They found a correlation between elevated blood glucose levels and reduced cerebral blood volume, or blood flow, in the dentate gyrus, an indication of reduced metabolic activity and function in that region of the brain.

What can you do, according to the "experts?"

Since glucose regulation is improved with physical activity, Dr. Small said, “We have a behavioral recommendation — physical exercise.”

The typical blind spot, when it's well known that the best way to avoid spikes in blood sugar is to eat a natural, real foods diet of meat, natural fat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts, avoiding grains, sugar, vegetable oils, and all processed foods.

Exercise is fine, of course, but it's no subject for real food. As we've discussed many times, diet is 80% of the equation (or 50-60%, along with 20-30% when not to eat, i.e., intermittent fasting).

I'm surprised this didn't come along with the standard saw to "eat more whole grains."

(thanks to the several people who emailed that article)