Sugar

THE SWEETEST POISON
(Taken from a Health Journal)

One of the most common questions I am asked is “What is the single most important thing to do to avoid brain ageing and cognitive decline?”. The thing that would have the greatest impact would be quitting sugar.

Unfortunately, we’re evolutionarily primed to love the stuff because it offers an incredibly rapid burst of energy – the sort of verve our ancestors needed to compete for survival in a world in which short-term performance is evolutionarily prioritised over long-term protection.

Most people, if they were asked to think about the chronic consequences of consuming too much sugar; would likely think about diabetes, which they might associated with a variety of symptoms, like blurry vision, numb limbs, exhaustion, dry skin, slow-healing sores, and rampant infections.

But when I think about sugar, my thoughts immediately turn to the absolute havoc it wreaks on our brains. Sugar gives the brain a quick burst of energy at the expense of long-term protection; the insulin spikes it causes can accelerate both ageing and disease, as well as causing bouts of hypoglycaemia, where blood sugar levels drop below normal, which further compromises the brain.

The recent appearance of simple, over-the-counter monitors called CGMs (continuous glucose monitors) has helped many of us to see these increases and decreases in our blood sugar and smooth them out with less sugary diets.
Any reduction in sugar consumption would be a good thing.