There are some things you can do to slow cognitive decline and boost your brain power while focusing on brain health. These include exercising and changing your diet to monitor what you eat and drink. While your brain will continue to age along with the rest of your body, certain habits can help delay this process.
“While aging is inevitable, certain eating habits can help fight the effects of aging or potentially accelerate aging,” says Lisa Moskovitz, author of The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan. “Overall, it’s important to eat a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich diet to keep your mind and body strong.”
Moskovitz also suggests that unconsciously consuming ultra-processed and empty-calorie foods like candy, soft drinks and chips can accelerate brain aging. If you want to avoid additional cognitive damage, cut these four snacks out of your life right away, which can make your brain age faster.
CONSUMING TOO MUCH SUGAR
While sugary foods are an easy mid-day snack to snack on and can satisfy your sweet cravings for the moment, the harm it does is huge. In fact, they can negatively affect your overall health, which can lead to problems with your brain health.
Added sugar found in snacks such as baked goods, ice cream, candy, certain cereals, and bars can increase blood sugar levels. Chronically high blood sugar levels can affect your brain’s functional connectivity, potentially contributing to brain shrinkage and atrophy over time.
CHIPS
It’s easy to get family size chips from the store. It’s also easy to snack on chips straight from the packet. But doing so turns out to have a more serious effect on your age than you might think.
According to a study published in the American Academy of Neurology, research has shown that overeating can double the risk of memory loss. If you repeatedly eat too many high-calorie chips, over time, it can increase your risk of developing memory loss or mild cognitive impairment later in life.
carbonated drinks
Fizzy drinks are liquids that add nothing but unnecessary calories and harm to health. Includes cola, soda, juice, and sweetened iced tea. While they may seem harmless as a mid-day treat, they can cause cognitive problems. In a study published in the journal Stroke, participants who drank at least one artificially sweetened beverage a day were three times more likely to suffer a stroke and almost three times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
PROCESSED FOOD
Similarly, consuming high amounts of all kinds of processed foods will negatively affect your brain health. “When consumed in large quantities, snacks such as chips, baked goods, and sweets that contain high amounts of saturated fat and/or refined flour can increase systemic inflammation,” says Moskovitz. This can eventually lead to cognitive decline and memory loss.