Sugar can actually make you dumber.

There is probably no drug in the world that is as dangerous as or as widely consumed as sugar. It makes you crave for it while giving you nothing back in return. In fact, causes a great deal of harm to the body. It makes you obese, it ruins your skin, causes insulin resistance, and worst of all, it increases your risk for cancer. We almost always think of table sugar when we talk of sugar; but other forms of sweeteners like sucralose, corn syrup, aspartame, sorbitol and saccharin are all equally culpable of causing harm. While we know the impact it has on our body, we barely know how it can affect cognitive functions and mess with the brain. The human brain is an energy-gobbling organ which consumes at least one fifth of your body’s total caloric input and uses up half of sugar energy. But too much of it can also end up impairing the way the organ functions. Here are some of the ways in which sugar destroys your brain.

1.It causes addiction
If you thought being addicted to cocaine and meth was bad, you have no idea how bad sugar can be for you. Sugar can trigger your feel-good hormones like dopamine, making you crave more and more sweet treats when you are sad or stressed. Studies say that there are biological commonalities between sweetened diets and drugs. What’s scary is that sugar can cause a greater addiction tendency even in people who are dependent on drugs such as cocaine. Sugar generates a supranormal reward signal in the brain that can weaken your self control and lead to addictions.

2.It impairs your cognitive functions
A 2014 study conducted on rats tested the impact of sugar on cognitive functions. Evidence clearly says that sugar can adversely affect your mental skills like spatial knowledge and memory. Another one in 2012 by the UCLA implied that too many sweets could make you stupid. The article revealed consuming sweeteners like corn syrup impairs memory and learning. But the good news is that the defect can be offset by eating a diet rich in Omega 3.

3.It can cause depression
A bar of chocolate may seem like the answer to your PMS-induced sadness or general moroseness. However, you might want to rethink that. Studies say that there is correlation between consumption of sugar and incidence of major depressive disorders. A 2012 study also confirms a higher incidence of cancer among teenagers who consume a high-fructose diet. It points to the fact that sugar can worsen depressive diseases like anxiety and alter the way the brain functions in the time of stress. Far from making you happy, sugar can actually make you sad.

4.Sugar can increase the risk of dementia
Sugar could possibly increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s says studies. A 2013 study stated that cognitive impairment caused by the sweetener can actually pave the way for dementia. The study blames western diet and lifestyle, characterised by high-sugar foods, lack of exercise and caloric diets, for promoting type 2 diabetes. It also points to a correlation between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, saying that the former can significantly raise the risk for the latter.

Recipe By: Julia Clancy

“Brown sugar, coffee and coriander are the base for the delicious rub in this healthy baked salmon recipe. Serve with brown rice pilaf or a faro salad.”

Ingredients:  

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground coffee

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1½ pounds salmon fillet, cut into 6 portions

1 small shallot, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar

2 large navel oranges

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Position a rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 450°F.

2. Combine brown sugar, coffee, coriander, paprika, ¾ teaspoon salt and cayenne in a small bowl. Place salmon on a baking sheet and rub with the spice mixture.

3. Roast on the lower rack until just cooked through and still opaque in the middle, 6 to 8 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, combine shallot, vinegar and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes. Zest the oranges. Cut off and discard the peel and white pith; coarsely chop the fruit. Add the zest, chopped oranges, parsley and oil to the shallot and stir to combine. Serve the salsa with the salmon.

In a recently published study, researchers in Japan investigate how health literacy affects our perceptions of our primary health care.

Researchers define health literacy as the degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services. It is a route through which patients may make informed decisions about their treatment options. According to the researchers, the gaps in the health literacy of a patient are commonly met by health professionals in the primary care setting. But what if the influence goes both ways? The evidence is deficient regarding the impact of health literacy on the opinion of the patient surrounding primary care. Researchers wanted to know if a patient’s health literacy can influence their opinion of the quality of their health care.

To answer this question, researchers surveyed a town in Kanagawa, Japan. The study was question-based and included town residents who were randomly selected from the town register. A total of 381 adult residents with a primary care provider participated in the study.

The data received from the questionnaire was evaluated in a cross-sectional manner. The analysis involved an assessment to measure health literacy in the participants. This scale was the 14-item Health Literacy Scale (HLS-14). The researchers matched the results of the HLS-14 with the measurement of the patient’s experience of primary care using the Japanese version of Primary Care Assessment Tool (JPCAT). This tool is composed of six subjects: the first contact, longitudinally, coordination, comprehensiveness (services available), comprehensiveness (services provided), and community orientation. The analysis also considered the socioeconomic demographic for every participant of the participant to minimize errors in analysis.

The results of this study, recently published in PloS ONE, demonstrated that the health literacy among patients was positively associated with the results of the primary care assessment tool. Out of the six domains of the primary care assessment, it was found to have the most influence on longitudinally and comprehensiveness. The Japanese patients who had higher health literacy also reported an overall better experience at the hospital and reception of primary care.

Through this study, the researchers determined that an increase in patient centred care programs that focus on educating the patients may ultimately help with improving the overall experience and relationship between the patient and the healthcare system.

Written by Dr. Apollina Sharma, MBBS, GradDip EXMD

Aoki, T., & Inoue, M. (2017). Association between health literacy and patient experience of primary care attributes: A cross-sectional study in Japan. PloS one, 12(9), e0184565.

https://www.medicalnewsbulletin.com/health-literacy-perception-health-care/