Sugar & the Developing Brain
Sugar! It is everywhere. Especially during the Holidays. Did you know: In 2011, beverage companies produced enough sugar drinks to provide an average of 45 gallons per American—or slightly more than nine 12-ounce cans a week?(1) WOW!
How might sugar affect the brain? At what age might this pose the greatest risk for altering neurological development? Are our kids at risk for damaging their brain by eating too much sugar? Or, drinking it? There is a powerful connection between sugar and the brain. Let’s take a look first at when the brain develops. Then we’ll discuss critical matters pertaining to sugar and its effects on the developing brain.
As a baby grows in the mother’s womb, there is significant neurological development. That is why healthy fat, specifically DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is an important part of the pregnant mother’s diet. This is also true during the first couple of years of life. DHA is a primary component in the structural development of the brain. DHA is required in all commercially sold infant formulas and should be part of a breastfeeding mother’s dietary intake. You would think that much of the developing brain would be maturing over the course of the young child’s life and that would be correct. What we understate with this view is the amount of brain development that occurs during puberty and adolescence.
Different parts of the brain mature at different stages of development. In puberty and adolescence, the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are developing. The prefrontal cortex is a critical region for behavioral control and self-regulation. It does not reach functional maturity in humans until the early 20’s. During puberty and adolescence, the neurotransmitter dopamine is found in higher quantities regulating neuroplasticity (neurological learning) and aiding the brain to learn about reward behavior. This presents great opportunity and great risk in the life of a teenager. Their reward driven behavior will be neurologically established during this time of life. The hippocampus plays a significant role in memory, emotions and controlling the autonomic nervous system. In research, it has been shown that not only will diets high in saturated fat and refined sugars increase the risk of obesity, but it will also increase the risk for deficits in thinking, learning, and memory processing. This occurs through disruptions in neuroplasticity and altering of reward processing connections in the brain.(2,3)
It is a fact that teenagers in the United States consume a high amount of sugar. In 2013, 27% of teens drank one or more soda a day, 19% drank two or more, and 11% drank three or more.(5) Results of research studies suggest that consumption of high levels of sugar-sweetened beverages by adolescents may impair neurocognitive functions affecting decision-making and memory, and may even put them at risk for developing mental health disorders.(2,3) The average American girl between the ages of 9-13 consumes an estimated 17.8 teaspoons of added sugar daily, slightly more than girls between the ages of 14-18 at 17.5 teaspoons per day. This represents the highest added sugar intake for females of any age group. For males the top sugar intake is estimated to be in 14-18 age range at 24.6 teaspoons of added sugar per day.(4) Added sugars are defined as any of the following: brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, and sucrose.(6)
While excess sugar clearly has a negative impact on neurological development, it is especially significant in the teen years. A healthy diet has shown to be beneficial to brain development. A systematic review of the clinical research on healthy diets in children and adolescence shows that higher quality diets improve executive cognitive functioning. This includes diets high in vegetables, fish, whole grains, and fruits. It also includes diets with proper macronutrient content. That means a balanced amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. This information should be used to develop goals for healthy eating in children and teens.
We do not expect perfection in our children and teens in regards to their eating habits. The goal is to minimize sugars, increase vegetable consumption, and eat healthy fats and proteins. This will serve to support proper neurological development, including memory function and behavior reward responses. Developing good habits as children and teens will ease the challenge of maintaining a healthy lifestyle for the rest of their lives. What a true gift to give for the holidays – something that will benefit them their whole life!
Bibliography
1 Andreyeva T., Chaloupka, F. J., & Brownell, K. D. (2011). Estimating the potential of taxes on sugar sweetened beverages to reduce consumption and generate revenue. Preventive Medicine, 52(6), 413-6.
2 Reichelt, Amy C. “Adolescent Maturational Transitions in the Prefrontal Cortex and Dopamine Signaling as a Risk Factor for the Development of Obesity and High Fat/High Sugar Diet Induced Cognitive Deficits.” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 10 (2016): 189. PMC. Web. 28 Dec. 2016.
3 Reichelt, Amy C et al. “Impact of Adolescent Sucrose Access on Cognitive Control, Recognition Memory, and Parvalbumin Immunoreactivity.” Learning & Memory 22.4 (2015): 215–224. PMC. Web. 28 Dec. 2016.
4 NIH – National Cancer Institute Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. Epidemiology and Genomic Research Program. Usual Daily Intake of Added Sugars. https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/diet/usualintakes/pop/2007-10/table_a40.html
5 Kann, L. et al. (2013). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance — United States. CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6304.pdf
6 U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015-2020. 8th Edition ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Accessed March 8, 2016.
7 Cohen, J.F.W., Gorski, M.T., Gruber, S.A., Kurdziel, L.B.F. and Rimm, E.B. (2016) ‘The effect of healthy dietary consumption on executive cognitive functioning in children and adolescents: a systematic review’, British Journal of Nutrition, 116(6), pp. 989–1000.