'Low-carb diet causes memory loss'
Dieters who eliminate carbohydrates from their diet may lose some extra pounds, but it could leave them fuzzy headed and forgetful, says a new
study.
One week after starting a weight loss diet that severely restricted carbohydrates, participants in the Tufts University study performed significantly worse on memory tests than participants who followed a low calorie, high-carbohydrate diet.
Their study on women aged 22 to 55 showed that those on a low carbohydrate meals suffered impaired memory function after just one week, reports the Telegraph.
Psychology professor Holly Taylor, of Tufts University, Massachusetts, said that when carbohydrates were re-introduced the women’s mental function returned to normal.
“The connection between the foods we eat and how we think doesn’t really enter into most people’s minds,” said study co-author and cognitive psychologist Taylor, as saying. She added: “This study demonstrates that the food you eat can have an immediate impact on cognitive behaviour. The popular low-carb, no-carb diets have the strongest potential for negative impact on thinking and cognition.”
The body breaks carbohydrates into glucose, which it uses to fuel brain activity. Proteins break down into glycogen, which can also be used for fuel by the brain, but not as efficiently as glucose.
So it stands to reason that eliminating carbohydrates from the diet might reduce the brain’s source of energy and affect brain function. But there has been little research examining this hypothesis in people following low-carb weight loss diets.
All the dieters were tested for “cognitive skills” including attention, long-term and short-term memory, visual attention, and spatial memory which helps with everyday tasks and details about surroundings. Low-carb dieters “showed a gradual decrease on the memory-related tasks compared with the low-calorie dieters”. Their reaction times were also slower. However, they did do better on short-term attention tests.
Taylor said: “Although the study had a modest sample size, the results showed a clear difference in cognitive performance as a function of diet.”
