Put that loaf down, now!

Today’s MailOnline reports that ‘Carboyhydrates rot the brain’ – this is according to a US neurologist, David Perimutter, who says ‘The origin of brain disease is in many cases predominantly dietary,’

His book, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar – Your Brain’s Silent Killers is not the only one to demonize some of our favourite foods. Last year I found myself bombarded with ads for Wheat Belly, written by another American doctor, William Davis. Its sell was ‘lose the wheat, lose the weight.’ And I recently interviewed a woman who did just that - losing three stone since Easter this year by giving up wheat and being careful about most other carbs. She now lives on the kind of food that is frowned upon in many circles – steak in cream sauce, egg and bacon, and loads of cheese – yet not only has her weight gone down but her cholesterol has also plummeted, from 7 to 5 in six months.

Is her brain also sharper as a result? Only concerned with her weight at the time, this wasn’t something I asked her – but a study published in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that elderly people who ate a high-carb diet were more than three times as likely to develop mild cognitive impairment – which has been linked with a higher risk of dementia.

According to the Mail article:

People whose diets were highest in ‘good’ fats, such as those found in nuts and healthy oils were 42 per cent less likely to get cognitive impairment. Those with a high intake of protein (such as meat and fish) had a reduced risk of 21 per cent.

Lead author Rosebud Roberts, a professor in the department of epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic, said: ‘A high-carbohydrate intake could be bad for you because carbohydrates impact your glucose and insulin metabolism.

'Sugar fuels the brain, so moderate intake is good. However, high levels of sugar may actually prevent the brain from using the sugar - similar to what we see with type 2 diabetes.’

She added that high glucose levels might affect the brain's blood vessels and play a role in the development of beta amyloid plaques, proteins toxic to brain health that are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. It’s thought these plaques are a leading cause of the disease.