Even as little as ten years ago I might have been laughed at for asking a question like the title to this article. Today, however, there is insurmountable evidence paving the way for this questions validity.
It has now been well documented by more than a handful of renowned Professors including neuro-endocrinologist, Dr. Robert Lustig and behavioral neuroscientist, Bart Hoebel, that the highly palatable, sugary foods we Americans now consume as the staples in our everyday diets are indeed highly addictive.
Sugar, being the main ingredient in many of our processed foods today, can no longer be overlooked. As the consumption of sugar has been on the rise from just 10 pounds ‘per/person’ ‘per/year’ in 1800 to nearly 150 pounds ‘per/person’ ‘per/year’ today, many chronic diseases and food allergies have paralleled its rise. So, is it merely a coincidence or is it time to face the true hard facts?
More and more of us are starting to realize that sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup and the many other sweeteners that are filling our foods are at the forefront of Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and Heart disease.
However, have we ever look beyond the obvious to see what else these highly inflammatory, insidious ingredients may be affecting?
If we understand that high doses of sugar and the over-consumption of processes carbohydrates create insulin resistance, (meaning it desensitizes our cells) why would we believe that desensitization would only occur to a certain portion of our body thus discriminating against the rest?
Therefore, the question now becomes, could sugar and processed foods be at the forefront to damaging the cognitive process of our brain? And if this is a valid observation, could this not explain the huge uptick in neurological disorders like (but not limited to) Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Depression (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)?
All of these questions seem completely valid and I personally ponder them because the link just seems too peculiar to ignore.
My personal belief is that any logical solution is right at our fingertips. The problem is we as humans think a solution has to be in direct proportion to its problem. In other words, if the problem is large then the solution must be complex. But what if (just maybe) the very solution for the many who suffer from Depression, Dementia, and other neurological abnormalities has been sitting right in front of us the whole time, and it’s just so blatantly obvious that everyone has discounted it.
Being a small town nutrition & fitness coach will never give me the ability to compete with BIG BUSINESS and their scrupulous sales and marketing tactics. But what if this ‘one small town guy’ is actually right? What could this mean for the masses who’ve been suffering from, and struggling with, the many issues we’ve been lead to believe that only medication can provide relief for?
I am only speculating whether time will tell if my so called pondering conclusion is precise, but the relevance and relationship seems too overwhelmingly coincidental to just sit back and personally ignore.
