Turns out, avoiding that extra sugar won’t just help you maintain the hourglass figure, but do as much as reduce your risk of cognitive decline or even Alzheimer! Alzheimer’s disease has at times been referred to as “type 3” diabetes, though that name doesn’t really make sense. Instead of another type of diabetes, Alzheimer’s looks like a potential side effect of a sugary diet.

Here’s why we say so:

A longitudinal study, published in the journal Diabetologia, followed 5,189 people over 10 years and found that people with high blood sugar had a faster rate of cognitive decline than those with normal blood sugar—whether or not their blood-sugar level technically made them diabetic.

In short, higher your blood sugar faster will be the cognitive decline. Many studies have found that elevated insulin levels significantly increase your risk of Alzheimer’s. On the other hand, people with type 1 diabetes, who don’t make insulin at all, are also thought to have a higher risk of Alzheimer’s. How can they both be true?

Sugary-diet-Alzheimer's

Source: Food Navigator

Melissa Schilling, a professor at New York University, suggests this happens because of the insulin-degrading enzyme, a product that breaks down both insulin and amyloid proteins in the brain. Amyloid proteins are the same proteins that clump up and lead to Alzheimer’s disease.

People who don’t have enough insulin (type-2 diabetic), aren’t going to make enough of this enzyme to break up those brain clumps. Meanwhile, people who use insulin to treat their type 1 diabetes, may end up with a surplus of insulin, causing most of this enzyme being used up breaking the excess insulin, leaving not enough to address those amyloid brain clumps.

“Alzheimer’s is like a slow-burning fire that you don’t see when it starts,” Schilling said. It takes time for clumps to form and for cognition to begin to deteriorate. “By the time you see the signs, it’s way too late to put out the fire.”

Rosebud Roberts, a professor of epidemiology and neurology at the Mayo Clinic, agrees with this interpretation. In a 2012 study, Roberts divided nearly 1,000 people into four groups based on how much of their diet came from carbohydrates.

The group that ate the most carbs had an 80 percent higher chance of developing mild cognitive impairment – preliminary stage for any form of dementia – than those who ate the smallest amount of carbs.

Of course, there are genetic and other, non-nutritional factors that contribute to Alzheimer’s’ progression. But, as these studies clearly point out, decisions we make about our food is one risk factor that we can control.