Sugar is not a substance that harms the brain acutely, that is, rapidly. However, when energy consumption is mainly based on glucose, especially refined sugars, the body begins to develop resistance to the insulin hormone, which is responsible for transporting sugar into the cells. Insulin in the bloodstream has neuroprotective properties, meaning it protects nerve cells. Insulin resistance leads both to a decrease in these neuroprotective effects and to a reduction in the entry of sugar into the cells. Until recently, it was thought that insulin was not necessary for brain cells, but it has increasingly begun to be understood that this hormone is also important for the brain. In fact, in the United States, there are researchers who view Alzheimer’s, a dementia syndrome, as diabetes of the brain.
In addition, sugars are sticky substances that are prone to binding with each other. As age advances, they also cause the formation of large residual substances called AGEs (Advanced Glycation End Products), which accumulate inside the cell, cannot be cleared by the cell, and cause cellular damage.
İlhan Elmacı, MD