WHAT DOES JUNK FOOD DO TO YOU
Too much junk food does clog the brain
By JULIE WHELDON, Daily Mail
Last updated at 08:40 16 April 2005
Permanent threat: So-called 'bad fats' can clog up the brain and interfere with the way it sends messages
A diet full of junk food can affect children's brain power, scientists claimed yesterday.
They fear processed and fried foods are not only threatening youngsters' physical health but taking a toll on their developing minds too.
The warning follows research which found eating high levels of so-called 'bad fats' can clog up the brain and interfere with the way it sends messages.
These bad fats include man-made trans-fatty acids - the by-products of the process that allows manufacturers to extend the shelf life of foods by using cheap, solidified vegetable oils instead of expensive animal fats.
Current recommendations for maximum intake are 4.4 grams of trans fats a day for women and 5.6 grams a day for men.
However, research suggests that one gram eaten daily over many years can raise the risk of heart disease.
Many youngsters have diets consisting largely of highly-processed foods, with many teenagers getting 40 per cent of their calories from fat.
Brain could be permanently damaged
And, in light of the findings, scientists are concerned that their developing brains could be permanently damaged.
Dr Alex Richardson, of the University Laboratory of Physiology in Oxford and co-director of the Food and Behaviour Research charity, said trans fats displace healthy fats in the brain.
They then become incorporated into the brain's structure and affect the functioning of signalling systems between cells.
"Every time children eat crisps, biscuits or cakes they are filling themselves with what are essentially toxic fats," she said.
"There are no health benefits and many health costs to these hydrogenated fats, yet they are all that some children and adults are eating. They are replacing the essential fats that would make their brain and body work properly with ones that are clogging up the machinery."
'In layman's terms the brain gets thicker'
Nutritionist Patrick Holford supported her claims.
"Trans fats can get incorporated into the brain but they do not allow the signals to flow in the normal way," he said. "In layman's terms the brain gets thicker - and in practical terms it makes you thicker."
Mr Holford, who runs the Brain Bio Centre, which tackles mental health problems through nutrition, said parents should avoid buying foods which contain hydrogenated fats and cut out fried foods. Studies have shown rodents on high-fat diets are slower to learn new skills and suffer memory problems.
Those findings are being taken seriously by scientists, said Dr Richardson, because they suggest there could be similar effects in humans.
"If rats' ability to learn something is so dramatically reduced, it does give us cause for concern about children," she said.
"Trans fats are a by-product of industrial processes but nobody has done any research on what they do to the human brain.
"We have all been unwitting guinea pigs."
A spokesman for the Food and Drink Federation, which represents food manufacturers, said last night: "The UK food and drink manufacturing industry is fully committed to reducing the level of trans fats to as low as is technically possible and has been actively reducing these levels."
Some manufacturers have already taken action after rising concerns about trans fats.
McVitie's is changing its biscuit recipes while Masterfoods has removed the fats from the Mars Bar. Nestle has done the same with Rolos and Toffee Crisp sweets.
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