Have you ever been chatting to someone, when the words you were about to say jump right out of your head? Has it been happening to you more often? It may be a warning sign that you are eating too much sugar.
A Finnish study[i] published this month has found that there may be a link between insulin resistance (the precursor to diabetes) and verbal fluency in women (P=0.001), but not in men (P=0.56).
The study involved 5935 non-diabetic participants between the ages of 30 and 97 years and found a clear link in verbal fluency problems in women of all age groups with insulin resistance.
This shows insulin resistance also effects cognitive decline in young women and may begin years before major symptoms manifest.
Other studies have already shown that Type 2 Diabetes is an independent risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease[ii],[iii]. In fact, Alzheimer’s disease is now being referred to as Type 3 Diabetes[iv], with insulin resistance in the brain being a possible trigger of Alzheimer’s disease[v].
However, men are not in the clear, as even though the evidence isn’t as strong with men, this study also showed a link between insulin resistance and slower reaction times in both men and women (P=0.2)[vi].
If this evidence worries you, there is a clear solution, you need to decrease the intake of sugar and carbohydrates in your diet! Check out my article on the effect of sugar on your hormones, to be published later this week.
[i] Ekbland, L. e. (2015). Insulin resistance is associated with poorer verbal fluency performance in women. Diabetologica.
[ii] Ott, A. e. (1999). Diabetes mellitus and the risk of dementia: the Rotterdam Study. Neurology, 1937-1942.
[iii] Biessels, G. e. (2006). Risk of dementia in diabetes mellitus: a systematic review. Lancet Neurol, 64-74.
[iv] de la Monte, S. (2008). Alzheimer’s Disease Is Type 3 Diabetes–Evidence Reviewed. J Diabetes Sci Technol, 1101-1113.
[v] Hackethal, V. (2015, August 14). Medscape Medical News. Retrieved from Medscape: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/849472.
[vi] Ekbland, L. e. (2015). Insulin resistance is associated with poorer verbal fluency performance in women. Diabetologica.
