Bad Memory? Lay off the Junk Food

Slashdot recently ran a blurb about research indicating a diet rich in fat, sugar, and cholesterol could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in mice. Scientists at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet fed mice junk food for nine months and then examined their brains. They found the sort of neural tangles that are associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease, an incurable condition that involves problems with thinking, language, and memory. The mice brains showed toxic tau protein build-up and diminished activity of Arc protein (associated with memory). The bottom line is mice that ate fast food experienced adverse changes in their neurochemistry. While you're not a mouse, there's a decent chance eating fast food hurts your brain in addition to increasing your waistline.