6 Kinds Of Drinks That Hasten Dementia

Dr. William Li, most well-known for his diabetes expertise (remember that there are clear associations between diabetes and dementia), discusses drinks you might want to skip:

Here’s to your good health

The 6 kinds of drink are:

• Alcohol which is bad for pretty much everything and this is no exception. Can cause a deficiency of thiamine, brain-shrinking, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and resultant neuron damage.
• Soda / diet soda, the former of which is bad for the diabetes-dementia connection, and the latter of which is also usually (depends on the sweetener) harmful to the gut and thus the gut-brain connection.
• Fruit juices, especially if processed, as the high sugar and zero or nearly-zero fiber can lead to insulin resistance, affecting the brain’s energy processing. In particular, fruit juice drinks sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) can accumulated as fat in the brain (due to how the body processes fructose in the absence of fiber to slow it down), impacting cognition.
• Energy drinks, being basically the same as soda / diet soda, just now with added caffeine too.
• [Caffeinated] late-night coffee, can (shocking nobody) disrupt sleep, and chronic sleep deprivation contributes to the build-up of harmful brain plaques.
• Sports drinks, which (unless you’re super-sure about everything on the label; there are some good sports drinks out there) often contain HFCS in the US, along with various other additives that may not always be great for you. Also, the sodium content of electrolyte drinks are fine if you genuinely are actively sweating it out, but otherwise, can lead to high blood pressure, which is itself a dementia risk factor.

Better options include:

• decaffeinated coffee (or coffee enjoyed in the early afternoon)
• green tea
• turmeric-based drinks

Dr. Li mentions turmeric milk drinks, but unfermented dairy is generally inflammatory, so better to make it kefir (fermented milk drink) or plant-based. Or just have a turmeric tea; that works too.

Dr. Li also mentions berry smoothies, which are not nearly as bad as fruit juice, but still not as good as eating whole berries.

For more on all of this, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!