How Junk Food Hijacks Your Memory in Just Four Days — And How to Fix It
Eating burgers and fries may feel harmless—until you see what they do inside your brain. A groundbreaking study from the UNC School of Medicine , published in Neuron , reveals a shocking truth: just four days of eating junk food can begin scrambling your memory circuits . Let’s break down how this happens and what you can do to protect your brain. 1. The Surprising Speed of Brain Damage Researchers found that when mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) resembling Western fast food, key neurons in the brain’s hippocampus —the region that controls memory—started to malfunction almost immediately. Within four days , these memory neurons fired abnormally. The effect appeared before any weight gain or diabetes developed. Translation: even short-term junk food consumption can impair brain function. 2. The Culprit: CCK Interneurons Gone Wild Inside the hippocampus, scientists identified a specific type of brain cell called CCK interneurons . These normally help regulate the...