Less carb less brain

Wellbeing - LifeAndStyle - smh.com.au

Popular low-carbohydrate diets may slim the waistline but they can also shrink the brain, a new study has shown.

Dieters who are told to eliminate bread, potatoes and pasta perform worse in mental tests than those who eat some varieties of starchy foods.

The study, carried out by scientists at Tufts University in Boston, compared low-carbohydrate diets with balanced, low-kilojoule diets.

They found that within a week, the subjects on the low-carb diet performed worse in attention span, long-term memory, visual attention and spatial memory.

Dr Holly Taylor, who led the research, said: "The study demonstrates that the food you eat can have an immediate impact on cognitive behaviour.

"The popular low-carb and no-carb diets have the strongest potential for negative impact on thinking and cognition."

There was no difference in the hunger levels of the two groups.

The researchers believe that low-carbohydrate diets reduce the amount of glucose, or blood sugar, which is carried to the brain and used by nerve cells for energy.

A low-carbohydrate diet means less fuel to power the brain cells.