Sugar—it’s undeniably addictive, delicious when sprinkled on most edible items, and adds to the overall sweetness of life. Yet there is a downside to the highs provided by this saccharine substance. A recent study revealed that excessive sugar intake could lead to a higher risk of developing dementia.

Why can sugar become harmful in this manner? It’s all due to a process known as ‘protein glycation’ which results from too much glucose (aka sugar) in the brain. Protein glycation is not a term your brain wants to hear—it impairs the functioning of an enzyme called ‘macrophage migration inhibitory factor’ (or MIF) which can, in turn, result in a breach in your brain’s security system. This neurological breach occurs because MIF plays an important role in guarding the brain against the accumulation of abnormal proteins. When MIF can no longer play its part effectively, dementia can take hold.

Though there is no direct link between sugar intake and dementia as of yet, these new findings do suggest that we should all do more in trying to limit our sugar consumption. Banishing sugar from one’s diet completely can be too extreme a change for many, so instead it may be a good idea to simply be more mindful about the quantities of sugar going into daily food and drink. Perhaps we’d be doing our brain a favor by tweaking Mary Poppins’ words of advice slightly and maybe not use a whole spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down. 🙂