Eating late impairs memory, contributing to dementia

0

According to scientists, eating late can contribute to significant damage to memory mechanisms, simultaneously increasing the risk of developing dementia.

Inappropriate meal times can adversely affect sleep patterns and weight control, and make the body prone to diabetes – this is evidenced by the results of a number of studies. Experts also warn about the undesirable impact of late eating on brain function, memory quality and susceptibility to dementia.

“Many biological processes in the body are regulated by the body's internal clock – circadian rhythms. Violations in them lead to desynchronization of natural processes, and this can negatively affect the brain, cause deterioration of short-term and long-term memory, and create the basis for dementia,” scientists state.

According to biologists, eating in the evening just one hour later can significantly shorten sleep-wake cycles. In connection with this, synaptic plasticity of the brain is reduced – a physiological process that allows the organ to store new information. Regularly eating at the wrong time of day can have “far-reaching consequences for both learning and memory,” researchers warn.

Scientists from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Berkeley, studied how eating too late affects the brain. According to their data, late meals provoke disorders in the learning and memory centers of the brain, which are controlled by the hippocampus. This part of the brain is responsible for both long-term memory and the ability to recognize new objects. Constant late meals impair memory and contribute to the development of dementia, experts emphasize.