I must admit. I like junk food. Sure, I eat lots of healthy food; but I do like junk food. So, when I heard about the “junk food scramble,” I was looking forward to an omelet with all my favorite ingredients…and a side of pancakes with whip cream on top. But that’s not what I found.

The UNC School of Medicine researchers published a study that revealed how junk food scrambles our brain’s memory hub. That’s what I call the “junk food scramble.”  Junk food rewires our brain’s memory areas leading to a risk of cognitive dysfunction.

Specifically, this group of researchers discovered that a high-fat diet disrupts how our brains process memories. In other words, a high-fat diet scrambles our memory. Even worse, this scrambling of our memory occurs within 4 days of eating a high-fat diet. Get fast food for a few days in a row…memory scramble. Eat too much candy and junk for a few days…memory scramble. And the “memory scramble” occurs sooner than the weight gain.

Fortunately, the research also pointed out that we can unscramble the brain with a little bit of intermittent fasting or by returning to a healthy diet. With all this in mind, I began to think:

• If we want our children to do their best in school, we need to encourage a healthy diet, not a diet high in saturated fats that will scramble their memory.
• If we want to do our best at work, we need to avoid regular fast food that will scramble our brains and eat a healthy diet.
• If we want to have the best marital and family relationships, filled with wonderful (unscrambled) memories, a healthy diet will be a huge benefit. 

Give it some thought. Then put aside the fast food, junk food, and high-fat food. Pick up a healthy diet. Enjoy your memory longer, happier, and healthier.