Junk Food and the Brain

Dr William Sears, in his book The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood has some very helpful info about how junk food affects the brain.

Healthy carbs (those that come paired with fiber and protein) release slowly into the blood stream and provide energy at a steady rate.

In contrast, junky carbs (no fiber or protein) flood the bloodstream and brain with more sugar than it can handle. Excess sugar stimulates the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that sedates the brain (certainly not a good food for breakfast). Next, the brain gets jittery. The excess sugar stimulates the pancreas to release lots of insulin to mop up the glucose (sugar) quickly, so the sugar level plunges. Suddenly the brain does not have enough fuel and it crashes. This triggers some stress hormones such as cortisol which tells the liver to release the sugar stored there, which sends the sugar levels back up again. The combination of stress hormones and excess sugar turns into unsettled and unhappy, jittery kids.

Much more in the book. Simple explanations and, more importantly, simple solutions if you want to change your and your kid's patterns. Check out some comments on health care reform.