We knew about junk food, this diet that is too sweet, too salty, full of bad fats, dreadful for our waistline. We now know that it is also one of our brain’s worst enemies and that eating poorly negatively influences our moods, our behavior and even our decisions. Conversely, eating well can have beneficial effects on the functioning of our neurons and our nervous system. This is revealed in the documentary by Raphaël Hitier, who went to meet the many research teams who, all over the world, are exploring the links between food and the brain.
All sugar addicts
How the junk food does it affect our thoughts and emotions? In rodents, the discoveries are edifying. A rat suffering from an omega-3 deficiency will develop anxious behavior when its balanced-fed counterpart is more adventurous. However, this fatty acid, which is found in blue fish and salmonids, vegetable oils and seeds, is very little present in industrial food. Ditto for vitamin B3, the deficiency of which produces hyperaggressiveness in the Alsatian hamster which disappears once the animal is supplemented. The human brain could well react in the same way! For researcher Soyoung Park, from the University of Lübeck, food even influences our thoughts. An experiment carried out in his laboratory shows that patients do not make the same decisions depending on whether they have eaten (unknowingly) a more or less protein breakfast.
Knowing all this, why does junk food still reign on our plates? The fault of sugar, ubiquitous in processed food and which makes us completely addicted? Do the bacteria at work in our gut, which communicate with the brain via the vagus nerve, play a role in our food preferences? Anyway, it is better to opt for a diversified diet that gives pride of place to fruits and vegetables like the Mediterranean diet. Does your teen groan? Show him this movie!
Saturday January 7 at 11:25 p.m. on Arte. French documentary by Raphaël Hitier (2019). 52 mins. (Available in replay until May 6 on Arte.tv).
