Is Sugar Really Worse for Your Brain Than Marijuana?

Last year was not only a bad year in terms of our collective mental health, it was also a bad year for healthy eating. According to the US Department of Agriculture, Americans consumed 11 million tons of sugar, most of it coming from sports drinks, juices and sodas. With the mainstreaming of cannabis, one might think that alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes would be far worse than sweet things. But is sugar really more harmful to your brain than marijuana?

A recent poll of 1,000 people by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News shows that Americans think sugar is more harmful than marijuana.

When asked, “Which of the following substances is most harmful to a person’s overall health?” 49% answered “tobacco”, 24% “alcohol”, 15% “sugar” and only 8% “marijuana”. Another 3% said “All” are equally harmful and 1% answered “I’m not sure.”

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon via Unsplash

Research from the University of Boston shows that eating large amounts of sugar can damage the brain and its function. These recent statistics show startling results: people who consume the most sugar have poorer memory, smaller brain volume, and a smaller hippocampus — the area of ​​the brain responsible for memory and learning.

Sugar isn’t the only problem scientists have discovered. They also found that people who drank diet sodas had a much higher risk of developing stroke or dementia. They were quick to point out that these results do not reflect cause-and-effect relationships, but merely represent an association. That’s a fancy way of saying that diet sodas are not currently to blame for these symptoms and illnesses.

Historically, eating large amounts of sugar has been linked to a variety of health problems, including metabolic and cardiovascular diseases such as obesity, heart failure, and type 2 diabetes. Sugar’s effects on the brain are a new discovery, giving this ingredient another red flag. Maybe we should all start drinking more water?