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Charlotte Tripp

V01004499

Tim Personn

ATWP135 – A11

December 2nd, 2022

The Western Diet and Hippocampus: Where Breakfast and Brain Power Collide

Lately, many busy Canadians have been found to prioritize convenience over health when

deciding on what to eat. Buying fast food and junk food has become standardized in North American

culture through the commonly consumed Western Diet Pattern (WPD). The Western Diet Pattern is

defined by a high daily intake of processed foods, carbohydrates, saturated fats, and refined sugars.

Health concerns also surround the low-fibre intake this diet includes as well (Kingsland, 2021). Citizens

of Canada and the United States have been found to most frequently display eating styles that fall under

this diet pattern. It developed in the 17 th century and has remained favored until present day, where

words like “deep-fried, drive-thru, and processed” are commonly associated with it now (Laudan, 2015).

Due to the lack of nutrients that are consumed within this diet, negative health effects can result very

easily, which disrupt the human body’s overall health and state of homeostasis. Not only affecting just

the body, the human brain and hippocampus are impaired as well. They also are at risk to face the

adverse effects that result from this diet (Laguipo, 2020). Specialists across Canada have published work

emphasizing the harm in which the WPD can cause for the body, along with its relation to the harm that

is done on general cognition. After observations were made on how the Western Diet Plan correlates

with the food served at The Cove on the UVic campus, questions arose surrounding the effect of

nutrients. This led to the primary research focus being covered in this writing, questioning how human

cognition is impacted by the Western Diet Pattern.

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Notably, the nutrients within the food humans eat hold a strong power that can easily

manipulate the state of the human body’s general health. The Western Diet Pattern lacks vital nutrients

needed for a healthy, balanced, and sustainable diet. Understanding background information on how

the general health of the body is harmed from the Western Diet Pattern will strengthen the

comprehension needed to understand how human cognition is damaged. Kingsland (2021) discusses the

inflammation that arises in the gut and bowels as a result of regularly consuming the WPD, along with

the negative impact that it leaves on our gut microbiota. In more severe cases, gut infection and cancer

are also mentioned in the risks, further adding to the list of physical health concerns this diet causes.

Rakhra and colleagues (2020) emphasize the ongoing obesity epidemic in North America, and more

significantly, in the United States. They describe the risks of obesity to be life threatening, severe, and

rapidly increasing as a common cause of death among North Americans. Correlating with the obesity

epidemic, diabetes is another health concern that is becoming alarmingly common amongst North

Americans as well. Johnston (2021) illustrates the harm that is imposed on Canadians from diabetes, and

how the levels of diabetes are rising rapidly in Canada. The resulting effects of this diet choice that are

listed above represent how recent, accessible, Western diet culture has made harmful health conditions

easy to impose on oneself. These listed effects relate to the research question by providing context of

the general physical harm that can be done to humans from this diet pattern. The considered factors

listed above will also strengthen background knowledge known of the human body for the purpose of

answering the research question, surrounding the impact that is made on cognition.

Along with the impact on the body, this form of malnutrition harms some of the general

cognitive functions of the human brain (López-Taboada et al., 2020). Research done by Laguipo (2020)

describes how the WPD effects the brains normal appetitive control, patterns of addiction, memory, and

stress. She references studies done by various universities to support her claim of how this diet pattern

harms the area of the brain that is responsible for various crucial cognitive functions, the hippocampus.
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Work published by López-Taboada and colleagues (2020) connects to the harm done to the body by

discussing the obesity epidemic and the gut as well. Stress is listed to be a leading cause in the

disruption of ability to access self-control, and multiple regions of the brain are described to be

negatively impacted from this diet. Understanding the different ways in which the cognition is harmed is

also significant for understanding the narrow focus of the hippocampal harm being done. This will add

further background knowledge on the general cognition now, to further advance the research.

Specifically highlighting the area of the brain that is most frequently linked with direct harm

done from the WDP, the hippocampus (López-Taboada et al., 2020). The hippocampus is primarily

responsible for memory, spatial navigation, learning, and self-control (Dhikav & Anand, 2012). This

region of the brain is affected the most because of the decrease in hippocampal volume that can be

caused by the Western Diet (Jacka et al., 2015). Because the hippocampus controls such a large portion

of many significant functions that make up human cognition, preventing damage to it is crucial. Along

with the various functions of cognition that are controlled, the hippocampus also works with other areas

of the brain to carry out actions as complex as motor control. As briefly discussed earlier, the

hippocampus controls aspects of self-control tendencies by working with the hypothalamus (Jacka et al.,

2015). Hippocampal shrinkage can be considered a primary factor of cognitive impairment resulting

from the Western Diet and adds on to the growing list of physical damage that it causes. As the

hippocampal volume shrinks, the ability to produce memories becomes harder and intense levels of

stress may arise (Dhikav & Anand, 2012). Emphasis on its large role in cognition, the hippocampus facing

harm because of this diet has become a large health concern for North Americans. This phenomenon of

distress being put onto the brain provides further insight to a concluding answer of how human

cognition is specifically impaired from this diet, and greatly strengthens the research.

In conclusion, the human body and cognition both take a large, harmful, toll when eating along a

Western Diet Pattern. This diet pattern has led to epidemics of both obesity and diabetes and shrinks
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the general volume of the hippocampus. As a result of this diet, memory strength, self-control, and

physical health are put at a high risk for impairment. Found within the research done, the damaging

effects imposed from the Western Diet are severe, and only increasing in North America (Rakhra et al.,

2020). In context of the primary research question, a concluding answer to this question is illustrated

through the damage done to cognition where hippocampal volume shrinkage causes humans’ ability to

produce and retain memories to suffer.

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References

 
Dhikav, V., & Anand, K. S. (2012). Hippocampus in health and disease: An overview. Annals of Indian
Academy of Neurology, 15(4), 239. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-2327.104323 
 
Jacka, F. N., Cherbuin, N., Anstey, K. J., Sachdev, P., & Butterworth, P. (2015). Western diet is associated
with a smaller hippocampus: A longitudinal investigation. BMC Medicine, 13(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0461-x 
 
Johnston, K. (2021, February 17). We need to talk about nutrition transition. Canadian Feed The
Children. Retrieved December 2, 2022, from
https://canadianfeedthechildren.ca/the-feed/nutrition-transition/ 
 
Kingsland, J. (2021, May 5). Does a western diet promote chronic gut infections? Medical News Today.
Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/does-a-
western-diet-affect-the-risk-of-chronic-gut-infection 
 
Laguipo, A. B. B. (2020, February 20). What the western diet is doing to your brain. News. Retrieved
November 30, 2022, from https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200220/What-the-western-
diet-is-doing-to-your-brain.aspx 
 
Laudan, R. (2015, June 1). The origin of the modern Western Diet. Scientific American. Retrieved
November 30, 2022, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-origin-of-the-
modern-western-diet/ 
 
López-Taboada, I., González-Pardo, H., & Conejo, N. M. (2020). Western diet: Implications for Brain
Function and behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.564413 
 
Rakhra, V., Galappaththy, S. L., Bulchandani, S., & Cabandugama, P. K. (2020). Obesity and the Western
Diet: How We Got Here. Missouri medicine, 117(6), 536–538.