So, horking down huge loads of fast food won’t just cripple you, poison your body, possibly put you in a coma, and ultimately kill you.
It may also be destroying your brain.
The research is still preliminary, and all the usual caveats apply: This isn’t a given scientific fact. Not that this is stopping the usual trolls and scumbags from coming out of the woodwork. And the basic work dates back at least a few years.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), the theory makes sense. Insulin does more than just regulate your metabolism: The brain uses it as part of the process for forming new memories. The theory is that amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands pile up, killing the insulin receptors. One thing that helps with that, it’s starting to appear, is having diabetes.
There are two very scary issues here. First of all, making most members of the modern world stop being a bunch of fat bastards is, as we all know, not exactly easy. There’s a lot of research that indicates that you basically have to carefully regulate both food intake and exercise to lose weight. Secondly, a diabetes epidemic is on the way and if this really is true, that means it’ll be followed by an Alzheimer’s epidemic. Possibly an early onset one, to boot.
In short, put down the donut and take a walk. Now.