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Sugar-sweetened beverages
Sugar-sweetened beverages
SHUTTERSTOCK

You probably know to stay away from soft drinks. But you should also beware of fruit juice, energy drinks and sweet tea. Why, you ask? The same reason soft drink is among the bad foods for your brain: sugar.

“High amounts of sugar causes neurological damage” because it triggers inflammation, says the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Wesley Delbridge. A study published in 2017 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia backs that up. Researchers found that people who regularly consume sugary drinks are more likely to have poorer memory, smaller overall brain volume, and a significantly smaller hippocampus – the part of the brain important for learning and memory – than those who don’t.

Instead of drinking fruit juice or sweet tea high in sugar, try sweetening water or tea with slices of oranges, lemons, or limes.