Most fast food contains too many calories for a healthy meal. This prevents the brain from producing health synapses, on which memory and learning depend. Moreover, the refined carbohydrates in many fast food items might cause a fluctuation in blood sugar levels.
Extremely low blood sugar can cause anxiety and panic attacks, even insomnia. Most notably, the lack of omega-3 fatty acids in fried food can cause anxiety symptoms, not due to anxiety but from the brain mimicking the process.
Sugary and fatty foods can affect anyone’s brain no matter if you ate this at a fast food restaurant or at your home. However, fast food restaurants typically serve fatty foods and sweet desserts for the most part. Although, there are several of these restaurants that make sure that they are serving just as many healthy options as they serve unhealthy options. The brain is affected whenever you eat sugar. This can make the person lethargic.
A study was conducted where rodents were given high amounts of fatty foods for their diets. Then they were monitored over a period of time. At first, the rodents had an infection in the brain. Then antibodies fought it off. However, the infection came back and stayed for many months.