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MNN.COM Food Healthy Eating x Sugar can make you dumb, scientists warn

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/sugar-can-make-you-dum... 07-Apr-13

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Too much sugar can eat away at your brainpower, according to scientists who studied how a steady diet of high fructose corn syrup sapped rats' memories.

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SUGAR: Eating too much fructose could interfere with insulin's ability to regulate how cells use and store sugar, which is necessary for processing thoughts and emotions. (Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/AFP) Eating too much sugar can eat away at your brainpower, according to U.S. scientists who published a study Tuesday showing how a steady diet of high fructose corn syrup sapped lab rats' memories. Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles fed two groups of rats a solution containing high fructose corn syrup a common ingredient in processed foods as drinking water for six weeks. One group of rats was supplemented with brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid, while the other group was not. Before the sugar drinks began, the rats were enrolled in a five-day training session in a complicated maze.

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After six weeks on the sweet solution, the rats were then placed back in the maze to see how they fared. "The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity," said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats' ability to think clearly and recall the route they'd learned six weeks earlier." A closer look at the rat brains revealed that those who were not fed DHA supplements had also developed signs of resistance to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar and regulates brain function. "Because insulin can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, the hormone may signal neurons to trigger reactions that disrupt learning and cause memory loss," Gomez-Pinilla said. In other words, eating too much fructose could interfere with insulin's ability to regulate how cells use and store sugar, which is necessary for processing thoughts and emotions. "Insulin is important in the body for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain, where insulin appears to disturb memory and learning," Gomez-Pinilla said. "Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body. This is something new." High-fructose corn syrup is commonly found in soda, condiments, applesauce, baby food and other processed snacks. The average American consumes more than 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. While the study did not say what the equivalent might be for a human to consume as much highfructose corn syrup as the rats did, researchers said it provides some evidence that metabolic syndrome can affect the mind as well as the body. "Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think," said Gomez-Pinilla. "Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain's ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage." The study appeared in the Journal of Physiology. Copyright 2012 AFP Global Edition

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Comments: 7 Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment. Log in or create an account CJan 30 2013 at 11:53 PM And rats' systems are the same as humans' systems how? Like (0 Likes) | Log in or register to post comments Report This Post

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Enter your nameJan 22 2013 at 10:51 PM Their drinking water was replaced with a corn syrup solution? Maybe they were having cognition problems because they were dehydrated... Like (1 Like) | Log in or register to post comments Report This Post

EarlJan 10 2013 at 12:15 PM

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By all means remove processed sugar from your diet, but do not substitute it with anything but natural sugar, not artificial sweeteners. Like (0 Likes) | Log in or register to post comments Report This Post

MichaelMay 18 2012 at 3:59 PM Technically, they were studying hfcs not sugar - and if you tell me its the same thing, I'll make you a Margarita with rubbing alcohol! Like (3 Likes) | Log in or register to post comments Report This Post

Richard HMay 18 2012 at 10:43 AM The study was realy about Omega 3 fats and how their lack affects brain chemestry. Like (0 Likes) | Log in or register to post comments Report This Post

molly cruzMay 16 2012 at 1:18 PM Too much is the problem. Sugar substitute Aspartame made me quite sick for months, and I only consumed three envelopes of Tang Instant Iced Tea. My feet swelled for weeks; I slept constantly, ate constantly while I was awake, and had a migraine, before I looked up the symptoms at 'Dangers of Aspartame', where they were all listed, go figure! When I wrote a letter

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of complaint to Kraft Foods, begging them to at least label products clearly that contained Aspartame, they responded that the FDA said .... More Like (1 Like) | Log in or register to post comments Report This Post

hmgmorrisMay 16 2012 at 11:34 AM That figures.... Like (0 Likes) | Log in or register to post comments Report This Post EDITORS' PICKS

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