Health&Wellness Magazine September 2014 | Page 31

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Sugar Can Make You Dumb
By Angela S. Hoover,
Staff Writer

Scientists warn that too much
sugar can sap your brain power.
Specifically, too much high fructose
corn syrup can effect memory and
interfere with insulin’s ability to
regulate how cells use and store
sugar, which is necessary for processing thoughts and emotions.
Researchers at the University of
California Los
Angeles fed
two groups of
rats a solution
containing
high fructose
corn syrup, a
common ingre-

dient 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 docosahexaenic acid (DHA) while the
other group was not. Prior to the
introduction of the sugar drinks,
the rats were enrolled in a five day
training session in a complicated
maze. After six weeks on the high
fructose corn syrup water, the rats
were then placed back in the maze.
The DHA deprived rats were
slower and their brains showed a
decline in synaptic activity. Their
brain cells had trouble signaling
each other, which disrupted the
rats’ ability to think clearly and
recall the routines they’d learned

six weeks earlier. A closer look at
the rats’ brains reveled that those
who were not fed the DHA supplements had also developed signs of

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insulin resistance. Since insulin can
penetrate the blood-brain barrier,
the hormone may signal neurons to
trigger reactions that disrupt learning and cause memory loss, per the
researchers. While insulin plays
an important role in the body for
controlling blood sugar, it may play
a different role in the brain, where
insulin appears to disturb memory
and learning.
This study shows that a steady
diet of high fructose corn syrup
harms the brain as well as the
body, per the scientists. These new
findings illustrate that what we
eat affects how we think, they say.
Eating a high fructose diet over the
long term alters the brain’s ability to
learn and remember information.
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, per the U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture.
The study did not calculate
what the equivalent serving of high
fructose corn syrup would be for
humans. However, adding omega3 fatty acids to our diets can help
minimize the damage from high
fructose corn syrup.

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