Can sugar make you stupid?"
May 16, 2012“CAN SUGAR MAKE YOU STUPID?”
►Read the Research Article Here
Just the facts from this UCLA study:
§ What you eat affects how you think
§ Just six weeks of diet high in sugar can damage memory and learning
§ Fructose may impair brain’s ability to properly use sugars as its fuel.
§ Avoid cane sugar (sucrose) and “high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid sweetener… added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food.”
§ Concern is for added sugars in processed foods, not naturally occurring sugars in fruits
§ “DHA is essential fat for… brain cells' ability to transmit signals to one another,"
§ Adding Omega-3 fats (like DHA or flaxseed) can minimize the damage
§ DHA must be gotten from diet; our bodies don’t produce it.
§ Brain cells of DHA deprived rats had trouble signaling each other impairing memory and ability to think clearly
Researcher’s recommendation: “…keep fructose intake to a minimum and swap sugary desserts for fresh berries and Greek yogurt…” and allow an occasional bar of dark chocolate that hasn't been processed with a lot of extra sweetener.
My recommendation: Read labels, look up fast food ingredients on-line. You may be surprised to find that healthy sounding sports drinks and fruit drinks contain lots of high-fructose corn syrup. Try water or home-made green tea and a twist of lemon (without sugar) for a refresher. In some research, drinks with artificial sweeteners have been found to increase appetite so maybe not a good idea either.
This is your brain on sugar
By Elaine Schmidt May 15, 2012
Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid.
UCLA study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory; eating more omega-3 fatty acids can offset damage, researchers say.
►Read the research article here
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