Excess Sugar Consumption Can Damage Brain

This is one reason why you should limit your intake of sugars. A latest research scientists in the United States indicated that eating too much sugar can undermine the ability of the brain. This conclusion was made after researchers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) conducted laboratory tests on rats fed a diet high in fructose corn syrup for six weeks. In his analysis researchers divided the mice into two groups. One group of mice were given supplements of the brain that is enriched in omega-3 fatty acids in flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), while the other group did not. Before it was given a drink of sugar, the mice were trained for five days to complete the puzzle game (maze), a game to figure it out. After six weeks given a sugary drink, the mice were again asked to play maze, to see how far they are able to solve it. "The decline in brain function in animals fed omega 3 and DHA tend to be slow, even though their brains showed a decrease in synaptic activity," said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a neurosurgery professor of the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. "These cells have difficulty rat brain signals to each other, disrupting the ability of rats to thinking and hard to remember the route after being given a diet high in sugar," he explained. Researchers also found that the brains of mice not given DHA supplements intake are likely to develop signs of resistance to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar and regulate brain function. "Because insulin can penetrate the blood brain barrier, neuronal signaling hormones may trigger reactions that interfere with learning and cause memory loss," said Gomez-Pinilla, published in the Journal of Physiology. In other words, eating too much fructose can interfere with insulin to regulate sugar, which is required to process thoughts and emotions. "Insulin is important in the body to control blood sugar, but may play different roles in the brain, where insulin appears to interfere with memory and learning," said Gomez-Pinilla "Our study shows that high-fructose diet damage the brain and body. This is something new," he said. Although the study did not say whether the high levels of fructose consumption rate would have similar effects in humans, but researchers emphasize that these findings provide some evidence that the metabolic syndrome can affect the mind and body. "Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think," said Gomez-Pinilla. "A diet high in fructose in the long run you can change the brain's ability to learn and remember information. But by adding omega-3 fatty acids may help minimize the damage," he said.