Long-term administration of soft drink causes memory impairment and oxidative damage in rats

In a recent study, a group of scientists discovered that giving rats sugary carbonated beverages led to brain damage severe enough to cause memory problems, cognitive impairment, and cellular distress. The study suggests that rats' long-term intake of sugary, cola-based soft drinks may also be directly connected to behavioral problems and brain health, including an inability to navigate a maze.

The scientists divided the rats into three age groups: 2-months, 8-months, and 14-months to research how cola-based sugary beverages would affect the rats' brains. These groups were then divided into two groups. One just drank water, the other drank both cola and water.

The rats were tested on their behavior in mazes after 57 days. The water-drinking rodents were found to have excellent cognitive abilities. While the soda drinkers did not. The researchers discovered that most soda drinkers, particularly 2- and 8-month-olds, had poorer recall and overall weaker cognitive function than their water-drinking counterparts.

The frontal cortex, which regulates crucial mental processes including attention, memory, and judgment, as well as the hippocampus, which is crucial to memory and learning, had all been damaged to varied degrees in the soda groups, according to an examination of the brains of all the rats.

These findings will still need be confirmed in humans, but I would not be surprised if soda has a similar effect on us. We all know that sugary soda has already been proven to cause a myriad of health issues.

The full study at Elsevier Science Direct

Highlights

• Cola-based soft drinks induces memory impairment at different ages.

• Cola-based soft drinks induces increase of ROS marker in the hippocampus.

• Cola-based soft drinks induces increase of lipid peroxidation in the hippocampus.

• Cola-based soft drinks induces alteration in the activity of oxidative enzymes.

a reply to: tamusan

Perhaps Aspartame , Neotame or whatever they're calling it today is the culprit ?

People drinking diet soda daily were almost three times as likely to develop stroke and dementia as those who consumed it weekly or less. This included a higher risk of ischemic stroke, where blood vessels in the brain become obstructed, and Alzheimer’s disease dementia, the most common form of dementia, reported a 2017 study in Stroke.

In the body, the methyl ester in aspartame metabolizes into methanol and then it may be converted to formaldehyde, which has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. A two-part study published in 2014 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease linked chronic methanol exposure to memory loss and Alzheimer’s Disease symptoms in mice and monkeys

Aspartame has been linked to behavioral and cognitive problems including learning problems, headache, seizure, migraines, irritable moods, anxiety, depression, and insomnia, wrote the researchers of a 2017 study in Nutritional Neuroscience. “Aspartame consumption needs to be approached with caution due to the possible effects on neurobehavioral health.”
usrtk.org...

a reply to: gortexFor diet soda's possibly, here in America pretty much all sodapops are not kane sugar based and are high frotuse corn syrup based, and that stuff is junk.

a reply to: gortex

They tested regular cola and not diet. Although, the artificial sweeteners are not any better and studies suggest they are all around worse than regular sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

a reply to: tamusan I only drink Coca~cola from Mexico when and if I drink Sodapop. They use pure Cane sugar and you can definitely tell the difference. Krogers used to carry it, haven't seen it in a while though.

a reply to: Ilikesecrets

I don't drink soda all that often, but I also get the Mexican Coke when I do. It simply tastes better.

So, TL;DR

"Mountain Don't"

a reply to: tamusan

I could of told you soda wasn't good for you.

originally posted by: Butterfinger
"Mountain Don't"

That stuff will destroy your teeth before the cognitive problems ever set in.

a reply to: grey580

I took out part of the OP where I wondered if this is why many people these days have some degree of cognitive decline in the absence of stuff like alcohol, drugs or some other health problem.

The problem here is that this test was conducted by an independent lab. I bet if Coca-Cola funded their own tests, we'd find out that they are not only harmless but actually beneficial!

But who would allow that sort of thing, amirite?

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: tamusan

Perhaps Aspartame , Neotame or whatever they're calling it today is the culprit ?

People drinking diet soda daily were almost three times as likely to develop stroke and dementia as those who consumed it weekly or less. This included a higher risk of ischemic stroke, where blood vessels in the brain become obstructed, and Alzheimer’s disease dementia, the most common form of dementia, reported a 2017 study in Stroke.

In the body, the methyl ester in aspartame metabolizes into methanol and then it may be converted to formaldehyde, which has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. A two-part study published in 2014 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease linked chronic methanol exposure to memory loss and Alzheimer’s Disease symptoms in mice and monkeys

Aspartame has been linked to behavioral and cognitive problems including learning problems, headache, seizure, migraines, irritable moods, anxiety, depression, and insomnia, wrote the researchers of a 2017 study in Nutritional Neuroscience. “Aspartame consumption needs to be approached with caution due to the possible effects on neurobehavioral health.”
usrtk.org...

Yes !!!

Found that out too, that aspartame metabolizes into methanol and formaldehyde


How the stuff is even legal is beyond me.....

Well this is disconcerting.

I love the occassional indulgence of a bubbly fizzy sugary drink.

Now I'm mostly sweet tea, orange juice and water.

Bummer.

a reply to: tamusan

I haven't read the study.
Was the carbonation an issue as well?
I have heard that the fizz and the sugar are both bad.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I don't believe the study above can rule out carbonation having a role in the findings. This study was different from past studies that looked at damage to the brain, as the other studies included other factors such as a high-fat diet along with carbonated soda.

There are not a lot of studies on just carbonated water, but the one at the link below found that for resting people suffering from heat exhaustion, carbonated water prevented adequate sweating as well as the other thermoregulatory responses, which is not desirable for those suffering from heat exhaustion. At the same time, the carbonation also increased blood pressure and blood flow to the brain. Hypotension is often a symptom of heat exhaustion, and increased blood flow may not be a bad thing for those experiencing hypotension. However, for people not experiencing hypotension and especially those with preexisting hypertension, drinking carbonated water could contribute to small and large cerebral vessel disease and other ailments associated with high blood pressure.  

Ingestion of carbonated water increases middle cerebral artery blood velocity and improves mood states in resting humans exposed to ambient heat stress

a reply to: tamusan

Holy crap guys, rain water has teflon in it -- do not drink this poison! Also soda gives you brain damage. You guys really need to drink more fluoridated tap water cuz tap water does not contain rain water.

This ride sucks. Can we just fire everyone and start over?

a reply to: drewlander

I know what you mean. I am not too sure what to drink these days.

So the important information was left out - is this an induced effect or a permanent one? In other words, if the rats stopped being forced to drink soda only, did their abilities improve.

a reply to: tamusan

BEER.

I have to drink an occasional coke about two times a month or I get a buildup of bezoars in my gut. I don't especially like coke but the phosphoric acid breaks up the fibers that get stuck in my gut pretty well. I guess I lack enough amylase enzyme for some reason, and I tend to like to eat things that require amylase enzymes.

I suppose I could find a selzer water based off phosphoric acid to drink to control them too, the phosphoric acid is used to make carbonation of some drinks, others have benzoic acid which does not seem to work well for me.