Sugar makes you stupid: Study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory

Sugar makes you stupid: Study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory

Medical Express

Study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory.

Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid...

A new UCLA rat study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning — and how omega-3 fatty acids can counteract the disruption. The peer-reviewed Journal of Physiology publishes the findings in its May 15 edition.

(visit the link for the full news article)



Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Sugar Should Be Regulated As Toxin, Researchers Say
High Fructose Corn Syrup is killing all of us
The Sugar Conspiracy

We already knew for a long time that sugar is a key for the obesity epidemic and diabetes, and is even sometimes considered as a toxin, especially the high fructose corn syrup.

But this is the first time that a study uncover how the sweetener influences the brain.
To summarize the researchers findings, they said that "eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain's ability to learn and remember information".

Now that the assessment is made, is there a good alternative to replace the high-fructose corn syrup in our food?
Or should we completely rule out the industrial sugar out of our food?


Medical Express
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by elevenaugust


Your link is currently going to this article:

New Findings May Hold Key to Gaia Hypothesis

I believe the source you meant to link is this one:

Sugar Makes You Stupid: Study Shows High-Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning, Memory

I also believe that this article is not talking about sugar but rather it is talking about high fructose corn syrup. These are two entirely different things.

The UCLA team zeroed in on high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid six times sweeter than cane sugar, that is commonly added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food. The average American consumes more than 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "We're not talking about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants," explained Gomez-Pinilla, who is also a member of UCLA's Brain Research Institute and Brain Injury Research Center. "We're concerned about high-fructose corn syrup that is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative."

This makes your thread title totally incorrect, if you would like to rephrase.

Originally posted by Ameilia
reply to post by elevenaugust

 

Your link is currently going to this article:

New Findings May Hold Key to Gaia Hypothesis

I believe the source you meant to link is this one:

Sugar Makes You Stupid: Study Shows High-Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning, Memory

I also believe that this article is not talking about sugar but rather it is talking about high fructose corn syrup. These are two entirely different things.

The UCLA team zeroed in on high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid six times sweeter than cane sugar, that is commonly added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food. The average American consumes more than 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "We're not talking about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants," explained Gomez-Pinilla, who is also a member of UCLA's Brain Research Institute and Brain Injury Research Center. "We're concerned about high-fructose corn syrup that is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative."

This makes your thread title totally incorrect, if you would like to rephrase.

weird, even the article you linked is titled incorrectly... the study itself was done on high fructose corn syrup

High Fructose Corn Syrup is not the same as Sugar.

reply to post by Ameilia


They are pretty much the same thing, if you look into the chemistry.

The only difference between 'sugar' and Fructose, is that sugar has a weak bond connecting fructose and glucose, which dissolves about roughly the second it hits stomach acid.

reply to post by Ameilia


Thank you for being the first to point out that sugar is NOT High Fructose Corn Syrup, as they are most definately NOT the same animal.
The "obesity epidemic" started about 35ish years ago, and HFCS was introduced to the US public,... that's right 35ish years ago.
Humans have been using sugar, honey, molasses, Etc. (real sweetners) for a looooong time and no "obesity epidemic", pu an abombination sweetner in the food supply and look what happens.
The title on the OP's article was not wrong, it was written that way on purpose and I suspect both you and I know exactly why.
Shame on US for being duped so easily by men in long white coats...

Originally posted by Miraj
reply to post by Ameilia

 

They are pretty much the same thing, if you look into the chemistry.

The only difference between 'sugar' and Fructose, is that sugar has a weak bond connecting fructose and glucose, which dissolves about roughly the second it hits stomach acid.

Actually they are very much not the same. High Fructose Corn Syrup comes from corn.

Sugar comes from sugar beets or sugar cane.

These are totally different things, and it is important people realize the difference.

Source: Science.How Stuff Works

reply to post by Ameilia

Oupps, sorry everyone, I mixed up some other links I work on...
Thanks to Gemwolf for the correction.

This makes your thread title totally incorrect

Not mine, but MedicalXpress title, and BTW, if you read the whole paper, they clearly make the difference between High-fructose corn syrup and naturally fructose:

"We're not talking about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants," explained Gomez-Pinilla, who is also a member of UCLA's Brain Research Institute and Brain Injury Research Center. "We're concerned about high-fructose corn syrup that is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative."

reply to post by Miraj


LOL!!!
You saw that commercial and believed it too huh?
Hint: they lied.

This is a loooong vid but well worth the watch as it explains things in a molecular way but is still very understandable.
I will tell you, I am a diabetic and use NO, NONE, NADA , ZILCH High Fructose Corn Syrup in my diet.
I started looking at boxes, bags and cans and here in the US HFCS is hard to avoid, I eat almost NOTHING out of a box, bag, can, Etc. nowadays.
Ninety nine percent of the foods I eat come from scratch recipe's (lemme tell ya, homemade mac and cheese is faaaar superior to that box crap.)
I still eat sweets and I will tell you that my blood sugar is much more manageable now that I have cut out HFCS, it truly is poison to me and any other diabetic.
Another hint: the diabetes "epidemic" started roughly 35ish years ago, if you do not understand why, see my above post.
Why is everyone we know going diabetic?

reply to post by elevenaugust


If you read the paper, the differentiate yes.
However, most people do NOT read beyond a title.

Originally posted by elevenaugust
reply to post by Ameilia

 

Oupps, sorry everyone, I mixed up some other links I work on...

Thanks to Gemwolf for the correction.

This makes your thread title totally incorrect

Not mine, but MedicalXpress title, and BTW, if you read the whole paper, they clearly make the difference between High-fructose corn syrup and naturally fructose:

"We're not talking about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants," explained Gomez-Pinilla, who is also a member of UCLA's Brain Research Institute and Brain Injury Research Center. "We're concerned about high-fructose corn syrup that is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative."

edit on 16-5-2012 by elevenaugust because: (no reason given)

Yes, your quote is the same quote I also chose above to highlight the difference.

And in my opinion, the author of the article intentionally misrepresented the study and its findings by the title he chose. He could have highlighted the fact that high fructose corn syrup specifically has been shown, in this study, to negatively impact the brain. Instead, he chose to begin with the sugar as if it is what negatively impacts the brain. The quotes from the persons in charge of the study are specific to the difference and it is rude of the author to imply otherwise.

That is why I suggested you might like to change your title, it was not out of malice.

reply to post by Ameilia

I understand, and thanks again to Gemwolf for being more specific by adding :"Study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory", which is more accurate.

I'm just wondering why this is news.....
we all know everything we eat is bad for us in some way, don't we?


Moderation is still going to be key in the end.
The article clearly stated...."binging on soda and sweets for 6 weeks".....

HELLO!!

That is not normal, that is not moderation, and binging on ANYTHING for 6 weeks will make you sick.

Sugar and natural sweeteners have been around forever. There was never a real problem until we introduced the high fructose corn syrup. If the regular Joe Public person 40 and under is any indication, I would say the study is correct... on the other hand, maybe I am a little biased as I am in my early 50s.

Anyway, I recently saw a documentary on farming and the importance and impact of corn on the average American society and household. In something as simple as coffee creamer, over 90% of the components and ingredients are based on corn. High fructose corn syrup is in almost everything commercial produced and sold in super markets.

I couldn't help but think of the impact if there was a major corn crop failure... a sudden decline much akin to the ancient Mayans and Aztecs... but I digress.

Perhaps to feed an evergrowing population, the need is there to feed the masses their demands for "pancake syrup" and "sodas and soft drinks"....but at what cost?

Did anyone try the "throwback" Pepsis and Mountain Dews a while back? Made with real sugar and WOW... you could easily taste the difference.

reply to post by elevenaugust


I welcome any research that shows High Fructose Corn Syrup to be the toxin that it is.

It's not only cheaper than regular refined beet or cane sugar, but it increases the appetite, and has been linked with obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and cardio-vascular disease.

Refined sugar was bad enough, but this is much worse.

Diabolical of TPTB -- we are prompted to eat more junk food that cause diseases that require their prescription drugs. We buy more of their products and die sooner. It's a win-win for TPTB.

Originally posted by g146541
reply to post by Ameilia

 

Thank you for being the first to point out that sugar is NOT High Fructose Corn Syrup, as they are most definately NOT the same animal.
The "obesity epidemic" started about 35ish years ago, and HFCS was introduced to the US public,... that's right 35ish years ago.
Humans have been using sugar, honey, molasses, Etc. (real sweetners) for a looooong time and no "obesity epidemic", pu an abombination sweetner in the food supply and look what happens.
The title on the OP's article was not wrong, it was written that way on purpose and I suspect both you and I know exactly why.
Shame on US for being duped so easily by men in long white coats...

35 years ago is also around the time engineered food oils were first introduced into the food chain.

Obesity is in lots of places were corn syrup is not commonly used...
...processed oils made using heat and chemical extraction are everywhere.

too bad i am hypoglycemic

that's why I always dilute my sugary drinks with whiskey. I believe the whiskey counteracts the negative impact of sugar on my brain.

i haven't submitted my research and findings for peer review...but I suggest you all try it and see.

well.. since sugar (glucose) is the only energy source the brain can utilize I guess we don't have a choice.

Stupid or dead.