IT TAKES YOUR BODY TWENTY TIMES LONGER TO PROCESS HFCS THAN SUGAR. READ THE LABELS ON SODA, PANCAKE SYRUP, AND ANYTHING THATS SWEET. EVEN (CHINESE) HONEY IS BEING SUPLEMENTED WITH HFCS. IF YOU DON’T CARE THAT YOUR CHILDREN AND MANY ADULTS ARE GETTING DIABETES, ADHD, AUTISM AND OTHER DISEASES, FORGET THIS MESSAGE.

UCLA Newsroom > All Stories > News Releases
This is your brain on sugar: UCLA study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory
Eating more omega-3 fatty acids can offset damage, researchers say
By Elaine Schmidt May 15, 2012 Category: Campus News, Health Sciences, Research, UCLA News|Week
Fernando Gomez-Pinilla[Correction: Paragraph 5 of this release was changed from an earlier version to reflect that the study focused on fructose generally, not specifically on high-fructose corn syrup; that high-fructose corn syrup is not necessarily "six times sweeter" than cane sugar; and that Americans consume approximately 35 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per capita annually, not "more than 40 pounds." The researcher's quote in Paragraph 6 has also been changed slightly to avoid the implication that the study focused solely on high-fructose corn syrup.]

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.

“Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of integrative biology and physiology in the UCLA College of Letters and Science. “Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage.”

While earlier research has revealed how fructose harms the body through its role in diabetes, obesity and fatty liver, this study is the first to uncover how the sweetener influences the brain.

Sources of fructose in the Western diet include cane sugar (sucrose) and high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid sweetener. The syrup is widely added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food. The average American consumes roughly 47 pounds of cane sugar and 35 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We’re less concerned 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 more concerned about the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup, which is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative.”

Gomez-Pinilla and study co-author Rahul Agrawal, a UCLA visiting postdoctoral fellow from India, studied two groups of rats that each consumed a fructose solution as drinking water for six weeks. The second group also received omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which protects against damage to the synapses — the chemical connections between brain cells that enable memory and learning.

“DHA is essential for synaptic function — brain cells’ ability to transmit signals to one another,” Gomez-Pinilla said. “This is the mechanism that makes learning and memory possible. Our bodies can’t produce enough DHA, so it must be supplemented through our diet.”

The animals were fed standard rat chow and trained on a maze twice daily for five days before starting the experimental diet. The UCLA team tested how well the rats were able to navigate the maze, which contained numerous holes but only one exit. The scientists placed visual landmarks in the maze to help the rats learn and remember the way.

Six weeks later, the researchers tested the rats’ ability to recall the route and escape the maze. What they saw surprised them.

“The second group of rats navigated the maze much faster than the rats that did not receive omega-3 fatty acids,” Gomez-Pinilla said. “The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity. Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats’ ability to think clearly and recall the route they’d learned six weeks earlier.”

The DHA-deprived rats also developed signs of resistance to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar and regulates synaptic function in the brain. A closer look at the rats’ brain tissue suggested that insulin had lost much of its power to influence the brain cells.

“Because insulin can penetrate the blood–brain barrier, the hormone may signal neurons to trigger reactions that disrupt learning and cause memory loss,” Gomez-Pinilla said.

He suspects that fructose is the culprit behind the DHA-deficient rats’ brain dysfunction. Eating too much fructose could block insulin’s ability to regulate how cells use and store sugar for the energy required for processing thoughts and emotions.

“Insulin is important in the body for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain, where insulin appears to disturb memory and learning,” he said. “Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body. This is something new.”

Gomez-Pinilla, a native of Chile and an exercise enthusiast who practices what he preaches, advises people to keep fructose intake to a minimum and swap sugary desserts for fresh berries and Greek yogurt, which he keeps within arm’s reach in a small refrigerator in his office. An occasional bar of dark chocolate that hasn’t been processed with a lot of extra sweetener is fine too, he said.

Still planning to throw caution to the wind and indulge in a hot-fudge sundae? Then also eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon, walnuts and flaxseeds, or take a daily DHA capsule. Gomez-Pinilla recommends one gram of DHA per day.

“Our findings suggest that consuming DHA regularly protects the brain against fructose’s harmful effects,” said Gomez-Pinilla. “It’s like saving money in the bank. You want to build a reserve for your brain to tap when it requires extra fuel to fight off future diseases.”

The UCLA study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Gomez-Pinilla’s lab will next examine the role of diet in recovery from brain trauma.

The UCLA Department of Neurosurgery is committed to providing the most comprehensive patient care through innovative clinical programs in minimally invasive brain and spinal surgery; neuroendoscopy; neuro-oncology for both adult and pediatric brain tumors; cerebrovascular surgery; stereotactic radiosurgery for brain and spinal disorders; surgery for movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease; and epilepsy surgery. For 20 consecutive years, the department has been ranked among the top 10 neurosurgery programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

Because the Gov makes itsohard to get rid of waste product Its more cost effective to make something out of it . Just like floride.

You’re right about the growth hormones given to the cattle are making people fat also. Another problem with the HFCS is that it is made from GMO corn which also messes up your body, and they are also feeding this GMO corn and GMO soy to the cattle, which is really bad for your health. Another item “they” are putting in the food which is making people fat is msg which is monsodiumglutamate, also known by appx. 40 other names such as soy isolates, hydrolized protein, soy protein, etc. For more information on what these ingredients do to your body, visit: http://www.livehealthyforless.com Unfortunately, I am starting to believe that the reason the manufacturers are putting this in our food is because we are allowing them to get away with this….. How? You say……. Well…..it is our personal responsibility to call and write to these manufacturers and tell them that we will no longer buy their products as long as they are putting these additives in our foods. Also let them know that we will be spreading the word to our families and friends and business associates, who will in turn also be telling their aquaintences, etc. Then, do your homework, and start reading the labels of products before you purchase them, and don’t buy this trash, as much as you can help at this time, as most of the food is polluted. When you write them a letter, they then know that there are another at least 1,000 people who feel exactly the same way you do. The more people who actually write to them, they know they have a major problem on their hands! I hope everyone will participate in improving this great planet by knowing that YOU make a difference and have POWER!!

People are always trying to figure out what to do with waste products from their product that they make . Their was a Lobbieist for it and they had a friend in congress. Thats how it works. I believe they call that Sustainability HMMMM.

Robert, I suggest you read “Seeds of Deception” at which point you’ll realize that this is not a right vs left issue.

Here’s a right vs left difference though. The Left solution is for the government to ban/regulate/tax whatever is causing a problem (in this case, HFCS); the Right solution (and in this case the correct solution too) is to let people make the decision for themselves.

In this case, however, we are stymied by the Left that insists on things like Obamacare. The correct answer is to let the idiots who stuff themselves full of crap to pay their own bills, even if that means going bankrupt and ending homeless. (Yes, it IS THEIR OWN FAULT; suck it up!)

Now, go read the book, see why Monsanto & co., are so dead-set against labelling GMO food (hint: see what happened in Europe when they did label them), and then pay attention to how long this has been going on and how many administrations it encompasses, both R and D.

Unity requires a common goal or common enemy.