dagblog - Comments for "Sugar makes you stupid: Study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory"

I'm going to repost this

Donal — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:40:29 +0000

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

I'm going to repost this video, Sugar: The Bitter Truth:

How Is High Fructose Corn

EmmaZahn — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:27:25 +0000

In reply to I must admit that Peracles'

How Is High Fructose Corn Syrup Metabolized? | LIVESTRONG.COM: "The metabolism of the constituents of high fructose corn syrup may make it seem as though the sweetener is indistinguishable from other sugars, like sucrose, by the body. But the role of the enzyme sucrase in separating glucose from fructose is an important one, note Campbell and Farrell. While metabolism of high fructose corn syrup is identical to that of table sugar once the constituents are in the bloodstream, digestive differences between the sugars are significant."

I have recently been discovering just how important amino acids are in producing the enzymes our bodies need to process food. And animal protein tends to have more of them per gram than plants. Makes sense since meat is really just the result of animals pre-processing plants and some other stuff for us.

I do find it hard to eat enough meat so I now take amino acid supplements.

My initial comment was only

EmmaZahn — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:05:23 +0000

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

My initial comment was only going to be two words:

But then I found this neat little website to further confuse the issue. :-D

The Human Brain - Carbohydrates

"Glucose is the form of sugar that travels in your bloodstream to fuel the mitochondrial furnaces responsible for your brain power. Glucose is the only fuel normally used by brain cells. Because neurons cannot store glucose, they depend on the bloodstream to deliver a constant supply of this precious fuel.

This blood sugar is obtained from carbohydrates: the starches and sugars you eat in the form of grains and legumes, fruits and vegetables. (The only animal foods containing a significant amount of carbohydrates are dairy products.)

Too much sugar or refined carbohydrates at one time, however, can actually deprive your brain of glucose – depleting its energy supply and compromising your brain's power to concentrate, remember, and learn. Mental activity requires a lot of energy."

how come it stopped working

artappraiser — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:39:34 +0000

In reply to Of course, what are the

how come it stopped working after college?

Well I don't know about anyone else, it still works for me, but just like with a lot of other things with age, not as well. (In my later 20's, I added lots of late nights with lots of Johnnie Walker Black, wine, and rich restaurant meals provided by a boyfriend with ill gotten cash combined with working 4 jobs. Wait, isn't that sometimes alluded to as the Keith Richards diet?)

Actually the study sounds extremely interesting to me, like they are onto something that's gonna turn some more of the more conventional wisdom about blood sugar and the brain on it's head. I just don't like the "sugar makes you stupid" spin this article put on it:

"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.

It's really about Omega 3 fats as much as it's about fructose sugar, maybe more so.

As someone who has long struggled with sleepiness both from effects of low blood pressure, and an inherited disposition to being a night owl with subsequent jet-lag-like brain-fog when trying to adhere to the rest of the world's schedule, and who also has discovered on my own that sugar combined with fat gives me a long-lasting boost while it would make others crash, I might be looking up more on the study.

Of course, what are the

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:36:55 +0000

In reply to I must admit that Peracles'

Of course, what are the controls for evaluating anything in such an environment?

Toxic stew of mixed poisons + all-nighter = fuck an 'eh brilliance

Which one do we hold responsbile, or is it a synergy?

And how come it stopped working after college?

I must admit that Peracles'

artappraiser — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:17:39 +0000

In reply to It isn't my title. I think

I must admit that Peracles' comment, combined with checking out the spin on the story at the link, did make me recall that binging on soda and sweets worked just fine for me getting through college. I would have never got all those term papers done on 3rd deadline after 2 extensions without binging on sugar soda, other sweets, cigarettes and caffeine in all nighters, then crashing for a day or two for repair from the binge. And often some of those binge papers were my best ones; same with exams. It's all tied up with the adrenaline/other hormones thing, I think. Which is probably also why such a diet is so damaging when followed long term......it screws with the hormone system?

HFCS is worse than sucrose,

Donal — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:17:50 +0000

In reply to 2 theories: sugar wasn't

HFCS is worse than sucrose, but both contain extrinsic fructose. I also think sugar wasn't as readily available, and cooked into everything the way it is now. Sweets were more of an occasional treat.

2 theories: sugar wasn't

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:51:08 +0000

In reply to It isn't my title. I think

2 theories: sugar wasn't added to everything in doses of modern subsidized corn syrup, corn syrup has worse properties than standard white sugar

It isn't my title. I think

Donal — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:46:06 +0000

In reply to Could you change the title to

It isn't my title. I think people used to do fine because they were doing more and sitting less.

Could you change the title to

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:40:47 +0000

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

Could you change the title to "Corn Syrup Makes You Stupid"?

People seemed to do fine on the old Raisin Bran.