Kajian sains mendapati pengambilan gula yang berlebihan terutama gula dari ekstrak jagung (high fructose corn syrup) yang banyak digunakan dalam air berkarbonat serta makanan ringan boleh mendatangkan bahaya bukan sahaja kepada badan kita, tetapi kepada otak kita. Dimana gula dari jenis ini akan menyebabkan kita sukar untuk belajar serta mengingati sesuatu perkara.
Apa-apapun, kurangkan pengambilan gula dari apa-apa jenis
gula.
Sugar can make you dumb, US scientists warn
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as
well as the body.
WASHINGTON:
Eating too much sugar can eat away at your brainpower, according to US
scientists who published a study Tuesday showing how a steady diet of
high-fructose corn syrup sapped lab rats' memories.
Researchers at the University of California
Los Angeles (UCLA) fed two groups of rats a
solution containing high-fructose corn syrup – a common ingredient in processed
foods – as drinking water for six weeks.
One group of rats was supplemented with brain-boosting
omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA),
while the other group was not.
Before the sugar drinks began, the rats were enrolled in a
five-day training session in a complicated maze. After six weeks on the sweet
solution, the rats were then placed back in the maze to see how they fared.
"The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains
showed a decline in synaptic activity," said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a
professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
"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."
A closer look at the rat brains revealed that those who were
not fed DHA supplements had also developed signs of resistance to insulin, a
hormone that controls blood sugar and regulates brain function.
"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.
In other words, eating too much fructose could interfere
with insulin's ability to regulate how cells use and store sugar, which is
necessary 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," Gomez-Pinilla said.
"Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the
brain as well as the body. This is something new."
High-fructose corn syrup is commonly found in soda,
condiments, applesauce, baby food and other processed snacks.
The average American consumes more than 18kg of
high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the US Department of
Agriculture.
While the study did not say what the equivalent might be for
a human to consume as much high-fructose corn syrup as the rats did,
researchers said it provides some evidence that metabolic syndrome can affect
the mind as well as the body.
"Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how
you think," said Gomez-Pinilla.
"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."
The study appeared in the Journal of Physiology.
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