General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat Eating Too Much Sugar Does to Your Brain
http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2012/04/01/what-eating-too-much-sugar-does-to-your-brain/The key word in all of the stats is added. While a healthy diet would contain a significant amount of naturally occurring sugar (in fruits and grains, for example), the problem is that were chronically consuming much more added sugar in processed foods. Thats an important clarification because our brains need sugar every day to function. Brain cells require two times the energy needed by all the other cells in the body; roughly 10% of our total daily energy requirements. This energy is derived from glucose (blood sugar), the gasoline of our brains. Sugar is not the brains enemy added sugar is.
Research indicates that a diet high in added sugar reduces the production of a brain chemical known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Without BDNF, our brains cant form new memories and we cant learn (or remember) much of anything. Levels of BDNF are particularly low in people with an impaired glucose metabolismdiabetics and pre-diabeticsand as the amount of BDNF decreases, sugar metabolism worsens.
In other words, chronically eating added sugar reduces BDNF, and then the lowered levels of the brain chemical begin contributing to insulin resistance, which leads to type 2 diabetes, which eventually leads to a host of other health problems. Once that happens, your brain and body are in a destructive cycle thats difficult if not impossible to reverse.
Research has also linked low BDNF levels to depression and dementia. Its possible that low BDNF may turn out to be the smoking gun in these and other diseases, like Alzheimers, that tend to appear in clusters in epidemiological studies. More research is being conducted on this subject, but what seems clear in any case is that a reduced level of BDNF is bad news for our brains, and chronic sugar consumption is one of the worst inhibitory culprits.
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RKP5637
(67,083 posts)burrowowl
(17,632 posts)Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)handmade34
(22,756 posts)I suffered severe cravings for my entire life... gave up all added sugars last December and the cravings are gone!! It is very difficult but wonderful when done...
aquart
(69,014 posts)Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)More than 200 calories per day, from added sugar, for men, and 100 per day for women.
aquart
(69,014 posts)So one broken heart ruins your brain? That sucks.
mainer
(12,017 posts)Drink one soda, and that's it for the day.
cyglet
(529 posts)since most everything is infused with sugar/HFCS here...
freshwest
(53,661 posts)TahitiNut
(71,611 posts)Archer-Daniels-Midland wins again.
Archae
(46,297 posts)More hysteria and bullshit about what is SOOOOOOO bad for us.
Skittles
(153,104 posts)I've long had a sweet tooth
Archae
(46,297 posts)But to call sugar a "toxin?"
And the 60 Minutes clown lumped in honey and anything else that's sweet as well.
If I overdo it, I'll feel it. It'll start with a gutache.
But 200 calories limit a day? I'd like to see some peer review on this "research."
MattBaggins
(7,897 posts)aquart
(69,014 posts)That's why we have mechanisms to process it. BECAUSE WE NEED IT.
MattBaggins
(7,897 posts)Archae
(46,297 posts)Stop drinking it!
geckosfeet
(9,644 posts)Just give it some time.
BadgerKid
(4,549 posts)But dietary glucose can surely help to reduce "brain fog," which typically will go away after a few days eating a no-carb or low-carb diet. The body is supposed to be able to synthesize glucose from food (or from the body itself if you're undereating calories).
geckosfeet
(9,644 posts)Almost all foods have some carbs in them. Even if they are non-digestable.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)I've lost 35 pounds and started feeling great. I fell off the wagon and stopped paying as much attention and although I haven't gained anything back, I do notice a marked difference in mood, fatigue and mental sharpness when I don't watch what I eat.
mathematic
(1,431 posts)The author asserts that "added" is the important part of the increased sugar consumption that results in harm yet provides no evidence for that claim.
He links to two research studies that mention sugar. Neither addresses the idea that added sugar is worse than naturally occurring sugar. Both studies are on rats fed high sucrose diets. The first study feeds rats a high sugar & high saturated fat diet (to simulate typical western diets) using a low fat "healthy"-type diet as a control. The second study feeds rats a diet of 50%(!!) sugar using a high cornstarch diet as a control.
The linked article is typical science-writing quackery where a couple of pretty narrow studies are misinterpreted and erroneously generalized to make some sort of unjustified or incorrect conclusion.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Diabetes is a known prenatal risk factor for autism.
The feeding of juice to infants and preschoolers is a bad practice. They are getting fructose instead of lactose.
YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)I have heard of nothing regarding a risk factor for Autism. Last I checked there is no factual evidence for what causes autism or what autism even is to do anything about it.
And as many people I know who have kids with autism and Asperger's I'm certain I would have heard SOMETHING about this.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Prenatal risk factors for autism: comprehensive meta-analysis
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/195/1/7.full
Common Link Suggested Between Autism and Diabetes: Study Implicates Hyperinsulinemia in Increased Incidence of Autism
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111019184622.htm
"When I read that the incidence of autism was increasing, and combined that with the fact that the incidence of Type 2 diabetes is also increasing, it seemed reasonable that each increase could have the same ultimate cause -- the increase in hyperinsulinemia in the general population," Stern said. "I didn't do anything with this notion for a few years because it seemed so obvious that I figured everyone already knew this hypothesis, or had tested it and found it was not true."
Stern said he changed his mind a few months ago when a health care consulting firm asked him to provide input about autism.
"In preparing for this interview, I discovered that gestational diabetes was the most important identified maternal risk factor for autism, but that 'no known mechanism could account for this,'" Stern recalled. "When I read this, I was speechless. That's when I realized that this was not obvious to others in the field, so I decided to write this up with the hope that clinicians might become aware of this and treat their patients accordingly."
YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)...wikipedia is not, nor will it ever be an actual reference for ANYTHING. It is like the bible. Use it to prove your point and it will automatically be dismissed as hogwash.
I guess it could make sense, but the leading experts on Autism will still tell you there is no conclusive evidence of cause and effect that has been proven.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)So the wiki article is a good starting point for researching the topic.
The wiki article is also a good place to look for search terms that you can use with Google to look for information beyond the references to make sure that the wiki article isn't just cherry picking references.
Javaman
(62,497 posts)RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I buy most products that say sugar free. I am an ice cream lover and only buy sugar-free ice cream. And Smucker's has sugar-free fudge syrup. And now Hersey has sugar-free chocolate, and Reese's now has sugar-free peanut butter cups. I can't tell the difference between sugar free and those products loaded with sugar.
YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)Holly_Hobby
(3,033 posts)Tripod
(854 posts)Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)HappyMe
(20,277 posts)I don't eat candy or drink soda every day. Don't put sugar in my coffee.
I'm not worried.
Tripod
(854 posts)I've wondered what has happened to me over the years, now I know. I have had type one diabetes for 34 years now, and have wondered what is wrong with me in the past decade or so. Now I get it. Thanks, I'm just going to get more stupid.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)never was a smoker or a drinker, never more than 10-15 lbs overweight, increased my physical activity of late...but here's where I jump off the healthy-lifestyle bandwagon. Gotta have my sugar and sweets.
drokhole
(1,230 posts)Also, refined grains are just as bad as refined sugar - especially since the Western diet is so grain-heavy. Yes, this includes "healthy" whole grains.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/gluten-what-you-dont-know_b_379089.html
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/page/opening-pandoras-bread-box-critical-role-wheat-lectin-human-disease
http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)The main difference between corn starch and corn syrup is that syrup is made by depolymerizing the starch outside of the intestinal tract.
The other difference is how long it takes to depolymerize the starch in your intestines, which leads to a flattening of the rate at which glucose is absorbed into your blood stream -- the slower the better.
Some higher molecular weight carbs make it to the large intestine where they are fermented by gut bacteria and converted to short chain fatty acids.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)http://api.ning.com/files/tfAOLeI1danwalMfB6E-xnJ0lklMxrBqT-qYS3-7rDyh-lNAX9KCs76d2BvyHK*XHmejCEVXOaiFP0FSKrg7FJEzXrgoCK8*/27301big_butt.jpg
SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)Most canned foods didn't used to come with added sugars.
People used to make their own spaghetti sauce.. (we NEVER put sugar in it)
Cookies were a TREAT.. and the sugar in them was spread out over 6-8 dozen (consumed by many people in the family)
Soda pop/koolaid/etc was a TREAT for birthday parties, camping trips/etc.
Ketchup for fries was not a big problem, because fries were a RARE treat (this is pre fast-food-places-on-every-corner)
Sugar was just another cupboard staple..like flour, baking powder, etc. It was an INGREDIENT of a recipe, and was NOT in everything we ate.
And we ate at MEALTIME.. We did not graze all day as we worked, drove, etc.
We were not always sucking something sweet through a straw all day long. When we were thirsty, we got up from our chair & went to the drinking fountain (or refrigerator) & had a drink of.....WATER.