UCLA Study Claims Sugar Impairs Learning

LOS ANGELESA recent study from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) claims that binging on high-sugar sodas and foods impairs learning. Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brains ability to learn and remember information, says Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, Ph.D., professor, Department of Neurosurgery & Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, UCLA, and lead researcher of the study (see This is your brain on sugar: UCLA study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory).

However, Gomez-Pinilla and his fellow researcher found that adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage.

The results of this research will be published in the May 15 issue of The Journal of Physiology.

The researchers studied two groups of rats, both of which were fed a solution spiked with fructose, with one group of rats also receiving supplemented omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); both groups were also fed standard rat chow. The rats were given this experimental diet for six weeks.

Before the researchers began the fructose-laced diet, they trained the rats in a maze twice daily for five days. After the six-week period of administering the experimental diet, the rats were tested in the same maze.

Results showed that the rats given flaxseed oil and DHA, in addition to fructose, negotiated the maze much faster than the rats that did not receive omega-3 fatty acids, says Gomez-Pinilla. The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity. He also notes that the rats not given omega-3s developed signs of insulin resistance.

It can be calculated from study data that rats consumed 7 grams of fructose per day, which is comparable to an adult human consuming 1,028 grams, says John S. White, Ph.D., president, White Technical Research. A consumer would have to eat 66 apples or drink 51 cans of soda per day to reach that level. Clearly this is a highly exaggerated and distorted version of the typical human diet.

Further, notes White, studies conducted on rats often do not translate well to human physiology, anatomy or nutrition. Since one of the most important differences between humans and rats is brain anatomical structure, the applicability of rat brain research to humans must be questioned.

Nevertheless, the protective effects demonstrated by omega-3s appear promising. Our findings suggest that consuming DHA regularly protects the brain against fructoses harmful effects, says Gomez-Pinilla. Its 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.