The mental 'low' from the 'sugar-high'

When I think of delightful intellectually stimulating conversations, they are always entwined with servings of great coffee and some sweets. That picture in my head has just been demolished by a recent study entitled “Metabolic Syndrome in the brain: Deficiency in Omega 3 fatty acid exacerbates dysfunction in insulin receptor and signaling” which just came out online last May 15 in the Journal of Physio­logy. The study was conducted by Rahul Agawal and Fernando Gomez-Pinilla.

The experiment made use of rats just as most medical studies that shed light on human physiology have.  The researchers had rats on a regular rat diet while making them learn a maze. After they have, the rats were divided into groups where both groups were fed a high fructose drink for six weeks but the second group was also given omega 3 fatty acids. High fructose mostly comes from corn syrup which is the main component of sweeteners used in soft drinks, juices, pastries and other manufactured goods.

The results showed that a steadily high intake of high-fructose for even as little as six weeks could adversely affect the ability of the brain to learn but that this could be partially countered by omega 3 fatty acid supplements. It seemed that because insulin was on overdrive trying to process the high sugar intake, it was not doing a very good job of cueing the molecules that are responsible for metabolism of energy in brain cells. These brain cells did not seem to make the connections that were required to learn.

This is just another blow to the reputation of high-fructose. Since we ingenious humans have figured out a way to make a cheap sweetener out of corn, we have used it in a vast array to prepare the gastronomic temptations in our regular diets. It is not a secret that high-fructose is being blamed for obesity, diabetes plaguing modern societies. Now, we have this current study which has caused headlines to be bluntly delivered in stunning lines as “Sugar can make you Dumb.”

Now you know why a picture of an intellectually sizzling event is now an incoherent picture if co-inhabited in heavenly amounts by soft drinks, pastries and cakes. If we were to base our notions on scientifically proven studies on food, a regular serving in brainy forums will have to be walnuts, carrots, berries and fish — known to have good amounts of omega 3 fatty acids. Based on the study, these “friendly acids” restored the energy regulation needed in the brain to keep the connections and have them working. If you were to strictly base it on the study, then you can eat sweets but you also need to eat foods rich omega 3 fatty acids to counteract the “dumbing” effect of sugars, if you want to keep your head together.

One of the articles on the study made a specific warning to college kids who routinely eat a lot of high-sugar foods when cramming. These kids should know that eating sweet treats makes their brain cells too “relaxed” from making connections to learn better. So the advice is go easy on the sweets. The sugar “high” you think you feel is actually a mental low.

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