The Journal of Psychology published an article by the scientists from the University of California, explaining that a fructose-high diet can significantly reduce a person’s cognitive abilities.
This is the ability to learn, remember and use the knowledge and skills. The solution could be the use of antioxidants (fatty acids), which neutralize the negative effect of this variety of sugar on the body.
Prof. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla says our diet affects how we think. Constant use of fructose-high foods affects memory functioning and the brain’s ability to learn. In order to prove this theory, Gomez-Pinilla and her colleagues have conducted several experiments on rats. Within 6 weeks, all the rodents received standard conventional food portions. But while the one group was given diluted corn syrup instead of water (the sweetener and preservative used in food industry), the other group was given the syrup and the omega-3 fatty acids (consisting of linseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid), which protect nerve cells from damage.
Then the rats passed the “test”. Even before the experiment with food for five days they had been trained to find a way out of the maze, guided by a special label. Now, scientists decided to investigate whether the rats remember the recently assimilated material well. The rodents whose diet did not include omega 3 were getting out of the maze more slowly, and the synaptic activity of their neurons was reduced. So, it became clear that information is transmitted between nerve cells worse. This group of rats also developed resistance to insulin – the hormone that controls sugar level in blood.
So if you want to think more quickly, switch to fruit and berries, and eat dark chocolate with no additives – such is the scientists’ recommendation.
