Posted on 02/14/2023 9:35:46 AM PST by ConservativeMind
An ancient human foraging instinct, fueled by fructose production in the brain, may hold clues to the development and possible treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), according to researchers.
"We make the case that Alzheimer's disease is driven by diet," said Richard Johnson, MD.
Johnson and his team suggest that AD is a harmful adaptation of an evolutionary survival pathway used in animals and our distant ancestors during times of scarcity.
When threatened with the possibility of starvation, early humans developed a survival response which sent them foraging for food. Yet foraging is only effective if metabolism is inhibited in various parts of the brain. Foraging requires focus, rapid assessment, impulsivity, exploratory behavior and risk taking. It is enhanced by blocking whatever gets in the way, like recent memories and attention to time. Fructose, a kind of sugar, helps damp down these centers, allowing more focus on food gathering.
Johnson suspects the survival response, what he calls the "survival switch," that helped ancient humans get through periods of scarcity, is now stuck in the "on" position in a time of relative abundance. This leads to the overeating of high fat, sugary and salty food prompting excess fructose production.
Fructose produced in the brain can lead to inflammation and ultimately Alzheimer's disease, the study said. Animals given fructose show memory lapses, a loss in the ability to navigate a maze and inflammation of the neurons.
"A study found that if you keep laboratory rats on fructose long enough they get tau and amyloid beta proteins in the brain, the same proteins seen in Alzheimer's disease," Johnson said. "You can find high fructose levels in the brains of people with Alzheimer's as well."
"We suggest that both dietary and pharmacologic trials to reduce fructose exposure or block fructose metabolism," Johnson said.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Regular home kitchen corn syrup is glucose, not fructose.
But commercial food manufacturers use high fructose corn syrup, which has both glucose and fructose.
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I have been drinking soda for decades.
I am a sodaholic.
I am doomed....!
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