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 ...
High fructose corn syrup is in every food imaginable.
It’s hard to get away from that junk.
And the government caused this problem with sugar price supports.
You will eat Zee bugs, own nothing and be happy
“Fructose produced in the brain”
WHAT???
I thought this was about diet, as in what you eat.
Also I think the authors ought to revisit the natural metabolism of sugars. IIRC, a five carbon sugar, ie fructose, is part of everyday metabolism of sugar.
Been a minute since I paid attention to THAT process though...
Not inferring the best science from this article.
I'm surprised I didn't have Alzheimer's by age 30.
I think the difference between high and not high Fructose corn syrup is only about 5%.
They are intentionally flooding us with high fructose corn syrup. Ask yourself why this suddenly is.
High fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, and MSG are all toxic for your health. Big Medicine is colluding with the government to keep the entire population chronically ill so you need constant medical care, prescription drugs, treatments.
It is criminal. It is sinful.
Increases appetite, promotes obesity
Studies show that high fructose corn syrup increases your appetite and promotes obesity more than regular sugar. “High fructose corn syrup also contributes to diabetes, inflammation, high triglycerides and something we call non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,” says Dr. Hyman, adding that it increases all the fat in the liver, which now affects over 90 million Americans.
“It can even cause fibrosis or what we call cirrhosis. In fact, sugar in our diet is now the major cause of liver failure and that makes sugar the leading cause of liver transplants,” he continues.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/avoid-the-hidden-dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup-video/
I am curious about the assertion that eating high fat and salty foods causes the body to produce fructose. Is there any evidence for that?
Regular exercise seems to have a positive effect on health that is independent of the small number of calories burned. I don’t know that the mechanism by which exercise benefits health is well understood yet.
WHAT???
I thought this was about diet, as in what you eat.
I'm in agreement with you.
I've a always believed that the "Good Book" held a very valuable TRUTH... "Moderation in ALL Things!"
Unfortunately, most people, in the way of eating, pay little or NO attention to it. They simply eat what tastes good... and inordinate amounts of it.
You can also increase exercise, to burn off the calories.
~~~~~
Correct in theory, except it doesn’t happen in practice. Fructose-caused mitochondrial complex 3 failure causes slowdown in complex 5 ATPase spin. It represents failure of conversion of pyruvate into ATP.
put on 10 pounds of muscle and lose 10 pounds of fat and you can eat a donut a day and still lose weight.
I can think of 3 Alzheimer’s patients I have known who ate a whole lot of sugar, and were not interested in much else. Definitely a focus there, but I’m not sure which came first— the sugar cravings or the Alzheimer’s onset. I’m inclined to think the latter, as these people were not sugar addicts before they began their decline.
Exercise is the solution
Hah! brings back memories. I recall there being a “UDP” in there somewhere, that I can’t spell out anymore - uridene(sp?) di-phospate.
Yeah, I think that was 1975 for me as well.
To think I could easily draw out the entire embden-meyerhof pathway from memory because I was fascinated by all that ... not any more. I loved metabolic pathways.
I blew the curve in that biochemistry class one time - scored a 100 on a curved test. I recall the prof handing me back my exam upside down and curved to obscure my score from others. Scared the crap outta me because that’s how failing grades were often handed out.
Could be true.
We home cook 90%+ of our meals, so there’s little to no ‘processed’ syrups ingested.
Thanks for that info BTW.
Then what happens to the pyruvate?
(been 45 years since I studied that sort of thing)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.