Americans eat alot of sugary foods as we know this habit is quite probably wrecking our bodies. While also triggering high rates of obesity, diabetes and also at the same time wrecking our train of thought. That’s the disturbing conclusion emerging in a body of research that links Alzheimers disease to insulin resistance, which in turn is than linked to excessive artificial sweetner consumption.
Scientists have known for some time that insulin regulates blood sugar, “giving the cue for muscles, the liver and fat cells to extract sugar from the blood and either use it for energy or store it as fat,” New Scientist Magazine a U.K. Magazine also reports, “trouble begins when our muscle, fat and liver cell’s STOP responding properly to insulin — that is, they STOP taking in glucose.” Also what is the Connection Between Sugar & Arthritis?
This condition known as insulin resistance and also prediabetes causes the pancreas to produce excess amounts of insulin, even as, excess glucose builds up in the blood. Type II Diabetes, in essence, is the chronic condition of excess blood glucose which symptoms include frequent bladder, kidney and skin infections, fatique, excess hunger and erectile dysfunction.
Here in the United States, Type II Diabetes rates have tripled since 1980. What’s emerging is that insulin also regulates neurotransmitters, like that of acetylcholine; which are crucial for memory and learning. That’s not all, “it’s also important for the function and growth of blood vessels. Which supply the brain with oxygen and glucose. As a result reducing the level of insulin in the brain can immediately impair cognition.”
So when people develope insulin resistance, insulin spikes also begin to overwhelm the brain. Which can’t constantly be on high alert and then bad things happen, either those changes associated with Type II Diabetes, or seperately; the brain may begin to turn down it’s insulin signalling, while impairing your ability to think and form recent memories before leading to permanent neural damage and eventually Alzheimers.
Chillingly, scientist also have been able to induce these conditions in lab animals. At her laboratory at Brown University, Suzanne De’ la Monte whose experiments blocked insulin to flow into the brains of mice while essentially inducing Alzheimer. When she examined their brains here is what she found as described by New Scientist.
Areas associated with memory were studied with bright pink plaque, while many neurons had toxic protein that was disintegrated — they lost their connections with other neurons and were teetering on the brink of death. There is also research tying brain dysfunction directly to excessive sugar consumption. In a 2012 Ucla research study, scientist fed rats a heavy ration of both fructose (which makes up roughly half of both table sugar and high fructose corn syrup.)
As noted from this study…. both insulin resistance and impaired brain function occurred within six weeks. Interestingly, also they found that both insulin function and brain performance improved in the sugar – fed rats when they were feed omega – 3 fatty acids. Another facet of American Diets are lots of cheap added fats, may also trigger insulin problems and brain dysfunction.
New Scientist Magazine red flags yet another recent study, while this one from University of Washington researchers. Finding that rats fed a high fat diet for a year lost their ability to regulate insulin, developed diabetes while showing signs of brain deterioration. In the United States alone, 24 million or 8% of all Americans…. have been diagnosed with this condition. What’s also further concerning is 79 million Americans are considered prediabetic showing early signs of insulin resistance.
When you take into account another 5.4 million Amercans or nearly two percent having Alzheimers costing in estimates of $200 Billion Dollars annually. If Alzheimers and Type II Diabetes share this common thread, levels of dementia may follow a similar trajectory as these people age making this situation tragic for the generations that come after ours. While providing a death spiral for the country…. as we become a 2:1 ratio nation of age versus youthful providers.