Spikes in blood sugar can cause memory problems, according to a new study from Columbia Medical Center. Researchers believe that since the ability to regulate blood sugar lessens with age, their study could explain why it becomes harder to form new memories once you reach age 40 or so.

However, the results of this study also have implications for overweight children and teenagers at risk for Type 2 diabetes. Dr. Scott Small, author of the study, said that an overweight young person is not only at risk for heart disease and metabolic disorders, but also impairment of cognitive abilities.

"Whether they will be able to keep up with the demands of education and a fast-paced complex society - that's the part that scares me," he said.

Dr. Small and his colleagues first studied glucose levels in mice and monkeys to determine a connection with brain functions, and then used magnetic resonance imagining on 240 elderly volunteers.

This study appears in the Annals of Neurology.

Labels: nutrition, brain_activity, sugar

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A team of researchers from the University of Wales reviewed scientific studies on factors contributing to ADHD and found that sugar is not as much of a factor as many people think.

"ADHD...has a strong genetic link, with half the children born of parents with diagnosed ADHD likely to develop the disorder themselves. Chemical imbalances in the brain are also involved and studies have found that children with the condition have on average 4% smaller brains."

Because they know sugar is an energy source, parents often expect their kids to act more hyper and fidgety after having sugar - but that doesn't usually happen. While food allergies can sometimes cause ADHD-like behavior, they don't actually aggravate ADHD. Source: Huliq.com.

Labels: causes, diet, sugar

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