Does Soda Cause Alzheimer’s Disease?

a cause of alzheimers disease
A Cause of Alzheimer's Disease
There are some significant research backed findings that have recently been released which show that sugary drinks such as sodas and sweetened juices can lead to Alzheimer’s Disease or other diseases of cognitive impairment. Read that again: It's possible that soda will cause Alzheimers Disease... because of the sugar.

Sugar Causes Alzheimers Disease

"According to a recent study from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, researchers fed mice 10 percent sugar water for 25 weeks and found that their learning and memory retention declined and the amyloid plaque deposits (a hallmark of Alzheimer’s and sometimes caused by inflammation) in the brains doubled compared with mice that drank water [alone]. Soft drinks may have a similar effect in humans."
What’s more interesting is that the mice that were fed sugar-water, which is pretty much what soda and many juices are, also gained about 17 percent more weight, had higher cholesterol levels, and developed insulin resistance, a sign of diabetes.

A Cuase of Alzheimer's Disease
It’s hard to look at these findings and not draw the correlation with humans especially since we know that people have started developing these conditions more frequently since soda became a mainstay in our refrigerators. There are many people who are proponents of drinking diet sodas or using artificial sweeteners as supplements to sugar but there is further evidence that these artificial sweeteners are no better than the real stuff.

Alcohol & Alzheimer’s Disease

Personally, I have nearly eliminated soda from my diet and rarely if ever purchase sugary juices that are not of natural ingredients. Water works really well for meals. It has no calories and helps with digestion and hydration. Like other drinks it fills you up too so you don’t eat too much. Of course come evening I typically enjoy a beer, wine, or gin on the rocks. Not too much but just enough to enjoy my evening and meet my healthy quota of alcohol. …and to recap a finding I blogged about last month; alcohol in moderation can actually help in fighting off Alzheimer ’s disease while improving your HDL Cholesterol levels can do the same. Crazy, huh?

If you have anything to add to the train of thought I’d love to hear it. Leave me a line in the comments below and consider subscribing to my feed if you liked this post. Thanks!

Source
Best Life, Apr 2008
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The Saturday Evening Post, Jul-Aug 2008

Leading Causes of Death

Heart Disease is easily the leading cause of death in America. One of the major contributors to heart disease is cholesterol. See the following posts for more on lowering your risk for heart disease:

How To Lower LDL Cholesterol Levels Naturally

 
Welcome to How To Live A Longer Life! This site focuses on human longevity and shows you how you can live longer by improving health and nutrition and by preventing disease. If you want to learn how to live longer then consider subscribing.