Sugar and Alzheimer’s Disease: Is There a Link?

If you drink too many sugary sodas, you may increase your risk for developing Alzheimer’s
disease
late in life, new research suggests.

Ling_li_ling20li
While this study was conducted on mice, not humans, study co-author Ling Li, DVM, PhD, of the University of Alabama at
Birmingham
says the findings add to the evidence implicating poor diet as a risk
factor for Alzheimer’s risk, according to Medicine.net.

The findings were fascinating: Mice were fed either water or sugar water — about the equivalent of five cans of
sugary soda a day for a human. Sure enough, the brains of mice fed sugar water had more evidence of Alzheimer’s
disease than mice who drank water.

"We are not saying that people who drink five cans of soda a day will get
Alzheimer’s," Li tells WebMD.  "But there are many good reasons to limit sugar
and sugary soft drinks, and this may be one more."

This is not the first we’ve heard of the Alzeimer’s-sugar connection. For instance, this past August, we told you about the insulin resistance/Alzheimer’s link. And last year, another study also found that culprit carbs could be tied to Alzheimer’s. And another study, also last year, discovered a link link between type 2 diabetes-Alzeimer’s.

Jennifer Moore and Karen James helped with research for this blog entry.