Drinking Soda as an Adolescent May Damage Memory, Study

Drinking sugary drinks rots the teenage brain, according to a new study. Researchers fond that daily consumption of beverages sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup or sucrose can seriously damage learning and memory capacity. The latest findings reveal that damage is particularly pronounced during adolescent years.

The study found that when adult and adolescent rats were given daily access to sugar-sweetened beverages, the rats that consumed the sugar-sweetened beverages for one month performed normally in tests of cognitive function; however, when consumption occurred during adolescence the rats were impaired in tests of learning and memory capability.

Scott Kanoski from the University of Southern California said that the findings reveal that consuming sugar-sweetened drinks is also interfering with our brain’s ability to function normally and remember critical information about our environment, at least when consumed in excess before adulthood.

The researchers also found that in addition to causing memory impairment, adolescent sugar-sweetened beverage consumption also produced inflammation in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that controls many learning and memory functions.

The study was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB).

Agencies/Canadajournal