Sat, Apr-30-16, 04:56
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Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Diets Heavy In Fructose Damage Genes Related To Memory And Metabolism
Quote:
From Forbes Magazine
26 April, 2016
Diets Heavy In Fructose Damage Genes Related To Memory And Metabolism, Says Study
High-fructose corn syrup is a grocery store staple, an inexpensive additive found in everything from soda to spaghetti sauce. We already know that diets heavy in it are a likely road to obesity and diabetes, but according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health, fructose may also be doing widespread damage to our genes.
The study is the first to examine all of the gene networks affected by fructose that result in changes to brain function and metabolism–more than 20,000 genes in total. Although the study was conducted using rats, the researchers report that the majority of the sequenced genes are comparable to those in humans, including more than 200 genes in the hippocampus, a brain area crucial to memory, and 700 in the hypothalamus, the seat of the brain’s metabolic control center.
When genes in the brain are disrupted by fructose, say the researchers, a host of health badness is on the horizon. According to Xia Yang, co-senior author of the study and a UCLA assistant professor of integrative biology and physiology, “Parkinson’s disease, depression, bipolar disorder and other brain diseases” are all potential outcomes from gene disruptions caused by fructose.
Previous research by members of this team reportedly found that fructose increases levels of toxic molecules in the brain that damage communication between cells. The effect compounds over time, the study authors claim, such that eating a diet loaded with high-fructose corn syrup could conceivably reduce the brain’s learning and memory capacity. “Food is like a pharmaceutical compound that affects the brain,” added Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a UCLA professor of neurosurgery, integrative biology and physiology, and co-senior author of the paper.
The UCLA researchers reported that they were able to identify the mechanism by which fructose damages genes in the brain. By altering one of the four nucleotides that make up DNA, diets high in fructose trigger the genes’ “on” or “off” switch, altering their function. Previous rat studies have shown similar gene-altering results, though the research hasn’t yet been replicated in humans.
For six weeks the rats in this study consumed water with fructose, amounting to about a liter of soda a day in human terms. They and a control group that drank only water were then trained to run a maze, and the results showed that it took the fructose-consuming group twice as long to navigate the maze as the water-only group despite the same level of training, indicating impaired memory. The fructose rats also had much higher blood glucose, triglycerides and insulin levels.
The researchers told me by email that the amount of fructose given to the rats “is relatively high and reflects more on individuals who rely on sugar-sweetened soda and foods as main sources of water and energy intake on a daily basis for a period of time.” But, they added, they also recently tested a much smaller amount of fructose, about half the amount from the study, which is more representative of average human consumption, and so far the results are trending in the same direction: “We found similar adverse effects on physiological parameters and are going to test the genomic impact of this lower level of fructose intake.”
We consume fructose in other sources aside from high-fructose corn syrup—most notably fruits—but it’s the amount of extra fructose we’re consuming that’s at issue. The Department of Agriculture estimates that Americans consumed an average of 27 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup in 2014. Because it’s such a cheap alternative to sugar, and comes in an easily blendable liquid form, it’s a standard go-to for many food manufacturers. But even though we’re consuming a large amount of the sweetener, we’re eating less of it now than just a decade ago. Per-person consumption was nearly 60 pounds a year in 2005, accounting for nearly half of all sweeteners strewn through aisle after grocery store aisle (that’s only partially good news, however, since other artificial sweeteners have taken up the slack, but that’s another health story).
The study also examined the possibility that consuming more of the Omega 3 fatty acid DHA from sources like wild salmon (not farm-raised salmon) may reverse the effects of fructose-induced gene damage. A third rat group in the study was given fructose water plus a DHA additive for six weeks. When tested in the maze against the other two rat groups (one that drank fructose water and the other that drank only water) the DHA-fructose group performed as well as the water-only group, suggesting that the DHA offset the memory-impairing effects of fructose. The researchers think that DHA reverses the disruptions fructose causes in genes, at least in the short term.
“DHA changes not just one or two genes; it seems to push the entire gene pattern back to normal, which is remarkable,” said Xia Yang.
The researchers were quick to point out, however, that DHA isn’t a long-term antidote to the negative effects of eating a diet heavy in high-fructose corn syrup. The study results in the rats were positive, but more research is needed to flesh out the conclusions. A better policy for us humans is to reduce how much fructose we eat, along with all sweeteners, period.
The study was published online in EBioMedicine, a journal published jointly by Cell and The Lancet.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddi...y/#3f19c32b6863
Quote:
Systems Nutrigenomics Reveals Brain Gene Networks Linking Metabolic and Brain Disorders
Abstract
Nutrition plays a significant role in the increasing prevalence of metabolic and brain disorders. Here we employ systems nutrigenomics to scrutinize the genomic bases of nutrient–host interaction underlying disease predisposition or therapeutic potential. We conducted transcriptome and epigenome sequencing of hypothalamus (metabolic control) and hippocampus (cognitive processing) from a rodent model of fructose consumption, and identified significant reprogramming of DNA methylation, transcript abundance, alternative splicing, and gene networks governing cell metabolism, cell communication, inflammation, and neuronal signaling. These signals converged with genetic causal risks of metabolic, neurological, and psychiatric disorders revealed in humans. Gene network modeling uncovered the extracellular matrix genes Bgn and Fmod as main orchestrators of the effects of fructose, as validated using two knockout mouse models. We further demonstrate that an omega-3 fatty acid, DHA, reverses the genomic and network perturbations elicited by fructose, providing molecular support for nutritional interventions to counteract diet-induced metabolic and brain disorders. Our integrative approach complementing rodent and human studies supports the applicability of nutrigenomics principles to predict disease susceptibility and to guide personalized medicine.
http://www.ebiomedicine.com/article...0143-8/abstract
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