Sugar-sweetened drinks: watch out for teenagers' brains
- Posted on 25/07/2025 18:31
- Film
- By abelozih@sante-education.tg
Extract from the article: A diet rich in sugars, and especially industrial sugars, is responsible for numerous health problems: overweight or obesity, cardiovascular disease, liver, dental and dermatological disorders. According to a study conducted by the University of Georg
A
diet rich in sugars, and especially industrial sugars, is responsible for
numerous health problems: overweight or obesity, cardiovascular disease, liver,
dental and dermatological disorders. According to a study conducted by the
University of Georgia and the University of Southern California (USA),
excessive consumption of sugary drinks during adolescence reduces learning
capacity and memory.
The
researchers tested their hypothesis on rodents. They found that in “adolescent”
rodents that consume the most sugar on a daily basis, specific bacteria develop
in the intestinal microbiota: parabacteroids. The more these bacteria are
present in the microbiota, the less efficient the rodents are in terms of memory
and learning, note the scientists, who have published their work in the
specialist journal « Translational Psychiatry ».
The
key to this discovery is the hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in
learning and memory. Parabacteroids appear to have a negative impact on the
hippocampus and related structures, resulting in cognitive impairment. For the
health of teenagers, it is therefore preferable to limit high-sugar drinks as
much as possible, including cans, lemonades, syrups and fruit juices, which
contain an average of 9g of sugar per 100ml.
Elom AKAKPO
