A range of diseases — from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, and from Alzheimer’s disease to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — are linked to changes to genes in the brain. A study by UCLA scientists has found that hundreds of those brain genes can be damaged by fructose, a sugar that’s common in the Western diet. […]
Not all sugars are created equal. A new study published by the scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) reports that trehalose, a natural sugar that can be found in mushrooms, can boost macrophages, the machinery that the immune system uses to cleanup cellular debris in the atherosclerotic plague, and therefore reduces the […]
Mannitol is a sugar alcohol produced by fungi, bacteria, and algae. According to a report published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers from Tel Aviv University have found that mannitol prevents “bad” clumps of the protein, α-synuclein, from forming in the brain — a process that is characteristic of Parkinson’s disease. After identifying the […]
“Sugar” is essential for life on Earth. It can be found in nearly all food sources. What is “sugar”, where does it come from, and (this may seem like a strange question to ask) what is it used for. This blog post attempts to answer these questions. What is sugar The term “sugar” is generic. Most of […]