A few shocking revelations have been made by scientists lately in the field of medicine. According to these scientists, an intake of pure maple syrup extract can actually help your body stave off horrible brain deteriorating illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease and ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. This does not mean you should go out to the store and buy a bunch of maple syrup and start guzzling it, though.
Scientists say that it has to be 100 percent pure maple syrup extract. Many syrup companies here in the States can get away with advertising their product as such, when it is actually not the real deal. It needs to be pure maple syrup taken from the sap of Canadian maple trees. Other “cheaper” forms of syrup lack the beneficial substances that pure maple syrup has that allow it to protect your body from Alzheimer’s and ALS.
Now, how exactly does pure maple syrup stave off the development of Alzheimer’s and ALS? Well, consuming it has been shown to reduce the amount of brain cell proteins that fold wrongly and combine into a plaque substance. And if you know anything about Alzheimer’s, ALS, and a handful of brain deteriorating diseases, you would know that the plaque substance is key in allowing those kinds of diseases to develop in the brain. More specifically, a group of scientists found that consuming pure maple syrup extract stops the wrongful folding and building up of B-amyloid and tau, a couple of peptides that are staples of Alzheimer’s disease.
Other studies conducted by groups of scientists elsewhere appeared to back these findings up – one group conducted an experiment on rats consuming maple syrup extract and found similar results. And other groups found that the consumption of maple syrup extract made roundworms and worms live longer.
Now of course, nothing is concrete yet and it is not known for certain if these results can be replicated on humans, but they certainly seem promising.
Moreover, as it pertains to ALS, the scientists are confident enough to say that consuming maple syrup extract mitigates the damage to brain cell proteins inflicted by structural changes in the TDP-43 gene. These alterations to the gene and the damage they inflict on brain cells are one of the leading causes of the onset of ALS, according to the scientists. This is because the structural changes in the TDP-43 gene cause a buildup of TDP-43 proteins in brain cells, and as stated earlier, these kinds of brain cell proteins are pivotal in the growth and development of ALS and Alzheimer’s. However, when it comes to the buildup of TDP-43 proteins specifically, it causes ALS.
Recent trials were conducted in a Canadian university backed up the claims that consuming maple syrup extraction was beneficial in defending brain cells from the damage inflicted by the TDP-43 gene mutations. Unfortunately, these trials were conducted on worms so once again, the effects on humans may be lesser or different – or exactly the same. The properties of the maple syrup extract that seem to be having this brain cell-defensive effect are the sugars and the phenols in the extract working in tandem with one another.
The scientists are confident that pure Canadian maple syrup extract will have similar results on the brain cells of humans. They conclude that consuming maple syrup extract will greatly assist in keeping your brain cells structurally sound and protected against crippling neurological problems such as ALS and Alzheimer’s.
Once again, this isn’t a go-ahead for you to start guzzling maple syrup, even if it is 100 percent pure maple syrup extract from Canada. Because that would just be weird and probably not the most appetizing idea. But you should definitely try to squeeze it into your diet. The internet, more specifically Google, can be your best friend when it comes to finding creative ways to do just that. I mean, it is as easy as just eating some waffles or pancakes in the morning for breakfast and drizzling some pure maple syrup on them. Or you could even go for some French toast if waffles and pancakes are not your thing. Good luck!
