Fizzy drinks 'boost memory'

Fizzy drinks, the scourge of healthy diet campaigners, can improve your memory, according to experts today.

Consuming the equivalent of two cans of soft drink can boost memory retention by a fifth and combat dementia in older people, found neuroscientists from Glasgow Caledonian University.

Psychology lecturer Dr Leigh Riby, who led the research, said people studying for exams could benefit from increasing the amount of sugar in their diet.

He focused on an area of the brain known as the hippocampus, which creates new memories but declines with the onset of dementia.

Dr Riby used a series of memory tests and brain- imaging techniques to assess how volunteers responded after guzzling sugary drinks.

He found the hippocampus lit up with activity after participants had a sweetened drink and they were able to recall 17 per cent more than without a drink.

But you should be aware that prolonged over-use of sugar will cause harm for many different reasons.

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