Name: How Sugar Is Both ‘Brain Saver’ and Toxin: The Truth About Artificial Sweeteners
Uploaded: 2026-02-24T18:53:45.000Z
Description: When does sugar work for the brain, and when does it work against it? What’s needed for the optimal use of sugar in the body?

Brendon Fallon is the host and executive producer of NTD's "Vital Signs," a health show that zooms in on the important matters of health that come up in everyday life—connecting the dots across the broad canvas of our holistic wellbeing.


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When does sugar work for the brain, and when does it work against it? What’s needed for the optimal use of sugar in the body?

Dr. Russell Blaylock knows what it takes to keep a brain in top condition. He was a neurosurgeon for 25 years, alongside which he had a nutritional practice. Sugar, he says, isn’t always nutritionally bad for the brain.

“And we found that people’s memory improves if you give them glucose,” he says.

“For instance, you can take Alzheimer’s patients and give them a drink with [glucose] and their memory gets better temporarily,” he adds.

Of course, eating too much of the “wrong” sugar has its risks. It’s clearly connected to obesity, and with that comes higher risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and other diseases. But whether sugar is helpful or harmful to the body depends on the form it’s in—for example, whether it’s a simple sugar or complex sugar, and whether the right nutrients are there to help metabolize it.

“It requires enzymes to slowly break the sugar down to produce these different elements that are used during [cellular processes], like the Krebs cycle and electron transport,” Dr. Blaylock explains.

Today, Dr. Blaylock joins Vital Signs with Brendon Fallon to reveal sugar in both its harmful and healthy forms, and to explain how we make it work best for our bodies.

Up Next:
The link to KEY BRAIN NUTRIENTS – w/ Dr. Russell Blaylock – will appear here soon.

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Dr. Blaylock’s “The Blaylock Wellness Report” can be found at <a href="https://www.blaylockreport.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.blaylockreport.com/</a>
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Vital Signs’ host, guests, and contributors offer general information on improving health and wellness. This is not intended as diagnosis or medical advice. You should consult your medical doctor or holistic doctor before enacting any suggested strategies for health and wellness improvement, including those in relation to preventing or treating specific diseases featured on this program.

Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NTD.

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