HOW BLUE M&MS CAN HELP SPINAL CORD INJURIES

Someone involved in a car accident, motorcycle accident or workers' compensation can sustain a traumatic injury to the spinal cord. That injury is bad, but what is worse is the inflammation after the injury that can cause more irreversible damage than the initial trauma. Can blue M&Ms and blue Gatorade prevent this inflammation from happening?

Well, not M&Ms and Gatorade, but a compound that's similar to the blue food dye in Gatorade and M&Ms may hold promise for people with spinal cord injuries, new research says. The compound, called Brilliant Blue G, blocks the cascade of events that leads to inflammation following a traumatic injury of the spinal cord, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center report in a recent study.

In the study, researchers injected Brilliant Blue G into rats with spinal cord injuries. The rodents which were injected showed improved mobility and even hobbled about. They also temporarily turned blue. Injured rats that were not given a dose of the blue dye didnt walk at all. According to the study, Brilliant Blue G blocks ATP from flooding the spinal injury and triggering inflammation, the researchers say.

And I thought the green M&M were the good ones!!