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In the news ...
Some experts may tell you they
don't have any problem with you freely
enjoying sugar, artificial
sweeteners, 'zero sugar', 'sugar free'
food and drink. They are right: they
won't have a problem - you might!
Sugary
drinks and cancer. A
study reports a possible association between
higher consumption of sugary drinks and an
increased risk of cancer. The consumption of
sugary drinks has increased worldwide during
the last few decades and is convincingly
associated with the risk of obesity, which
in turn is recognised as a strong risk
factor for many cancers. BMJ
Sugar-sweetened
beverages, obesity.
A new American Cancer Society study concludes
that sugar-sweetened beverages have become
more affordable in nearly every corner of the
globe, and are likely to become even more
affordable and more widely consumed. The study
concludes that without policy action to raise
prices, global efforts to address the obesity
epidemic will be hampered. "Overall in the
countries we studied, a person in 2016 could
buy 71 percent more sugar-sweetened beverages
with the same share of their income than they
could in 1990," said Jeffrey Drope, Ph.D.,
study co-author. "Sugary drinks became even
more affordable in developing countries, where
2016's income could buy 89 percent more
sugar-sweetened beverages than in 1990. That's
essentially half-price."
"Although
the increase in affordability is partly due to
economic progress that resulted from rapid
global economic development, it is also
attributable to a lack of action taken by
policy makers to affect the price of
sugar-sweetened beverages," write the authors.
"We argue and the scientific literature
strongly suggests that this environment of
increasingly affordable sugar-sweetened
beverages will inevitably drive increased
consumption of such products and will
certainly hamper global efforts to address the
overweight and obesity epidemic."
The
authors also reviewed price trends for bottled
water comparing them to sugar-sweetened
beverages to provide a control, and found that
bottled water is typically more expensive and
less affordable than sugar-sweetened
beverages. Because rising incomes are a
positive sign of growth, the authors say "the
logical intervention is for governments to
affect prices through excise taxation, as they
have done with other unhealthful products such
as cigarettes." Preventing
Chronic Disease
Artificial sweeteners
linked to risk of weight gain, heart
disease and other health issues.
Artificial
sweeteners may be associated with long-term
weight gain and increased risk of obesity,
diabetes, high blood pressure and heart
disease. Consumption of artificial sweeteners,
such as aspartame, sucralose and
stevia, is widespread and increasing.
The longer observational studies showed a link
between consumption of artificial sweeteners
and relatively higher risks of weight gain and
obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart
disease and other health issues. University of Manitoba George &
Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation,
Children's Hospital Research Institute of
Manitoba. CMAJ (Canadian Medical
Association Journal)
Cancer and
sugar-sweetened beverages link
- Sugar intake or sugar-sweetened beverage
consumption has been demonstrated to have a
positive association with obesity,
diabetes and cardio-metabolic diseases, as
well as some cancers. As more people
are surviving cancer, the consumption of added
sugar will be an increasingly important risk
factor. "The objective of this study was to
closely evaluate the risk factors of sugar
consumption from sugar-sweetened beverages
among cancer survivors and people not
diagnosed with cancer, and to our knowledge,
no other studies have examined sugar-sweetened
beverage intake in cancer survivors," notes
Melinda Sothern, PhD, Professor of Public
Health at LSU Health New Orleans. "Recently
growing evidence suggests a link between
sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and the
risk of pancreatic and endometrial cancer, as
well as the risk of colon cancer recurrence
and death among cancer survivors." The survey
measured the consumption of sodas,
fruit-flavored drinks, sweetened fruit
juices, sports drinks, energy drinks,
sweetened teas and coffees and other
sugar-sweetened drinks. It also
ascertained cancer, smoking and obesity
status, as well as demographic characteristics
including age, gender, race, educational level
and poverty/income ratio. Full
coverage in Translational Cancer
Research.
Soda company sponsorship
of health groups - The nation's
two largest soda companies sponsored at least
96 national health organizations from 2011 to
2015, dampening the health groups' support of
legislation to reduce soda consumption and
impeding efforts to combat the obesity
epidemic. In addition, in the same five-year
period, the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo
lobbied against at least 28 public health
bills intended to reduce soda consumption or
improve nutrition.
The companies "used relationships with health
organizations to develop positive associations
for their brands," said lead author Daniel
Aaron, a medical student at the BU School of
Medicine who co-wrote the study with Michael
Siegel, MD, professor of community health
sciences at the School of Public Health.
"The soda companies can neutralize potential
legislative opposition by invoking reciprocity
and financial dependence from national health
organizations," he said. "Rather than
supporting public health, organizations may
become unwitting partners in a corporate
marketing strategy that undermines public
health."
The sponsorship totals include two diabetes
organizations -- the American Diabetes
Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation - a finding that the authors called
"surprising, given the established link
between diabetes and soda consumption."
The study also identifies 28 bills or proposed
regulations, including soda taxes and
restrictions on advertising, that were opposed
by the soda companies or their lobbying
groups. Siegel and Aaron said these efforts
demonstrate the companies' "primary interest
of improving profit, at the expense of public
health." Aaron and Siegel compared the ties
between soda companies and health groups to
corporate sponsorships of tobacco and alcohol
companies.
"Previous studies of alcohol company
sponsorship and tobacco sponsorship suggest
that corporate philanthropy is a marketing
tool that can be used to silence health
organizations that might otherwise lobby and
support public health measures against these
industries," Siegel said. For example, Save
the Children, a group that supported soda
taxes, dropped the effort in 2010 after
receiving more than $5 million from the
Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo in 2009, the
study says.
The study recommends that health organizations
reject sponsorship offers from soda companies
and find alternative sources of funding.
Boston University. American
Journal of Preventive Medicine
Sugars in infant formulas pose
risk to babies with inherited metabolic
disorder
Babies
with inherited intolerance of fructose
face a risk of acute liver failure if
they are fed certain widely available
formulas containing fructose,
pediatricians and geneticists are
warning. Baby formula manufacturers
should remove fructose or sucrose, or
explicitly label their products to
allow parents to avoid those
sweeteners if necessary.
Emory
geneticists Hong Li, MD, PhD and
Michael Gambello, MD, PhD together
with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
pediatric hepatologist Miriam Vos, MD
and colleagues report four cases of
hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI),
all diagnosed in early infants. All
had acute liver failure that resolved
when the infants switched to formula
without fructose. Emory
Health Sciences. Molecular
Genetics and Metabolism
Sugary beverages,
health warnings
Teens are more than 15 percent less likely to
say they would purchase soft drinks and other
sugary drinks that include health warning
labels, according to a new study led by
researchers at the Center for Health
Incentives and Behavioral Economics in the
Perelman School of Medicine at the University
of Pennsylvania. The study is among the first
to examine how warning labels on sugary drinks
influence teens, and builds upon research
published by the team earlier this year which
showed that parents were less likely to select
sugary beverages for their kids when labels
warning about the dangers of added sugar -
which can contribute to obesity, diabetes and
tooth decay - were present. The study has
significant implications for policies being
considered in several states and cities to
require sugary drinks to display health
warning labels. "The average teen in the
United States consumes at least one
sugar-sweetened beverage every day, which
could account for more than twice the
recommended daily serving of sugar," said lead
author Christina Roberto, PhD, an assistant
professor of Medical Ethics & Health
Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at
the University of Pennsylvania. "The rate of
sugar consumption in the U.S. is astounding
and contributes significantly to obesity, type
2 diabetes, and other dangerous and costly
health conditions." The authors note that the
warning labels also contributed to teenagers'
understanding of the potentially negative
effects on health of regularly consuming
sugary beverages, with participants viewing
the labels indicating they were more likely to
understand that these drinks don't contribute
to a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, the
majority of participants (62 percent) said
they would support a warning label policy for
sugary drinks.
Health rapidly
improves with sugar reduction
Reducing consumption of added sugar, even
without reducing calories or losing weight,
has the power to reverse a cluster of
chronic metabolic diseases, including high
cholesterol and blood pressure, in
children in as little as 10 days.
"This
study definitively shows that
sugar is metabolically harmful not because
of its calories or its effects on weight;
rather sugar is metabolically harmful
because it's sugar," said lead
author Robert Lustig, MD, MSL, pediatric
endocrinologist at UCSF Benioff Children's
Hospital San Francisco. "This internally
controlled intervention study is a solid
indication that sugar contributes to metabolic
syndrome, and is the strongest evidence to
date that the
negative effects of sugar are
not because of calories or obesity."
Jean-Marc
Schwarz, PhD of the College of Osteopathic
Medicine at Touro University California and
senior author of the paper added, "I have
never seen results as striking or significant
in our human studies; after only nine days of
fructose restriction, the results are dramatic
and consistent from subject to subject. These
findings support the idea that it is essential
for parents to evaluate sugar intake and to be
mindful of the health effects of what their
children are consuming."
Metabolic syndrome is a
cluster of conditions -- increased blood
pressure, high blood glucose level, excess
body fat around the waist, and abnormal
cholesterol levels -- that occur together
and increase risk of heart disease,
stroke, and diabetes. Other diseases
associated with metabolic syndrome, such
as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and
type 2 diabetes, now occur in
children -- disorders previously unknown in
the pediatric population.
"This
study demonstrates that 'a calorie is not a
calorie.' Where those calories come from
determines where in the body they go. Sugar calories are the
worst, because they turn to fat in the
liver, driving insulin resistance, and
driving risk for diabetes, heart, and
liver disease. This has
enormous implications for the food industry,
chronic disease, and health care costs," said
Lustig.
University of
California San Francisco and Touro University
California. Obesity
Sweetened drinks linked to
increased heart failure risk
Consumption of at least two daily servings of
sweetened drinks was associated with a 23% heightened risk of
developing heart failure
compared with no consumption (study included
men only). Heart failure is thought to affect
more than 23 million people worldwide, nearly
6 million of whom live in the US, and more
than half a million of whom live in the UK.
Only around half of those diagnosed with
heart failure are still alive five years
later. No distinction was made between
drinks sweetened with sugar, fructose/glucose,
or artificial sweetener. Sweetened drinks are
popular around the globe. Their regular
consumption has been
associated with changes in blood pressure,
insulin levels, and inflammatory markers,
as well as weight gain--factors implicated
in metabolic syndrome, diabetes, coronary
heart disease and stroke. "The best message
for a preventive strategy would be to
recommend an occasional consumption of
sweetened beverages or to avoid them
altogether." Heart
Fructose
Fructose not only results in a lower level of
satiety, it also stimulates the reward system
in the brain to a lesser degree. This may
cause excessive consumption accompanied by
effects that are a
risk to health. Various diseases
have been attributed to industrial fructose in
sugary drinks and ready meals.
Research
is increasingly finding indications that
isolated, industrially manufactured fructose -
which is increasingly used in sugary
drinks, sweets and ready meals - is
problematic for the human body. It is
suspected that
fructose promotes the development of
various disorders such as obesity,
diabetes, fatty liver disease and gout.
Professor
Christoph Beglinger, Professor Stefan
Borgwardt, Dr Bettina Wölnerhanssen, Dr Anne
Christin Meyer-Gerspach. University of Basel.
PLOS ONE
Fructose vicious circle
'Walk through any supermarket and take a look
at the labels on food products, and you'll see
that many of them contain fructose, often in
the form of sucrose (table sugar)' -- that's
how Wilhelm Krek, professor for cell biology
at ETH Zurich's Institute for Molecular Health
Sciences, summarises the problem with today's
nutrition.
Prepared foods and soft drinks in
particular, but even purportedly healthy
fruit juices contain fructose as an
artificial additive -
often in high quantities. In recent decades
fructose spread throughout the food market,
due to a reputation as being less harmful than
glucose. In contrast to glucose, fructose
barely increases blood glucose levels and
insulin secretion. This avoids frequently
recurring insulin spikes after any glucose
consumption, which are judged harmful. In
addition, fructose is sweeter to the taste.
But there's a downside: the
liver converts fructose very
efficiently into fat. People
who consume too much high-fructose food can in
time become
overweight and develop high blood
pressure, dyslipidaemia with fatty liver
and insulin resistance --
symptoms that doctors group together under the
name metabolic
syndrome.
Researchers
have discovered a previously unknown molecular
mechanism that points to
fructose as a key driver of
uncontrolled growth of the heart muscle,
a condition that can lead to fatal heart
failure.
When
a person has high
blood pressure, the heart has
to grow as it is harder to pump the blood
through the circulatory system. These growing
heart muscle cells require a considerable
amount of oxygen. However, since not enough
oxygen is available to adequately supply the
increased growth, the cells switch to an
alternative energy supply. Instead of drawing
energy from fatty acids, they rely more on an
anaerobic process called glycolysis --
literally, the 'splitting of sugars'. If the
heart muscle cells can access fructose in
addition to glucose, this can set off a fatal
chain reaction.
People should avoid
overly sweet soft drinks and fruit
juices -- these often have sugar added
-- as well as ready-made meals and other
foods to which large amounts of fructose
are added as a flavour carrier.
'Just this surplus of fructose can help
trigger the mechanism we have described if one
of the stress factors is present, such as
cardiac valve disease or high blood pressure,'
Mirtschink emphasises.
ETH Zurich's
Institute for Molecular Health Sciences.
Nature
Sugar-sweetened beverage
habit linked to non-alcoholic fatty liver
disease
A daily sugar-sweetened beverage habit may
increase the risk for non-alcoholic fatty
liver disease (NAFLD). "Our study adds to a
growing body of research suggesting that sugar-sweetened beverages
may be linked to NAFLD and other chronic
diseases including diabetes and
cardiovascular disease," said
first author Jiantao Ma, Ph.D. Sugar-sweetened
beverages are a major dietary source of
fructose, the sugar that is suspected of
increasing risk of NAFLD because of how our
bodies process it.
Nutrition
Research Center on Aging (USDA HRNCA) at Tufts
University. Journal of Hepatology
Sugar sweetened beverages
linked to overall poor diet
High consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages,
which has been linked to
increased risk of type 2 diabetes,
is part of a poor overall diet. Consumption of
several beverages has been associated with
risk of type 2 diabetes; high coffee and tea
consumption has been associated with a
decreased risk and high consumption of
sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) with an
increased risk. Lund
University, Malmö, Sweden. European
Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)
Sweet Poison - Sugary
drinks linked to high death tolls
"Many countries in the world have a
significant number of
deaths occurring from a single dietary
factor, sugar-sweetened
beverages. It should be a global priority to
substantially reduce or eliminate
sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet," said
Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr.P.H., senior
author of the study and dean of the Friedman
School of Nutrition Science & Policy at
Tufts University in Boston.
"Some
population dietary changes, such as increasing
fruits and vegetables, can be challenging due
to agriculture, costs, storage, and other
complexities. This is not complicated. There are no health
benefits from sugar-sweetened beverages,
and the potential impact of reducing
consumption is saving tens of thousands of
deaths each year," Mozaffarian said.
Circulation
Diet soda and waist
increases - Those who drink
diet soda thinking it will help them shed
unwanted belly fat may see their
waistlines expand instead.
Fowler
said. "The increases in
abdominal fat were more than three times
as great in daily diet soda users as in
non-users, during the very time in
life when increasing waist circumference is
associated with increased risk of these
serious medical conditions, and mortality
itself."
These
findings raise a red flag for seniors because
fat around the waist - the proverbial tire
around the middle - includes not only fat just
under the skin but also fat that accumulates
around internal organs, known as viscera. Many
studies have linked visceral fat with
increased
inflammation and risk of metabolic
disease, diabetes, heart attack, stroke,
cancer and mortality. When
waistlines expand in older age, visceral fat
increases disproportionately, and risk rises.
Helen
P. Hazuda, Ph.D., professor of medicine in the
School of Medicine at The University of Texas
Health Science Center at San Antonio, Sharon
P. Fowler, M.P.H., adjunct faculty in the
School of Medicine at the Health Science
Center, Ken Williams, M.S., adjunct faculty in
the School of Medicine. Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society
High-fructose diet slows
recovery from brain injury
Revealing a link between nutrition and brain
health, the finding offers implications for
millions living with a traumatic brain injury,
or TBI. "Americans consume most of their fructose from processed
foods sweetened with high-fructose corn
syrup," said Fernando
Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery and
integrative biology and physiology at UCLA's
David Geffen School of Medicine. "We found
that processed
fructose inflicts surprisingly harmful
effects on the brain's ability
to repair itself after a head trauma." The sweetener interfered
with the ability of neurons to communicate
with each other, rewire connections after
injury, record memories and produce enough
energy to fuel basic functions.
"Our
findings suggest that
fructose disrupts plasticity --
the creation of fresh pathways between brain
cells that occurs when we learn or experience
something new," said Gomez-Pinilla, a member
of the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center.
"That's a huge obstacle for anyone to overcome
-- but especially for a TBI patient, who is
often struggling to relearn daily routines and
how to care for himself or herself."
Earlier
research has revealed how
fructose harms the body through its role
in contributing to cancer, diabetes,
obesity and fatty liver.
Gomez-Pinilla's study is the latest in a UCLA
body of work uncovering the effects of
fructose on brain function. His team
previously was the first to identify the
negative impact fructose has on learning and
memory.
"Our
take-home message can be boiled down to this:
reduce fructose in your diet if you want to
protect your brain," Gomez-Pinilla stressed.
Sources of fructose in the
western diet include honey, cane sugar
(sucrose) and high-fructose corn syrup, an
inexpensive liquid sweetener.
Made from cornstarch, the liquid syrup is widely added as a
sweetener and preservative to processed
foods, including soft drinks, condiments,
applesauce and baby food.
Fructose also occurs naturally in
fruit, which contains antioxidants, fiber
and other nutrients that prevent the
same damage.
University
of Claifornia - LA Health Sciences.
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and
Metabolism
Fructose weight gain, body
fat
Because
of the addition of high-fructose corn
syrup to many soft drinks and processed
baked goods, fructose currently accounts
for 10 percent of caloric intake. Male
adolescents are the top fructose consumers,
deriving between 15 to 23 percent of their
calories from fructose - three to four
times more than the maximum levels
recommended by the American Heart
Association. Researchers found that, matched
calorie for calorie with the simple sugar
glucose, fructose causes significant weight
gain, physical inactivity, and body fat
deposition. One thing is certain: high intake of fructose
by itself adds pounds.
Beckman
Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
at the University of Illinois. Scientific
Reports
Fat, sugar cause bacterial changes
that may relate to loss of cognitive
function
A study
indicates that both a high-fat and a
high-sugar diet, compared to a normal diet,
cause changes in gut bacteria that appear
related to a significant loss of "cognitive
flexibility," or the power to adapt and adjust
to changing situations. This effect was most
serious on the
high-sugar diet, which also showed an
impairment of early learning for both
long-term and short-term memory.
The
findings are consistent with some other
studies about the impact of fat and sugar on
cognitive function and behavior, and suggest
that some of these problems may be linked to
alteration of the microbiome - a complex
mixture in the digestive system of about 100
trillion microorganisms.
What's
often referred to as the "Western diet,"
or foods that are high in fat, sugars and
simple carbohydrates, has been linked to
a range of chronic illnesses,
including the obesity epidemic and an
increased incidence of Alzheimer's
disease.
"We've known for a while that too much fat and
sugar are not good for you," Professor Kathy
Magnusson said. "This work suggests that fat
and sugar are altering your healthy bacterial
systems, and that's one of the reasons those
foods aren't good for you. It's not just the
food that could be influencing your brain, but
an interaction between the food and microbial
changes."
Oregon State
University. Neuroscience
Added sugars, high blood
pressure and heart disease
Dietary guidelines should
emphasise the role played by added sugars,
particularly fructose, in the fight to curb
the prevalence of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular
disease is the number one cause of
premature death in the developed world. And
high blood pressure is its most
important risk factor, accounting for almost
350,000 deaths in the US in 2009 and costing
more than $50 billion US dollars every year.
Dietary approaches to lower high
blood pressure have historically focused
on cutting salt intake. Most salt in the
diet comes from processed foods, which
also happen to be a rich source of added
sugars.
"Compelling
evidence from basic science, population
studies, and clinical trials implicates
sugars, and particularly the monosaccharide
fructose, as playing a major role in the
development of hypertension [high
blood pressure]," say researchers.
They point the finger in particular to
high fructose corn syrup, which is the
most frequently used sweetener in
processed foods, particularly
fruit-flavoured and fizzy drinks.
Around 300 years ago, people only consumed a
few pounds of sugar a year, researchers add,
whereas current estimates suggest that average
consumption in the US is 77-152 pounds a
year--equivalent to 24-47 teaspoons a
day.
And a daily intake of more than
74 g of fructose is associated with a
30% greater risk of blood pressure above
140/90 mm Hg and a 77% increased risk of
blood pressure above 160/100 mm Hg.
A high fructose diet has also
been linked to an unfavourable blood fat
profile, higher fasting blood insulin
levels, and a doubling in the risk of
metabolic syndrome.
Of
particular concern, they say, is that UK and
US teens may be consuming added sugars up
to 16 times the recommended limit. They
emphasise that
naturally-occurring sugars found in fruit
and vegetables are not harmful to health.
Eating fruit and vegetables is almost
certainly beneficial.
"Just as most dietary sodium does not come
from the salt shaker, most dietary sugar does
not come from the sugar bowl;
reducing consumption of added sugars by
limiting processed foods containing it,
made by corporations, would be a good
place to start," write the
authors. And they go on to warn: "The
evidence is clear that even moderate doses
of added sugar for short durations may
cause substantial harm." BMJ-British Medical
Journal
Sugary drinks, risk factors for
heart disease
Beverages sweetened with low,
medium and high amounts of high-fructose
corn syrup significantly increase risk
factors for cardiovascular disease, even
when consumed for just two weeks.
The
study demonstrates a direct, dose-dependent
relationship between the amount of added sugar
consumed in sweetened beverages and increases
in specific risk factors for cardiovascular
disease.
The
data reinforce evidence from an earlier
epidemiological study showing that the risk of
death from cardiovascular disease -- the
leading cause of death in the United States
and around the world -- increases as the
amount of added sugar consumed increases.
University of California, Davis. American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition
Energy drinks,
hyperactivity
Children who consume
heavily sweetened energy drinks
are 66% more likely
to be at risk for hyperactivity
and inattention symptoms. The finding has
implications for school success and lends
support to existing recommendations to limit
the amount of sweetened beverages. The authors
also recommend that children avoid energy
drinks, which in addition to high levels of
sugar also often contain caffeine. In addition
to hyperactivity and inattention, heavily
sugared beverages also impact childhood
obesity.
Yale
University School of Public Health.
Academic Pediatrics
Association between energy
drinks and traumatic brain injury
Teens who reported a traumatic brain injury in
the past year were seven times more likely to
have consumed at least five energy drinks in
the past week than those without a history of
TBI. "We've found a link between increased
brain injuries and the consumption of energy
drinks or energy drinks mixed with alcohol,"
said Dr. Michael Cusimano, a neurosurgeon at
St. Michael's Hospital. "This is significant
because energy drinks have previously been
associated with general injuries, but not
specifically with TBI." Dr. Cusimano said
energy drink consumption could interfere with
recovery efforts for teens who have sustained
a TBI. "Energy drinks contain
high levels of caffeine and change the
chemical state of the body,
which can prevent people from getting back on
track after a TBI," said Dr. Cusimano. "Brain
injuries among adolescents are particularly
concerning because their brains are still
developing." Previous research at St.
Michael's Hospital found that TBI is
associated with poor academic performance,
mental health issues, violence, substance
abuse and aggression in both teens and adults
-- factors that can interfere with
rehabilitation, said Dr. Cusimano. PLOS ONE
Energy drinks, sleep
problems - Many energy drinks
have high caffeine content; when consumed in
excess, caffeine can accelerate the heart
rate, increase anxiety, and contribute to
insomnia. Energy drinks contain very large
amounts of caffeine, and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) does not require caffeine
quantities to be displayed on beverage
labels," says Levant. "Because of this, some
people may drink more caffeine through energy
drinks than they might have intended to
throughout a day, and drinking large amounts
can cause problems--especially with sleep."
Dr. Ronald F. Levant, a professor of
psychology at The University of Akron.
Health
Psychology
High sugar consumption,
poor functioning
The report shows that children from more
functional families were 67 per cent less
likely to consume more than four intakes of
sugary foods and drinks a day, compared with
children from less functional families.
"Effective
family functioning is a safeguard against the
well-known negative impact of lower levels of
education in relation to sugar consumption"
Professor Wagner Marcenes continued. "A
significant number of children whose mothers
had a lower level of qualification but whose
family functioning was effective were more
likely to consume less than four intakes of
sugary foods compared with their counterparts
whose family functioning was impaired. "
The
study is a major two generation family study
involving more than 50 researchers. It is
believed to be the first study which
demonstrates that
high sugar consumption is related to poor
family functioning.
Professor
Marcenes explains: "We live in a very
materialistic world but material resources
alone cannot fulfill us. We also need to meet
our psychological needs. A functional family
is a major source of pleasure in life,
providing comfort and reward. In contrast,
dysfunctional families are a major source of
frustration and stress - and this can lead to
high sugar consumption in the search for the
'feel-good' effect."
Dr
Sucharita Nanjappa, University of Dundee, who
co-authored this report and was involved in
many different aspects of the study says:
"This study gathered information on the whole
family's day to day experiences. This has the
potential to lead to interventions that are
based on identifying, encouraging and
developing the family's own positive resources
to help improve the health of its members -
through the acquisition of healthy lifestyle."
Eating too much sugar is linked to
a long list of negative health effects,
including diabetes, heart disease, obesity
and tooth decay.
Recently,
a committee of scientists has advised the
World Health Organization (WHO) and
governments that no more than 5 per cent of
daily calories should come from added sugar
(about seven teaspoons). This is far less than
the current average intake of sugar worldwide.
Professor
Wagner Marcenes concludes: "Public health
needs to move beyond the naïve belief that
health education based on risk awareness
raising programmes alone will lead to
behavioural change across the population. If
this were the case, doctors and nurses would
not smoke, drink above the limit and eat
sweets.
"It
is crucial to understand why we crave for
sugar and to identify factors that help people
to deal with sugar craving. We need to focus
on the wider determinants of health behaviour
and lifestyle, such as socio-psychological
factors."
Queen Mary
University of London, University of Dundee. Caries
Research
Cut illness and death from
cardiovascular disease and curb the rising
tide of obesity
Daily consumption of a sugary
drink (150 calories) is associated with a
significantly increased risk of type 2
diabetes whereas daily consumption of a
handful of nuts (30 g of walnuts, 15 g of
almonds and 15 g hazelnuts) or four
tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (around
500 calories) is associated with a
significantly reduced risk of heart attack and
stroke.
The evidence indeed supports the mantra that 'food can be the most
powerful form of medicine or the slowest
form of poison', researchers
write. BMJ.
Open Heart
Public
health scientists and sugar industry
Public health scientists and a government
committee working on nutritional advice receive funding from the
very companies whose products are widely
held to be responsible for the obesity
crisis. Findings from the
special report raise important questions about
the potential for
bias and conflict of interest
among public health experts as the UK faces a
growing obesity epidemic.
David Stuckler, professor of political economy
and sociology at Oxford University, says the
engagement of companies ... with the work of
public health organisations "falls into the
category of efforts
to crowd out public regulation, to try to
weaken public health by working with it".
The BMJ also reports evidence that the
Responsibility Deal is not working. Not only
do industry's pledges made under the deal not
add up to the government's target of a 5%
reduction in calorie consumption, but the UK's
most comprehensive survey of shopping habits
shows that between 2006 and 2014 the number of
calories in the national weekly shop has
increased by almost 12 %. BMJ-British Medical Journal
Lowering sugar-sweetened
beverages (SSBs) helpful
Senior author Jennifer Sacheck commented,
"Importantly, not only are most SSBs
high in sugar and devoid of nutritional
value, but they are displacing other
foods and beverages that offer high
nutritional quality, which are critical for
children's growth and development, further
exacerbating the potential harmful health
effects of SSBs." Friedman
School of Nutrition Science and Policy at
Tufts University. The Journal of
Nutrition
Research exposes the
health risks of fructose and sugary drinks
There is compelling evidence that drinking too
many sugar-sweetened beverages, which
contain added sugars in the form of high
fructose corn syrup or table sugar (sucrose),
can lead to excess weight gain and a greater
risk of developing type 2 diabetes and
cardiovascular disease.
"Since
we rarely consume fructose in isolation, the
major source of fructose in the diet comes
from fructose-containing sugars, sucrose and
high fructose corn syrup, in sugar-sweetened
beverages," according to Frank Hu, MD, PhD,
Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
"Our findings underscore the urgent need for
public health strategies that reduce the
consumption of these drinks."
Sweeteners
such as high fructose corn syrup, produced
from corn starch, have been widely used as a
low-cost alternative to sucrose in foods and
beverages.
"This
is particularly concerning as the research
shows that consuming one or more
sugar-sweetened beverages a day has been
linked to greater weight gain and obesity
in numerous published studies," said Hu.
"Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened
beverages can lead to weight gain because the
liquid calories are not filling, and so people
don't reduce their food intake at subsequent
meals."
The
paper reveals that consuming one or two
servings a day has been linked to:
-
as high as a 26 percent
greater risk of developing type 2
diabetes,
-
a 35 percent greater risk of
heart attack or fatal heart disease, and
-
a 16 percent increased risk of
stroke
The
research team also explored how fructose is
metabolized in the body and its link to weight
gain and the development of metabolic and
cardiovascular conditions. "Part of the
problem is how fructose behaves in the body,"
said Hu. Glucose, another component of sugar,
is readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal
tract into the bloodstream where it is
transported through the action of insulin into
the body's cells to be used as fuel. Fructose,
on the other hand, is metabolized in the liver
where it can be converted to fatty compounds
called triglycerides, which may lead to fatty liver disease and
insulin resistance, a key risk
factor for developing diabetes and
cardiovascular disease. Overconsumption of
fructose can also lead to too much
uric acid in the blood, which
is associated with a greater risk of gout, a painful
inflammatory arthritis.
The
researchers point out that since fructose and
glucose typically travel together in
sugar-sweetened beverages and foods, it is
important to reduce total amounts of added
sugars, especially in the form of
sugar-sweetened beverages. They outline a
number of alternatives to sugar-sweetened
beverages that include water, coffee, and
tea. Journal
of the American College of Cardiology
Carbonated drinks linked
with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of
cardiac origin
Carbonated beverages are associated with
out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of cardiac
origin. The study suggests that limiting
consumption of carbonated beverages may be
beneficial for health. "Some epidemiologic
studies have shown a
positive correlation between the
consumption of soft drinks and the
incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD)
and stroke, while other reports
have demonstrated that the intake of
green tea and coffee reduced the risk and
mortality of CVD," said principal
investigator Professor Keijiro Saku, Dean and
professor of cardiology at Fukuoka University
in Japan. "Carbonated beverages, or sodas,
have frequently been demonstrated to increase
the risk of metabolic syndrome and CVD, such
as subclinical cardiac remodeling and stroke.
However, until now the association between
drinking large amounts of carbonated beverages
and fatal CVD, or out-of-hospital cardiac
arrests (OHCA) of cardiac origin, was
unclear." European
Society of Cradiology
Some experts may tell you they
don't have any problem with you freely
enjoying sugar, artificial
sweeteners, 'zero sugar', 'sugar free'
food and drink. They are right: they
won't have a problem - you might!
What One Can of Coke Does to
Your Body in Only One Hour
What One Can of Diet
Coke Does to Your Body in One Hour
Supermarket bans sugary
drinks to help cut obesity
Refined
carbohydrates increases risk of depression
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