Cut back on your sugar and carbohydrates? Increase the fat in your diet? Ten years ago fat was the killer in our diet and carbohydrates the answer to preventing heart disease, the bane of our fast food society.
Dr. Atkins (of Atkins Diet fame) was one of the
first to suggest that sugar, not fat was the reason for our epidemic
of obesity. A recent review of 23 studies in 2017 supported this
claim with the observation that study participants on a low
carbohydrate diet often lost 2-3 times as much weight as the low fat
groups.
And even more interesting, many of the low carbohydrate group lost weight without any calorie restriction.
And even more interesting, many of the low carbohydrate group lost weight without any calorie restriction.
The appetite suppressing effects of dietary fat
were associated with an unexpected reduction in participants’ total
daily calories. This “fat effect” is why we often take a trip to
the refrigerator within a few hours of a chinese meal (generally low
fat) and can find ourselves skipping that early lunch after a
breakfast of bacon and eggs (high fat).
Then there were the studies showing that excess
sugar increased the risk for heart attacks and strokes. In 2014 the
Journal of the American Medical Association published a study showing
that that North Americans who ate 25 percent of their calories as
sugar had a fatal heart attack rate 2.75 times that of those who ate
less than ten percent as sugar calories.
A meal high in sugar--or a sugared drink--leads to
a rapid rise in blood sugar. Unless that extra sugar is used by
exercising muscles (one of the reasons a good walk after dinner is a
healthy habit), it is converted almost immediately to a type of fat
called triglycerides.
These in turn cause fatty deposits in the lining
of blood vessels and are the reason for the increased risk for a
stroke or heart attack.
Even cancer has been linked to a high sugar diet. Rapidly growing cancer cells get almost all of their energy from sugar in a process that is oxygen-independent, while normal cells get their energy from fats, protein, and sugar in a process that is dependent on oxygen.
This observation led to speculation that the
occasional cancerous cell (resulting from a spontaneous mutation)
would have a better chance of survival in the presence of a high
blood sugar. The theory is supported by a recent study showing an
increased risk of colon cancer recurrence in patients with higher
total daily carbohydrate diets.
Why has it taken so long for this to be sorted
out? That is a story in itself and a great example of why industry
funded research should always be suspect.
In the 1940s there was an ongoing argument in the
medical literature on the role of fats versus sugar as the major risk
factor for heart disease. To quote from an online blog by Dr. Mirkin,
“... in 1965, John Hickson of the Sugar Research Foundation (now
the Sugar Association) wrote to Harvard researchers asking them to
write an article showing that sugar was safe and healthful. He paid
them $6,500 and asked them to review only the research papers
favorable to the sugar industry.”
This was the first step in a cascade of events
that demonized fat and promoted sugar as heart healthy. And it has
taken 50 years for the real facts to come to light.
But the wheel turns and we are now coming back
around to our grandmother’s advice to eat a balanced diet. The
healthiest approach is not an artificially low fat versus low sugar
diet, but instead about eating a balanced diet—a bit of meat,
occasional fish, a side of pasta, and several portions of fruit and
vegetables. And getting rid of that sugar bowl in the kitchen and on
the table.
It won’t be easy. Evidence from PET scans shows
the same brain activity changes with the over consumption of sugar
that we see in drug or tobacco addiction. And when you talk to
someone who has tried to limit the sugar in their diet, their story
reminds you of the withdrawal symptoms described by smokers and
alcoholics. That is several weeks of withdrawal symptoms with a long
term residual urge to have that piece of candy or sugared cereal.
But in their next breath the successful will just
as quickly tell you how much better they feel. So to keep you and
your family healthy, it is time to think about taking that sugar bowl
off the table….and then out of the kitchen.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23136358
Dietary glycemic load and cancer recurrence and survival in patients
with stage III colon cancer: findings from CALGB 89803.
Dietary glycemic load and cancer recurrence and survival in patients
with stage III colon cancer: findings from CALGB 89803.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/are-sugary-foods-addictive/
http://www.drmirkin.com/heart/added-sugars-linked-to-high-blood-pressure.html
Diabetes and dementia - its the pp blodd sugar. https://www.drmirkin.com/health/diabetes/how-pre-diabetes-increases-risk-for-dementia.html
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete