sugar Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Stevia and Monk Fruit vs. Aspartame and Splenda

AHA Publisher — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 07:00:11 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – The natural plant-based sweeteners stevia and monk fruit (Luo Han Guo) are pitted head-to-head against aspartame and Splenda. A number of artificial sweeteners have been approved in North America by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including aspartame and sucralose (sold as Splenda), but there are also natural “high-intensity sweeteners” found in plants. The global market for non-nutritive, or non-caloric, sweeteners, in general, is in the billions. This includes all the artificial ones and two natural ones extracted from plants—stevia and monk fruit. You may recall I’ve discussed stevia before, but what about monk fruit? That’s the subject of my video Is Monk Fruit Sweetener Safe?. “The fruits of Luo Han Guo [monk fruit in Chinese] have been used for hundreds of years in China as a natural sweetener and as a folk medicine….The non-caloric sweet taste…results primarily from mogrosides, a group of cucurbitane-type triterpene glycosides that are present at about 1% in the flesh of the fruit.” “The mixed mogrosides have been estimated to be about 300 times as sweet as sucrose [table sugar] so that an 80% extract was nearly 250 times sweeter than sugar.” If you read reviews in Chinese natural medicine journals, you’ll see pronouncements like this: Monk fruit “has been shown to have the following effects: antitussive [anti-coughing], anti-asthmatic, anti-oxidation, liver-protection, glucose-lowering [blood sugar-lowering], immuno-regulation, and anti-cancer.” What they don’t tell you up front, however, is that they’re talking about reducing ammonia-induced mouse coughs. What is this about a “natural food sweetener with anti-pancreatic cancer properties”? Indeed, monk fruit “may be used for daily consumption as an additive in foods and drinks to prevent or treat pancreatic cancer”—in your pet mouse. There was a study conducted on the “antiproliferative activity of triterpene glycoside nutrient from monk fruit in colorectal cancer and throat cancer,” but it was on colorectal and throat cancer cells in a petri dish. As you can see at 1:53 in my video, researchers did show mogrosides killing off colorectal cancer cells and throat cancer cells, and our digestive tract could be exposed directly to these compounds if we ate them. What’s missing, though? The researchers didn’t test it against normal cells. I mean, you could pee in a petri dish and kill off cancer cells, but the whole point is to find something that kills off cancer while leaving normal cells alone, something the researchers weren’t able to show in this study. Are there any human studies on monk fruit? We’re in luck. “Owing to the rapidly growing popularity of natural plant-derived compounds, it will be of interest to determine whether natural NNS [non-nutritive sweeteners] would be a healthier alternative to sugar and artificial NNS for consumers.” So, researchers randomized people to drink beverages sweetened with either aspartame, monk fruit, stevia, or table sugar. They then measured blood sugars over 24 hours and found there was no significant difference amongst any of the four sweeteners. Wait a second. As you can see at 2:58 in my video, the sugar group was given 16 spoonsful of sugar, the amount of added sugar in a 20-ounce bottle of Coke. So, the other three groups consumed 16 fewer spoonsful of sugar yet still had the same average blood sugars? Table sugar causes a big blood sugar spike, as you can see at 3:20 in my video. Drink that bottle of sugar water with its 16 spoonsful of sugar, and your blood sugars jump 40 points over the next hour. If you’re given a beverage sweetened with aspartame, monk fruit, or stevia, though, nothing happens. That’s to be expected, right? Those are non-caloric sweeteners without any calories, so isn’t it just like drinking water? In that case, how could your daily blood sugar values average out the same as drinking the sugar-sweetened drink? The only way that could happen is if the non-calorie sweeteners somehow made your blood sugar spikes worse later in the day. Indeed, when people drink Splenda mixed with sugar water, they get a greater blood sugar spike and a greater insulin spike chugging the sugar with sucralose (Splenda) than without, even though Splenda alone causes no spike of its own, as you can see at 4:04 in my video. What about aspartame? Does it do the same thing? At the one-hour mark, the researchers fed the study participants a regular lunch, and their blood sugars went back up and down as they normally would after a meal. In the sugar group, their post-lunch levels didn’t spike as high as they did an hour earlier when they drank straight sugar water, though; there was just a gentle up and down. In the aspartame group, however, even though their blood sugars didn’t rise at the time they drank the aspartame-sweetened beverage, their blood sugars shot up higher, an hour later at lunch, as if they had just drank a bottle of soda. What about the natural sweeteners? What happened in the stevia and monk fruit groups? The same thing happened. There was the same exaggerated blood sugar spike after a regular meal eaten an hour after drinking the naturally sweetened drinks. And, remember, this despite the fact that the three non-caloric sweetener groups—aspartame, stevia, and monk fruit—took in 16 fewer spoonsful of sugar. So, you can see how it all equals out in terms of average blood sugars, at least in part because those in the non-caloric sweetener groups ate more. After drinking a Diet Coke, you’re more likely to eat more at your next meal than after drinking a regular Coke. In fact, you’re likely to eat so much more that the energy “saved” from replacing sugar with non-caloric sweeteners is fully compensated for at subsequent meals, so there is no difference found in total daily calorie intake. The sugar-sweetened beverage led to large spikes in both blood sugar and insulin, whereas these responses were higher for the three other beverages following the lunch eaten later. So, when it comes to calorie intake, blood sugars, or insulin spikes, they were all just as bad. Is Stevia Good for You? is the video I mentioned. KEY TAKEAWAYS The global market for non-caloric sweeteners is in the billions and includes artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose (sold as Splenda), as well as two natural ones extracted from plants—stevia and monk fruit (Luo Han Guo). Monk fruit has been used for centuries in China as both a natural sweetener and a folk medicine. The non-caloric sweet taste has been estimated to be about 300 times as sweet as table sugar, and monk fruit has been said to be antitussive (anti-coughing), anti-asthmatic, anti-cancer, and more, but those were from animal and petri dish studies. When researchers randomized human subjects to drink beverages sweetened with aspartame, monk fruit, stevia, or table sugar and then measured their blood sugars over 24 hours, no significant difference was found amongst any of the four sweeteners despite the sugar group getting 16 spoonsful of sugar, the amount of added sugar in a 20-ounce bottle of Coke. Although the three non-caloric sweetener groups—aspartame, stevia, and monk fruit—took in 16 fewer spoonsful of sugar, it all equaled out in terms of average blood sugars. This is due in part to those in the non-caloric sweetener groups eating more. Indeed, after drinking a Diet Coke, you’re more likely to eat more at your next meal than after drinking a regular Coke and are more likely to eat so much more that the energy “saved” from replacing sugar with non-caloric sweeteners is fully compensated for at subsequent meals. The sugar-sweetened beverage led to large spikes in both blood sugar and insulin, but the responses were higher for the three non-caloric sweetened beverages following lunch eaten an hour later. So, when it comes to calorie intake, blood sugars, or insulin spikes, they were all equally bad. To read the original article click here.

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People Who Consume Too Much High Fructose Corn Syrup Could Be at Risk for Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

AHA Publisher — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 07:00:38 +0000

Endocrine Society via Newswise – High fructose consumption should be avoided to prevent the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to research being presented Sunday, June 12 at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. Fructose is a natural sugar present in fruits, fruit juices, certain vegetables and honey. In these forms, fructose sugars can be part of a nutritious diet. However, fructose is also a component of high-fructose corn syrup, which manufacturers make from corn starch and add to unhealthy foods such as sodas and candies. High fructose foods have been associated with metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes, which are the two main causes of NAFLD. About 24% of U.S. adults have NAFLD, a chronic disease in which excess fat builds up in your liver. This buildup of fat is not caused by heavy alcohol use. NAFLD can progress to chronic liver damage and lead to death. Diet and exercise are the standard of care for NAFLD as no medicines have been approved to treat the disease. “NAFLD is a serious problem and it is increasing in the population. There is a racial/ethnic difference in the prevalence of the NAFLD. People consume high-fructose corn syrup in foods, soft drinks and other beverages. Some studies suggested that consumption of high-fructose corn syrup is related to the development of NAFLD,” said lead author Theodore Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., of Charles R. Drew University in Los Angeles, Calif. For this study, the researchers analyzed data from 3,292 participants enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-2018. They found the greatest proportion of those who consumed the highest fructose were Mexican Americans (48%) and non-Hispanic Blacks (44%) with a low percentage of non-Hispanic whites (33%). The highest prevalence of NAFLD was among Mexican Americans who consumed the highest amount of fructose (70%). “We found that when adjusting for the demographics and behavioral factors (smoking, modest alcohol consumption, diet quality and physical activity), high fructose consumption was associated with a higher chance of NAFLD among the total population and Mexican Americans,” Friedman said. A better fitting model emerged when the researchers additionally adjusted for body composition and laboratory variables, where they found that high fructose consumption was related to higher chances of NAFLD in the total population, Mexican Americans and Whites. “High fructose consumption in Mexican Americans contributed, in part, to the health disparity of NAFLD,” Friedman said. Friedman and colleagues recommend health care providers encourage patients to consume less foods and beverages with high-fructose corn syrup to prevent the development of NAFLD. To read the original article click here.

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Doctor Explains Why Foods With Sugar, Flour Are Habit-Forming and How to Break the Cycle of Food Addiction

AHA Publisher — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 08:00:25 +0000

News Staff via CBN News – Ending the cycle of food addiction can seem daunting and overwhelming to many. One doctor says avoiding certain kinds of foods is key and that everyone has the power to end their obsession. Dr. Susan Pierce Thompson, founder, and CEO of Bright Line Eating told CBN’s Healthy Living that Americans who suffer from obesity and poor eating habits are jeopardizing their health. “Obesity rates keep skyrocketing, but of course with COVID among us, obesity is an independent risk factor for serious outcomes and even death from COVID,” she said. “So, just in the last couple of years, the risks of obesity have become even more extreme.” Thompson explained that she too suffered from food addiction and depression, despite having success in college and with her career. “For me, the excess eating and the weight gain definitely went along with depression, low mood, excess sleeping and feeling really sluggish,” she noted. “When I finally adopted the solution I teach people now and changed my eating, all that melted away. The depression melted away and my energy skyrocketed. It was really the eating that was keeping me down.” Thompson continued, “Food addiction is a manageable addiction in the sense that we can still succeed in our careers. I was using food to manage the stress of the success I was having in life… the stress of the responsibilities. With the acceleration of food use, I was able to succeed in life and just keep using that food as a crutch. That was sort of the bafflement that I had was why can I be successful in so many areas of my life, but not tackle this weight problem and it’s because of addiction,” she said. She pointed out that dependency on specific foods is an important factor in the cycle of addiction. “We are really talking about processed foods. I like to alert people to sugar and flour,” she said. “Because it’s really foods made of sugar and flour – those highly refined, highly processed foods – that if you think about it are made in the same way that heroin and cocaine are made. You just take an inner essence of a plant, refine and purify it into a fine powder and that’s where you get the drug.” “Food also is addictive is the sense that even eating is addictive,” Thompson added. “One of the reason it’s the hardest is that it’s both a substance addiction and a process addiction and we can get addicted to the process of eating.” Ultimately, Thompson says most people know what foods they should avoid yet the issue is implementing healthy practices. “The issue is applying it in our real lives – execution over the long term. Especially on Friday night when we want to have beer, pizza, and wings with our friends. That’s when our willpower is going to break down.” To read the original article click here.

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Your Gut Senses the Difference Between Real Sugar and Artificial Sweetener

AHA Publisher — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 08:00:19 +0000

Duke University via Newswise – DURHAM, N.C. – Your taste buds may or may not be able to tell real sugar from a sugar substitute like Splenda, but there are cells in your intestines that can and do distinguish between the two sweet solutions. And they can communicate the difference to your brain in milliseconds. Not long after the sweet taste receptor was identified in the mouths of mice 20 years ago, scientists attempted to knock those taste buds out. But they were surprised to find that mice could still somehow discern and prefer natural sugar to artificial sweetener, even without a sense of taste. The answer to this riddle lies much further down in the digestive tract, at the upper end of the gut just after the stomach, according to research led by Diego Bohórquez, an associate professor of medicine and neurobiology in the Duke University School of Medicine. In a paper appearing Jan. 13 in Nature Neuroscience, “we’ve identified the cells that make us eat sugar, and they are in the gut,” Bohórquez said. Infusing sugar directly into the lower intestine or colon does not have the same effect. The sensing cells are in the upper reaches of the gut, he said. Having discovered a gut cell called the neuropod cell, Bohórquez with his research team has been pursuing this cell’s critical role as a connection between what’s inside the gut and its influence in the brain. The gut, he argues, talks directly to the brain, changing our eating behavior. And in the long run, these findings may lead to entirely new ways of treating diseases. Originally termed enteroendrocrine cells because of their ability to secrete hormones, specialized neuropod cells can communicate with neurons via rapid synaptic connections and are distributed throughout the lining of the upper gut. In addition to producing relatively slow-acting hormone signals, the Bohórquez research team has shown that these cells also produce fast-acting neurotransmitter signals that reach the vagus nerve and then the brain within milliseconds. Bohórquez said his group’s latest findings further show that neuropods are sensory cells of the nervous system just like taste buds in the tongue or the retinal cone cells in the eye that help us see colors. “These cells work just like the retinal cone cells that that are able to sense the wavelength of light,” Bohórquez said. “They sense traces of sugar versus sweetener and then they release different neurotransmitters that go into different cells in the vagus nerve, and ultimately, the animal knows ‘this is sugar’ or ‘this is sweetener.’” Using lab-grown organoids from mouse and human cells to represent the small intestine and duodenum (upper gut), the researchers showed in a small experiment that real sugar stimulated individual neuropod cells to release glutamate as a neurotransmitter. Artificial sugar triggered the release of a different neurotransmitter, ATP. Using a technique called optogenetics, the scientists were then able to turn the neuropod cells on and off in the gut of a living mouse to show whether the animal’s preference for real sugar was being driven by signals from the gut. The key enabling technology for the optogenetic work was a new flexible waveguide fiber developed by MIT scientists. This flexible fiber delivers light throughout the gut in a living animal to trigger a genetic response that silenced the neuropod cells. With their neuropod cells switched off, the animal no longer showed a clear preference for real sugar. “We trust our gut with the food we eat,” Bohórquez said. “Sugar has both taste and nutritive value and the gut is able to identify both.” “Many people struggle with sugar cravings, and now we have a better understanding of how the gut senses sugars (and why artificial sweeteners don’t curb those cravings),” said co-first author Kelly Buchanan, a former Duke University School of Medicine student who is now an Internal Medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. “We hope to target this circuit to treat diseases we see every day in the clinic.” In future work, Bohórquez said he will be showing how these cells also recognize other macronutrients. “We always talk about ‘a gut sense,’ and say things like ‘trust your gut,’ well, there’s something to this,” Bohórquez said. “We can change a mouse’s behavior from the gut,” Bohórquez said, which gives him great hope for new therapies targeting the gut. To read the original article click here.

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Uk to Lead A New Network to Take Global Action on Sugar and Calorie Reduction

AHA Publisher — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 07:00:31 +0000

GOV.UK via News-Medical – The UK has been chosen by the World Health Organization (WHO) to lead a new Sugar and Calorie Reduction Network to take global action on sugar and calorie reduction. Speaking at the WHO Regional Committee for Europe today (Monday 13 September), the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty announced the formation of the network, which will work with countries across Europe to reduce sugar and calorie intake. The WHO’s EU region covers around 50 countries, with a much wider reach than the European Commission’s remit. The UK has agreed to use its world-leading expertise in domestic sugar and calorie reduction to support its European neighbors. Work will take place with the food and drink industry to make their products healthier by reducing sugar content in products high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), helping to tackle global rates of obesity. In a global market where food is increasingly supplied by the same international companies, collective action on reducing sugar and calories will galvanize the food industry to take greater and faster action. The network’s member states will share learning and technical expertise to encourage manufacturers to reformulate products by cutting the amount of sugar, and therefore calories, in food and drinks to ensure they are healthier. The network will support the UK government’s key existing commitments to the sugar and calorie reduction programmes and to take tackling obesity onto the global stage as part of its Tackling Obesity strategy, published last year. These programmes challenge the food industry across the UK to reduce the sugar and calorie in foods most commonly consumed by children. The UK has seen good progress with its sugar reduction programme – with sugar reduced by 13% in breakfast cereals, yogurts and fromage frais. The Department of Health and Social Care’s new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities – launching on October 1st – will lead national efforts to improve and level up the health of the nation by tackling obesity, helping improve mental health and promoting physical activity. Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid said: “It’s a testament to the success of our pioneering work in the UK to help people eat more healthily that we have been chosen to lead this programme. “We will work closely with our European partners to challenge the food industry to reduce sugar and calories in its products – reducing obesity, relieving pressure on health services and increasing our resilience to COVID-19 and any future pandemics.” Today’s announcement puts into action the UK’s ‘Global Britain’ ambitions, with the UK working with member states to drive forward collective action to influence both Europe and the world in tackling obesity. Evidence suggests that people living with obesity are at greater risk of being seriously ill and dying from COVID-19. By taking action to reduce sugar and calories in food and drink, the network will not only address rising rates of global obesity, but increase global resilience both to COVID-19 and future pandemics. Public Health Minister, Jo Churchill said: “Obesity is a global problem and we need to take urgent action to help people live healthier lives. This starts with the food and drink we consume and reducing the elements that are bad for our health. “Following strong action through our healthy weight strategy, I am delighted the UK will lead this international network to reformulate products and promote healthier food choices for people across Europe.” The WHO Sugar and Calorie Reduction Network will launch in spring 2022 and the WHO EU will be reaching out to member states inviting them to join. The WHO EU region covers around 50 countries, meaning that it extends beyond the European Commission’s framework for action and would have a much wider reach. To read the original article click here.

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7 SURPRISING Ways Sugar Can Harm Your Health

AHA Publisher — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Stephanie Woods via NaturalHealth365 – Let’s face it, sugar is extremely prevalent in today’s society. Many of the prepared and processed foods in grocery stores contain an alarming amount of sugar. This is why it’s well worth taking the extra minute or so to read the nutrition label before buying any packaged food item. We already know the typical dangers of sugar consumption such as obesity, tooth decay, and low energy, but there are many other conditions out there that you may not be aware of. Excessive Sugar Intake Damages Your Health in MULTIPLE Ways, Studies Show Here are seven surprising ways that sugar harms your health. Studies link high intake of sugar to a depressive mood. Sugar intake has been shown to increase depressive mood. It causes certain chemical processes in the brain that cause depression. If you experience depression, cutting back on sugar may help boost your outlook on life. Immune function reduced by eating too much sugar. Sugar consumption, especially fructose and high fructose corn syrup, lowers your immune system’s ability to function. What’s more, yeast and bacteria feed on sugar so consuming excessive amounts of sugar can cause infections as these organisms build up in the body. Instead of all the sugar-laden foods, eat ones that are rich in probiotics. Sugary foods can make your anxiety worse. When sugar is a standard part of your diet, you could be inviting in anxiety. High amounts of sugar in the diet have been shown to induce mood disorders in both women and men, namely anxiety. Eating too much sugar can sabotage your weight loss goals, but it can do even more harm. Regular sugar consumption can cause weight gain and obesity. When you couple this with the depression and anxiety that is common with such a diet, body dissatisfaction becomes more prevalent. Even someone who is not overweight may start to feel self-loathing and dissatisfaction with themselves. Sugar-laden diet may cause you to lose self-control. All too often, a person will indulge in sugar even though they know exactly what it does to their bodies. Even if a person is diabetic or pre-diabetic, he or she will often still consume sugar just because they want it or feel compelled to have it. Sugar takes a toll on your skin, destroys collagen production. High sugar diets damage the collagen and elastin molecules in the skin. This results in sagging and wrinkles. This can make you look older than you actually are. It can also cause your skin to appear dull, giving you a haggard appearance. Too much sugar cheats you out of nutrients. When you eat a lot of sugar you might be cheating your body out of important nutrients like vitamins A, C, B-12, and the mineral calcium. This can lead to nutrition deficiencies, which is a foundation of obesity. What’s the bottom line? Although low sugar diets are very popular, do not fall into the trap. Not all sugar is created equal, and you should not avoid sugars from whole foods such as organic fruits. Whole fruits offer many benefits to your health, including dietary fiber, disease-fighting antioxidants – and no added sugar. Many processed and prepared foods contain a lot of sugar, even those foods that you would never expect. The best thing you can do is always read the label. One of the best ways to reduce sugar in your diet is by eliminating sugar cravings. While this may seem like a daunting task, it is well worth the effort as over time, you will feel different mentally and physically in a good way. You will feel better, healthier, and you will have more energy. This is the only body you are going to get in life. Take care of it so that it will work for you in years to come. Sources for this article include: UTHM.edu DSpace.Library.uu.nl SCIRP.org NIH.gov TandFOnline.com NIH.gov To read the original article click here.

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Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Recipe (Naturally Sweetened)

AHA Publisher — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 07:00:07 +0000

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CN – There isn’t much better on a hot summer day than a fresh glass of lemonade. Unfortunately, many store-bought lemonades contain lots of added sugar and undesirable ingredients. That’s where my homemade strawberry lemonade recipe comes in. Made from local, fresh strawberries, it’s a healthy take on the classic beverage. Sit in the shade with this homemade concoction to help cool off on a hot day. Oh, and the best part? This strawberry lemonade recipe is a sugar-free and refreshing drink — perfect for the summer. Plus, it’s easy to make and requires only four ingredients. That’s right: four! Key Ingredients What is strawberry lemonade made of? As mentioned above, this strawberry lemonade recipe calls for just four simple ingredients: Strawberries: Strawberry nutrition is chock-full of antioxidants like vitamin C, manganese and folate, among several other vitamins and minerals. That’s why strawberries are beneficial for immunity and combating chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. They also aid brain, skin and digestive health. Lemon juice: Made from nutrition lemons, lemon juice also supplies a decent amount of vitamin C and benefits the heart, kidneys and skin. Stevia: Instead of refined sugar or unhealthy sugar substitutes, stevia provides the sweetness to this strawberry lemonade without the adverse effects. In fact, high-quality stevia can actually support weight loss, along with healthy cholesterol and blood pressure levels. You can also use other healthy, natural sweeteners if stevia isn’t your preferred option. Water: When you really need to quench your thirst and stay hydrated, nothing quite beats a cold class of water, and the benefits of drinking water, especially during summertime, are vast — including helping with detoxification, digestion, calorie intake and more. How to Make Strawberry Lemonade How do you make strawberry lemonade from scratch? It couldn’t be easier! Take your ingredients, beginning with the three cups of water and ending with the stevia, dump them into your blender and — you guessed it — blend until your lemonade is smooth and liquified. That’s it — your blended strawberry lemonade is ready to drink and enjoy on those hot summer days and a recipe you can whip up anytime in a matter of minutes. Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Recipe (Naturally Sweetened) DESCRIPTION This strawberry lemonade recipe is a sugar-free and refreshing drink — perfect for summer! It’s easy to make and requires only 4 ingredients! INGREDIENTS 3 cups of spring or filtered water ½ cup organic lemon juice 2 cups organic strawberries, fresh or frozen stevia, to taste INSTRUCTIONS Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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Obesity Hits New Milestone Largely Due to Sugar Consumption

AHA Publisher — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 07:00:25 +0000

Lorie Johnson via CBN News – More than 42% of US adults are now obese, making it the first time in history the national rate has passed the 40% mark, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which points out the steep and rapid rise of this serious health condition. In 1999 the obesity rate was a much lower 30%. Obesity in adults is defined as a BMI greater than or equal to 30. BMI stands for body mass index and is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to men and women. A person can calculate their BMI on the National Institutes of Health website. The number of people classified as severely obese has also jumped from 4.7% to 9/2% since 1999. Severe obesity as a BMI of 40 or more. Meanwhile, the number of overweight Americans, those with a BMI between 25 and 29.9, stands at 31.1%. This means in total, almost three out of every four Americans is above what health professionals consider a healthy weight. It’s Likely All That Sugar According to the American Heart Association, men should consume no more than nine teaspoons, or 37 grams, of added sugar a day while women, based on their smaller size, should consume no more than six teaspoons, or 25 grams. However, most Americans consume three times the recommended amount of sugar, perhaps without even realizing it. That adds up to approximately 60 pounds a year for adults and believe it or not, many children consume more sugar than grown-ups, an estimated 65 pounds a year. Sugar-sweetened beverages are the biggest source of added sugar in the American diet. Kids consume about 30 gallons of liquid sugar a year, enough to fill a bathtub! Kids and adults alike consume high sugar sodas as well as deceptively sweet fruit juices, sport, and energy drinks. Even tea and coffee can be loaded with sugars. Some popular coffee shop drinks contain 14 teaspoons of sugar, almost two days’ worth. Aside from beverages, other high sugar items include baked goods, ice cream, and candy. Clinical Psychiatrist Uma Naidoo, M.D., author of the book, This is Your Brain on Food told CBN News said these foods admittedly make people happy when they eat them but many don’t realize in doing so they are consuming an entire day’s allotment of sugar in one small treat. “They do feel that uplifting feeling for a few minutes,” she said, “But the problem is these long-term effects.” These include Type 2 diabetes and heart disease as well as some cancers and brain disorders. “Sugar has been shown in several research studies to worsen depression, to worsen anxiety,” Dr. Naidoo said, “And is associated with brain atrophy and dementia.” Disguised as Healthy Most people realize candy and soda contain sugar, but might be surprised to learn seemingly healthy foods contain just as much if not more. Some examples include protein bars, barbeque sauce, yogurt, ketchup and nutritional drinks aimed at the elderly, baked beans, and much more. In fact, health experts say most processed foods are laden with sugar, including those that don’t seem sweet. Molly Carmel learned that first hand. She told CBN News that after tipping the scale at 325 pounds, she realized she learned to identify and avoid all forms of sugar. “Sugar is a tricky, tricky, tricky little abuser because it really is everywhere,” she said, “I gave up ketchup, I gave up teriyaki sauce, I gave up a lot of salad dressings.” In her book Breaking Up with Sugar, she describes how she dropped the weight and kept it off for more than ten years. Become a Savvy Shopper Carmel says in order to identify whether a product contains sugar don’t just look for the word “sugar” on the list of ingredients. Food manufacturers use dozens of different types of sugar. Many end in the letters “ose” such as fructose and dextrose. Other examples of added sugar include syrup, molasses, cane juice, and fruit juice concentrate. Sometimes to avoid making any particular type of sugar one of the first ingredients listed, they will add small amounts of many different types of sugar to a product. The best way to learn how many added sugars a product contains is to read the Nutrition Facts panel which lists how many grams of added sugar is in each serving. However, read that Nutrition Facts panel closely, paying particular attention to a product’s serving size. Food manufacturers try to make a product seem healthier by reducing the serving size, sometimes to ridiculously small portions, much smaller than a person typically eats. For example, a high-sugar granola producer lists its serving size on the Nutrition Facts panel as one-fourth of a cup, which is only about three bites! The average person actually eats more than one cup of granola at a sitting. Therefore, to get an accurate idea of the product’s sugar content, multiply the amount of sugar in the serving size by four. To read the original article click here. For more articles from CBN News click here.

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Less Sugar, Please! New Studies Show Low Glucose Levels Might Assist Muscle Repair

AHA Publisher — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 07:00:40 +0000

Tokyo Metropolitan University via EurekAlert – Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have shown that skeletal muscle satellite cells, key players in muscle repair, proliferate better in low glucose environments. This is contrary to conventional wisdom that says mammalian cells fare better when there is more sugar to fuel their activities. Because ultra-low glucose environments do not allow other cell types to proliferate, the team could produce pure cultures of satellite cells, potentially a significant boost for biomedical research. Healthy muscles are an important part of a healthy life. With the wear and tear of everyday use, our muscles continuously repair themselves to keep them in top condition. In recent years, scientists have begun to understand how muscle repair works at the cellular level. Skeletal muscle satellite cells have been found to be particularly important, a special type of stem cell that resides between the two layers of sheathing, the sarcolemma and basal lamina, that envelopes myofiber cells in individual muscle fibers. When myofiber cells get damaged, the satellite cells go into overdrive, multiplying and finally fusing with myofiber cells. This not only helps repair damage, but also maintains muscle mass. To understand how we lose muscles due to illness, inactivity, or age, getting to grips with the specific mechanisms involved is a key challenge for medical science. A team of scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University led by Assistant Professor Yasuro Furuichi, Associate Professor Yasuko Manabe and Professor Nobuharu L Fujii have been studying how skeletal muscle satellite cells multiply outside the body. Looking at cells multiplying in petri dishes in a growth medium, they noticed that higher levels of glucose had an adverse effect on the rate at which they grew. This is counterintuitive; glucose is considered to be essential for cellular growth. It is converted into ATP, the fuel that drives a lot of cellular activity. Yet, the team confirmed that lower glucose media led to a larger number of cells, with all the biochemical markers expected for greater degrees of cell proliferation. They also confirmed that this doesn’t apply to all cells, something they successfully managed to use to their advantage. In experiments in high glucose media, cultures of satellite cells always ended up as a mixture, simply due to other cell types in the original sample also multiplying. By keeping the glucose levels low, they were able to create a situation where satellite cells could proliferate, but other cell types could not, giving a very pure culture of skeletal muscle satellite cells. This is a key prerequisite for studying these cells in a variety of settings, including regenerative medicine. So, was the amount of glucose in their original experiment somehow “just right”? The team added glucose oxidase, a glucose digesting enzyme, to get to even lower levels of glucose, and grew the satellite cells in this glucose-depleted medium. Shockingly, the cells seemed to fare just fine, and proliferated normally. The conclusion is that these particular stem cells seem to derive their energy from a completely different source. Work is ongoing to try to pin down what this is. The team notes that the sugar levels used in previous experiments matched those found in diabetics. This might explain why loss of muscle mass is seen in diabetic patients, and may have significant implications for how we might keep our muscles healthier for longer. To read the original article click here.

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