Sugars | Mark Moxom

High sugar diet can damage your brain in a week, University of NSW

by Jan Michael | Dec 17, 2013 | Sugars | 0 comments

JUST a week’s bingeing on a high sugar and fat diet could damage your memory – and you may not get it back if you start eating healthy again.

New research has shown sugar alone may be the culprit in the memory deficit.

“What is so surprising about this research is the speed with which the deterioration of the cognition occurred,” says Professor Margaret Morris from the University of NSW School of Medical Sciences.

“Our preliminary data also suggests that the damage is not reversed when the rats are switched back to a healthy diet, which is very concerning,” she said.

Rats were fed a variety of diets in the research including a “cafeteria diet” of fat, cakes, biscuits and a 10 per cent sugar solution.

These rats performed worse in memory tests as did those who ate a healthy diet but who were given access to sugar water to drink.

The tests showed the rats spatial memory was affected by the high sugar diet, however their ability to recognise objects was not affected.

The tests on the rats also showed they had inflammation of the hippocampal region of the brain, which is associated with spatial memory.

Sugary Drink Consumption Linked With Endometrial Cancer Risk

by Jan Michael | Nov 25, 2013 | Artificial Sweeteners, Sugars | 0 comments

Consuming lots of sugary drinks is associated with a higher risk for the more common type of endometrial cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health found an association between drinking sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of type 1 endometrial cancer.

Endometrial cancer is often divided up into two types, with most falling into the first type; type 1 endometrial cancer is often slow-growing and is fueled by excess estrogen, while type 2 endometrial cancer is typically more aggressive and is not caused by excess estrogen, according to the American Cancer Society.

The study did not show that sugary drink consumption was linked with risk for type 2 endometrial cancer. However, researchers said it was not surprising drink consumption was only linked with type 1 of the cancer.

“Other studies have shown increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has paralleled the increase in obesity. Obese women tend to have higher levels of estrogens and insulin than women of normal weight,” study researcher Maki Inoue-Choi, Ph.D., M.S., R.D., a research associate in the university’s Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, explained in a statement. “Increased levels of estrogens and insulin are established risk factors for endometrial cancer.”

Published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, the study included food frequency, medical and demographic data from 23,039 postmenopausal women with an average age of 61 who were part of the Iowa Women’s Health Study. They were followed between 1986 and 2010.

The study participants reported the frequency with which they ate 127 different foods over the last year, including four categories of sugary drinks: Hawaiian punch, lemonade or another non-carbonated fruit drink; a carbonated, non-cola sugary drink (like 7-Up); Coke, Pepsi or another sugary cola; and caffeine-free Coke, Pepsi, or another sugary cola. Researchers divided the women into quintiles based on their sugary drink consumption; the quintile for the lowest amount was 0 servings per week, while the quintile for the highest amount was 1.7 to 60.5 servings per week.

The women were also asked about sugar-free and low-calorie soft drink consumption (like Pepsi-Free or diet ginger ale), as well as sweets and baked goods consumption.

During the 24-year time period of the study, 506 women developed type 1 endometrial cancer and 89 developed type 2 endometrial cancer. Researchers found that the women who consumed the most sugary drinks over the study period had a 78 percent higher risk of developing endometrial cancer, compared with women who did not report drinking any sugary drinks.

The findings held true even after taking into account other potential cancer risk factors including physical activity, diabetes history, alcohol intake, cigarette smoking and body mass index.

The dangers of diet soda

by Jan Michael | Nov 20, 2013 | Artificial Sweeteners, Preservatives, Sugars | 0 comments

It’s not always easy to make healthy choices, especially with fancy marketing and sexy food and drink products everywhere you turn.

But one so-called “healthy” choice you may make is drinking diet soda instead of the regular calorie alternative.

After all, if the label on the bottle says “diet”, it has to be better for you than the real stuff. Right? Wrong! Loads of research shows that drinking diet soda won’t help you fight fat. And even worse than that, the chemicals in diet soda can lead to all sorts of serious health problems, from diabetes, to high blood pressure, to kidney problems, and more. It turns out that the dangers of diet soda are many.

Diet soda is packed with artificial sweeteners that can confuse your body’s natural ability to manage calories. But worse than that, drinking diet soda has been linked to serious health problems. Health dangers of diet soda include: continue reading

Children Are Eating Too Much Sugar, but Halloween Is Not to Blame

by Jan Michael | Nov 1, 2013 | Carbs, Diet, Sugars | 0 comments

Without fail, Halloween brings up concerns over children’s chocolate and candy intake. It’s largely understandable. It is not unusual for children to finish a night of trick-or-treating with several pounds of candy in tow.

As a nutrition professional, though, Halloween is the least of my concerns. It only comes once every 365 days. All the handwringing that surrounds sugar and candy intake come Halloween seems odd in light of how much sugar the average American child eats the other 364 days of the year (according to the American Heart Association, the average 1- to 3-year-old consumes roughly 12 teaspoons of sugar a day, and the average 4- to 8-year-old consumes 21 teaspoons on a daily basis).

Sugar is ubiquitous in most American children’s diets. Consider these eight commonly-consumed foods and beverages, and the sugar punch they pull. As you browse these figures, keep in mind that the American Heart Association recommends 8-year-olds cap their sugar intake at 12 grams a day.

1)Froot Loops Marshmallow cereal:
Grams of sugar per serving: 14
Candy equivalent: 5 Hershey’s kisses

2) Pop-Tarts Frosted Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough toaster pastries:
Grams of sugar per serving: 17
Candy equivalent: 6 Original Starburst Fruit Chews

3) Nature Valley Crunchy Maple Brown Sugar granola bar:
Grams of sugar per serving: 12
Candy equivalent: 1.5 Snickers fun-size bars

4) Dunkin’ Donuts Small Strawberry Coolatta:
Grams of sugar per serving: 57
Candy equivalent: ½ cup Skittles

Healthy Halloween: Treats, Tricks and Tips

by Jan Michael | Oct 30, 2013 | Artificial Sweeteners, Sugars | 0 comments

Halloween treats are big business — $2.25 billion big. That’s the amount Americans are projected to spend on Halloween candy in 2013 according to research firm IBISWorld. For mental comparison, that’s almost as much as the federal government will send to fund child nutrition programs in California. If that number isn’t enough to make you sick, the loads of candy that your kids bring home might.

After months of trying to establish healthy habits, I cringe when all of that sugar comes flooding into our house. It’s not good for my kids, and it’s not good for me (I’m arguably the worst offender when it comes to over indulging in Halloween treats).

I’m not advocating eliminating candy all together. A treat or two every so often is fine. What I am arguing is that we should find ways to make it more balanced — to bring a few fun and healthy Halloween treats and tricks to the party. So this year we’re trying something new: a few easy changes to make Halloween a little healthier.

Step 1: Tricks or Treats

Instead of eliminating candy all together, we decided to reallocate. Half of the Halloween treats we will give out this year will be candy (albeit, healthier choices like organic snacks), the other half will be toys like glow sticks, bouncy balls and wiki stix. Each trick-or-treater will get to pick two items. I’ll report back on which items run out first.

Step 2: Trade Treats for Treasures

A lively discussion on my Facebook page this week led to a discussion of swapping treats for presents. Some parents invite their kids to leave a donation to the Switch Witch, who collects up Halloween candy and leaves a present in exchange… continue reading

Artificial Sugar Sabotages Weight Loss Efforts: Yale Study

by Jan Michael | Sep 30, 2013 | Artificial Sweeteners, Sugars | 0 comments

Think you’re saving yourself extra calories by going the artificial sweetener route? New research suggests you’re just setting yourself up to fail.

That’s the conclusion of a new study out of Yale University which found that eating low-calorie sweetened products may actually sabotage efforts to reduce calorie intake, by leading people to reach for higher calorie alternatives later on.

Or, as scientists put it, despite good intentions, the brain can’t be fooled by artificial sweeteners.

That’s because in their animal research, scientists observed that a specific physiological signal that regulates dopamine levels — the feel-good chemical that works with the reward center in the brain — only arose when sugar was broken down into a form that could be used as fuel and energy for the body.

For the study, scientists performed behavioral testing involving sweeteners and sugars and measured chemical responses in the brain circuit.

“According to the data, when we apply substances that interfere with a critical step of the ‘sugar-to-energy pathway’, the interest of the animals in consuming artificial sweetener decreases significantly, along with important reductions in brain dopamine levels,” explained lead author Ivan de Araujo in the Journal of Physiology.