A word from Dr. Pfenninger: Sugar not so 'sweet' for your diet
Sugar consumption is clearly in the focus of many health promotion groups. It is not good. As one physician said in a commentary about a study, “I have taken care of thousands of people who are dying or having amputations, needing dialysis, or going blind from diabetes, and these are people who have been consuming sugar-sweetened beverages all their lives. One in seven Americans now has diabetes, which is crazy. So, this is really a social problem, a human problem.” Unfortunately, diabetes rates are projected to increase by 80 percent in the next five years.
Investigative research has shown that many of the initial studies showing that cholesterol and fats were a major health problem, as opposed to sugar, were funded by the sugar industry. Even now, the bias continues. An analysis of 60 trials from January 2001 through July 2016, reported that all of the 26 articles which showed no link between sugar-sweetened beverages and the risk of obesity or diabetes, were industry-funded. In comparison, only one of 34 studies that were independently funded determined that there was no link. In other words, sugar industry-funded studies were 34 times more likely than independent studies to report no association with sugar and diabetes, and obesity.
As a result of obesity, today’s generation of parents may be the first to outlive their children. A study involving 175 countries compared calories obtained from either sugar or from other sources such as fat or protein. For every additional 150 sugar calories consumed, there was an 11-fold increase in the prevalence of type II diabetes. This was independent of the body-mass index (BMI) and activity levels. That’s quite impressive. Type II diabetes increased by 25 percent in the U.S. population between 1988 and 2012. This occurred in both obese and normal-weight populations. So, type II diabetes is not a condition related purely to obesity but rather has been linked with sugar consumption. There appears to be three times more cardiovascular mortality among U.S. adults who consume more than 25 percent of their calories from sugar vs. those who consume less than 10 percent. This, too, is consistent regardless of physical activity levels and BMI.
An interesting study of 43 Latino and African American children compared calories obtained from sugar vs. other sources. When calories from added sugar were reduced from an average of 28 percent to 10 percent, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol (“the bad stuff”), blood pressure, and fasting insulin decreased in just 10 days.
Added sugar has no biological benefit. It is not required in our body. In no way is it a nutrient. There really is no “safe” level of added sugar. Consumption of small amounts in fruit juice, syrups, and honey on a daily basis has a deleterious impact. It has been recommended that no more than three percent of daily calories (about three teaspoons of sugar) be the maximum consumption. The average United Kingdom and U.S. citizen, however, consumes at least four to seven times that amount.
It is hard to avoid sugar. Soda “pop” is the most common way it is consumed. However, much of it is hidden in our food. Almost half of all sugar consumed is in ketchup, salad dressings and bread. One-third is from other sugary drinks. One-sixth is from “junk foods” such as chocolates, cookies and ice cream. One can of regular cola contains nine teaspoons of added sugar, which is triple the upper limit suggested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for an 8-year old. Sixteen teaspoons of sugar is in every 20-ounce sugared beverage and is way more than our bodies can handle. Drinking two sodas a day for just two weeks, increases unhealthy cholesterol and triglycerides by up to 20 percent. If you drink that amount for six months, the amount of fat in your liver will increase 150 percent.
When consuming sugar, the body converts most of that sugar to fat in the liver, causing fatty liver disease. I never heard of this in my early years of practicing medicine. Now, there is an epidemic of fatty liver disease in this country. Every week I have several patients who report having it.
Although many push “personal responsibility” when choosing what foods to eat, the public is uneducated about added sugar and has a difficult time determining the amount added to 80 percent of processed foods.
The health organizations are now targeting sugar as the “new tobacco.” It took 50 years from the time the link was made between smoking and lung cancer before regulation was introduced to limit smoking. Philadelphia has just enacted a soda tax and is the second city to do so after Berkeley. Apparently, San Francisco, Oakland and Albany voted in this November election to determine if they, too, would tax soda. Several states have tried, but the tax has not passed the popular vote. Mexico, England and France are taxing sugared beverages. In Berkeley and Mexico, those taxes have reduced consumption of sugary beverages significantly.
There is nothing wrong with the occasional treat, but added sugar is not needed and should not be a part of a healthy, balanced diet. The case against sugar is overwhelming. Remember our previous article, too, which explained that diet pops are just as bad, or worse, than regular sodas. The biggest solution is to encourage and support people to drink water instead of sugary drinks.