Posts Tagged ‘sugar’

Research from Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity shows that cereals which are most aggressively marketed to children are also the least healthy, as measured by an Oxford University nutrition scoring system. The researchers also found that none of the cereals targeted to children in the US meets the nutrition standards required to advertise to children in the UK. Among other findings, cereals marketed directly to children have 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber and 60% more sodium than cereals marketed to adults. Even more shocking, (but perhaps should not be a surprise) is that all cereals marketed directly to U.S. children meet the cereal industry’s own nutrition standard for “better-for-you” foods. These include: Cocoa Puffs (44% sugar), Cap’n Crunch (44% sugar), Froot Loops (41% sugar), Lucky Charms (41% sugar) and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (32% sugar). Cereal companies spend nearly $156 million dollars annually on marketing their cereals to children on television. [via Medical News Today]

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An article in the September 17th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine proposes that a national “soda tax” of 1 cent per ounce of soda and other sugar-laden drinks could curb the United State’s obesity epidemic while generating funds to promote obesity prevention programs. While this tax strategy has reduced cigarette and alcohol use, will it would work with food? That remains to be seen. “There are certain products which make a strong contribution to the obesity epidemic while, conversely, there is no plausible public health benefit [from them],” noted Dr. David Ludwig, senior author of the paper and associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Opponents of such an idea say that singling out a specific food type sends the wrong public health message. Rather, they say, the government should promote proper nutrition education. Would a heftier price stem your appetite for soda? [via BusinessWeek]

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We know that a diet high in sugar can contribute to obesity, which in turn can cause hypertension. But now scientists have discovered that sugar, especially fructose, can have a direct bearing on one’s blood pressure. The connection? Uric acid. If you have gout, you probably know a bit about uric acid. It’s the substance that builds up in joints during a painful gout attack. But it seems that uric acid can also inhibit the production of nitric oxide, a compound that is essential for keeping our blood vessels flexible – when our blood vessels are less flexible and compliant, hypertension sets in. Researchers tested this theory by placing subjects on a high-fructose diet and giving some of them allopurinol, a drug commonly used to reduce uric acid levels in patients with gout. Those who weren’t on the drug had a 6 mm Hg-increase in systolic blood pressure and a 3 mm Hg-increase in diastolic pressure, compared to those on allopurinol. These findings were presented at the American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Research Conference in Chicago. [via ABC News]

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You may have noticed some new foods as of late if you are a Starbucks patron. As of July 1st Starbucks started selling baked goods free of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), artificial flavors and dyes. The new campaign comes with the tag line “Real Food. Simply Delicious”. As much as this is commendable, some critics are saying that the move towards unprocessed sugars is simply a marketing ploy. Pepsi, for example, has already introduced new soda products made with cane sugar. But is cane or beet sugar healthier? Some research has shown that highly processed sugars like HFCS can more readily lead to hepatic steatosis (aka fatty liver disease) and contribute to obesity. But from a caloric standpoint, there’s essentially no difference. Cane or beet sugar contains 50% fructose and 50% glucose and HFCS contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose. All three sugars deliver about 15-20 calories per teaspoon. Therefore, the only way still to reduce caloric intake from sugars is to consume less sugar.

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The stevia plant has long been used as a sweetener in many countries, and is now just starting to appear on the US market. Marketed as Truvia, this “natural” sweetner is vying for your taste buds in a heated battle with the big three artificial sweetners – aspartame (Sweet and Low), sucralose (Splenda), and saccharin (Equal). Because stevia comes from a plant, companies can market it as a natural sweetener, hence its green packaging. However, this doesn’t come without a price – stevia needs to be extracted from a particular part of the leaf and then processed correctly in order to avoid an aftertaste of licorice and menthol. But what about any health risks? Despite hundreds of studies, none of the artificial sweeteners have been steadfastly linked to any medical conditions, but some beg to differ. For now stevia is safe for consumption, according to the FDA. But as stevia becomes more widely adopted, it will no doubt receive the same scrutiny as its pink, blue, and yellow counterparts.

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Energy drinks, such as Red Bull, have been increasing in popularity among adolescents and young adults in recent years. The most common reasons for consumption of these sugar and caffeine-laden drinks are to improve concentration and athletic performance. Just like coffee, however, energy drinks cannot properly hydrate the body because sugar and caffeine promote excretion of water. As well, studies have demonstrated that strong doses of caffeine can increase hypertension, cause heart palpitations, irritability, anxiety, headaches and insomnia. Approximately 1.5 billion cans of Red Bull were sold in the US alone in 2004.

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Had a “senior moment” lately? You know, those sudden, momentary lapses when you just can’t seem to remember the most common things. For most of us, we will experience what physicians term normal cognitive aging. Now, Columbia University researchers say that elevated blood glucose levels that occur naturally when we age may contribute to age-related cognitive decline. “This is news even for people without diabetes since blood glucose levels tend to rise as we grow older. Whether through physical exercise, diet or drugs, our research suggests that improving glucose metabolism could help some of us avert the cognitive slide that occurs in many of us as we age,” reported the lead investigator. Although regularly checking your blood sugar level isn’t recommended for non-diabetics, daily exercise is recommended for everyone (especially diabetics) because it contributes to normalization of blood glucose.

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New insight into Alzheimer’s disease was reported by researchers at the Karolinska Institute this week. Scientists studying mouse models of the disease showed that when mice were fed with fast food products high in fat, sugar and cholesterol, they developed more “brain tangles” that lead to development of Alzheimer’s. These tangles of protein that develope in the brain are one of the hallmarks of the disease. Even though this is a mouse study, and the results may not necessarily be translated to humans, it’s yet another reason to consume less fast food and processed foods.

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