that set people on the path of quitting
sugar. From being 40kg overweight,
he immediately started losing weight,
and kept it off, by cutting sugar
(specifically fructose) from his diet.
He claims sugar is addictive – a fact
exploited by food manufacturers –
and a rare resource to which we don’t
have an in-built ‘off switch’, meaning
we can keep eating it without feeling
full, leading to weight gain and a
myriad of health effects.
One study by Nicole Avena,
Pedro Rada and Bartley Hoebel
(2008) looked into the addictive
properties of sugar. It examined the
physiological response to sugar intake
in rats, and how the rats behaved
when ‘on’ and ‘off ’ sugar.
‘Food addiction seems plausible
because brain pathways that evolved
to respond to natural rewards are also
activated by addictive drugs,’ the
report states. ‘Sugar is noteworthy as
a substance that releases opioids and
dopamine and thus might be expected
to have addictive potential.’
After a month ‘on’ sugar, the
animals showed a series of behaviours
similar to the signs of drug abuse.
‘These are categorised as ‘bingeing’,
meaning unusually large bouts of
intake, opiate-like ‘withdrawal’
indicated by signs of anxiety and
behavioural depression and ‘craving’
measured during sugar abstinence as
enhanced responding for sugar.’F
E
A
T
U
R
E
IS IT REALLY
THAT BAD?
Sugar has been linked to high
blood sugar, cardiovascular
disease mortality, diabetes and
cellular ageing.
An article published in the
online journal Open Heart
found sugars are probably more
instrumental in increasing the
risk of hypertension (high blood
pressure) and cardiovascular
disease (CVD), as compared to
dietary sodium (salt).
‘Compelling evidence from basic
science, population studies, and
clinical trials implicate sugars, and
particularly the monosaccharide
fructose, as playing a major role in
the development of hypertension,’
the researchers state. ‘Moreover,
evidence suggests that sugars in
general and fructose in particular
may contribute to overall
cardiovascular risk through a
variety of mechanisms.’
Furthermore, a study published
in the JAMA Internal Medicine
journal, conducted by researchers
at the Division for Heart Disease
and Stroke Prevention at the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, associated a
high added sugar intake with a
heightened risk of CVD.
The study found that people
who consumed between 17 and 21
per cent of their daily calories from
added sugar exhibited a 38 percent
higher risk of CVD mortality,
compared to those whose added
sugar intake was maintained at
around eight percent. For those
whose daily intake of added sugar
was more than 21 percent of their
daily calories, they had double
the risk of CVD mortality. And,
in participants who consumed 25
percent of their daily calories from
added sugar, their risk of CVD
mortality was tripled.CELLULAR AGEING
The anti-ageing world is full of
talk about telomeres – or the
protective DNA that caps the end
of cell chromosomes. The common
consensus is the longer the telomeres,
the longer the quality of life. The
trick? Telomeres continuously shorten
as our cells replicate, getting shorter
and shorter as we age.
Ongoing research is furiously
exploring the possibilities in
lengthening telomeres to reduce the
rate of ageing or ways to prevent
their ever-persistent shortening. But
sugar, according to scientists from
the University of California-San
Francisco, is one sure-fire way to
shorten your telomeres before their
time. The research, led by Prof. Elissa
Epel, assessed 5,309 participants
and found those who drank larger
amounts of sugary soda tended to
have shorter telomeres in their white
blood cells, making them susceptible
to inflammation and chronic disease.
‘Regular consumption of sugar-
sweetened sodas might influence
disease development,’ says Epel. ‘Not
only by straining the body’s metabolic
control of sugars but also through
accelerated cellular ageing of tissues.’