Thursday, April 1, 2010

High-Sugar Diets Are Bad For You


Americans eat about 300 more calories per day than they did 25 years ago-mostly in the form of high-sugar drinks and processed foods. We are also in the midst of an obesity and diabetes epidemic that seems to have no end in sight. Is there a relationship between the consumption of high-sugar foods and our creeping waistlines?
Australian researchers found that eating high-sugar foods (glucose or white bread) increased chemical markers of inflammation 3 times greater than eating complex carbohydrates (pasta). The subjects were lean, healthy, young adults, so the negative effects might have been even greater in obese people with diabetes. Diets high in simple sugars promote cell inflammation, which might increase the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and coronary artery disease.

(American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87: 1188-1193, 2008)

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