In the House of Commons this week, Prime Minster David Cameron revealed that when it comes to his children’s wellbeing, he has trouble stopping them from over-indulging on sugary, fizzy drinks. He said this after type 2 diabetic Labour MP Keith Vaz reminded him that a third of all primary school leavers are obese or overweight, and they consume cans of cola that contain up to eight teaspoons of sugar. So how badly does sugar harm your wellness?
Also this week, a study was published in the British Medical Journal, investigating the link between sugar consumption and body weight. When the team analysed the results of previous studies, they discovered that if you reduce the intake of sugar in your diet, as an adult you reduce your weight by about 2.2lb (1kg). They also found that the reason you gain weight when eating sugar is potentially because it promotes an over-consumption of energy, meaning that when you taste sugar, the taste itself encourages you to want to eat more of it.
According Robert Lustig, professor of paediatrics at the University of California, ‘There are five tastes on your tongue: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. Sugar covers up the other four, so you can’t taste the negative aspects of foods. You can make dog poop taste good with enough sugar.’ He explains that sucrose (table sugar) is made up of two sugars that are bound together; glucose and fructose, and describes this as a ‘chronic toxin’ no different from high fructose corn syrup.
His claims are agreed with by Dr Alex Richardson, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford and founder director of the UK charity Food and Behaviour Research, who says that there is far too much sugar and empty carbohydrates in children’s diets. Not only has this helped to fuel the obesity epidemic, but sugar also causes tooth decay and can lead to a poor diet lacking in nutrients. ‘We find that highly processed foods are making up massively more of children’s diets. Things like cakes, biscuits, snacks and crisps,’ Richardson says.
She continues, ‘Fruit and vegetables are so vital for children. They provide essential vitamins and minerals, but so often a third of a plate of child’s food is sugary rubbish and a small amount is veg or fruit.’ She concludes by warning that in the long term, this could even lead to Type 2 diabetes, so perhaps Cameron needs to try a bit harder to hide the fizz at home after all.
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