Is a high-sugar diet ok for any subset of people?

(betsy.rome) #1

Is a high sugar diet ok for any subset of people?
Is it just a matter of time until metabolisms become deranged, or is it based on genetics, or a combination?
And what about children, who are constantly being fed sweets & carbs? Do some portion of them grow up just fine, or is this a ticking time bomb for everyone?

(G. Andrew Duthie) #2

There is clearly some variation in how individuals respond to carbohydrate intake, else we would likely not see very many skinny people at all.

But there are also people who have differences in their ability to store excess glucose in adipose tissue, who instead end up storing it as visceral fat, and in the liver, so they may not appear to have problems until the issue has become quite advanced.

My take on it comes down to this. Our bodies do not need sweets or highly-refined carbs, full stop. One can reasonably argue that our bodies do not need carbs at all, because the liver can readily synthesize the amount of glucose required by the brain. Given that we don’t need them, and there is a high risk that overconsumption of them will lead to IR and T2DM in many people, it is wisest from a risk-reduction standpoint, to advise everyone to avoid them.

At a bare minimum, it’s wise to dramatically reduce carb consumption. Though for those who continue to eat sugar, even in small quantities, there is the ongoing question of whether sugar has any addictive properties.

(Michelle) #3

I’m just guessing here, but I doubt any doctor, or any medical professional, would recommend a high-sugar diet for anyone. I think in the case of children, their hormones are so different. You are an HGH producing machine when you are young. HGH takes that sugar and makes use out of it. When you stop growing, and with age, your HGH production goes way down. And I do think continual eating of sugar will break your normal hormonal processes, so no more gherlin (sp) and leptin. Insulin spikes and is constantly shoveling sugar in your fat cells to keep it out of your blood.

so, yes, high-sugar diet is a ticking time bomb for everyone.

#4

I think the question needs more clarification.

There is a difference between ingesting high glucose, versus high fructose. As both glucose and fructose is processed differently in our bodies.

So, what do you mean by high sugar diet…high sucrose diet?

(Jo Lo) #5

The dose/response relationship for sugar is a big question discussed in Taubes’ book, the case against sugar. He compares it with dose/response questions for tobacco and lung cancer. The question is: Does more smoking make cancer more likely? or does smoking cause cancer, period, end of story, in any amount?

It’s an important distinction.

There’s a reason why your life insurance company asks you “Did you EVER smoke cigarettes?” Note that they don’t ask how much you smoked… they don’t think that matters much.

Same thing with sugar?