Shocking study findings–Is your daily sugar intake silently killing you?
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In the bustling aisles of our grocery stores and the tempting menus of our favorite eateries, sugar lurks around every corner. It sweetens our coffees, it's baked into our treats, and it's hidden in “healthy” snacks.
After all, what’s wrong with a little dash of sugar? It seems to perk everything right up. But what if the sweet life is secretly souring our health?
A groundbreaking study published in the scientific journal Cell has cast a new light on the role of sugar in our health—or rather, the havoc it wreaks within our bodies.
Biologist Richard Young, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his team have discovered that our sweet tooth might be to blame for the traffic jams happening at a cellular level, leading to a host of chronic diseases.
With age, our bodies naturally produce more reactive oxygen species, which are linked to chronic conditions. This research suggests that our dietary choices, especially our sugar intake, could be accelerating this process.
Normally, sugar from our diet is converted into fuel for energy. However, when we consume too much added sugar—think of downing two sodas with your meal—the balance is thrown off.
This excess sugar leads to an overproduction of oxygen inside cells, causing what Young describes as a burning effect that damages cellular machinery.
"If you get very very high levels of oxygen inside cells, it damages the equipment," Young said.
This isn't just a minor inconvenience. The study observed that when cells are overwhelmed with reactive oxygen, half of the proteins inside—the workers of the cell—get stuck in traffic jams.
These proteins are crucial, and when they're delayed, it can lead to a variety of chronic diseases.
While the study doesn't pinpoint which chronic diseases are most affected by these cellular slowdowns, it’s been known that for years, people who suffer from chronic diseases produce too much of these reactive oxygen species inside cells.
From type 2 diabetes to cardiovascular disease and auto-immune disorders, the list of conditions potentially exacerbated by sugar is long and concerning.
Older people also tend to have more reactive oxygen species, which makes chronic diseases more prominent with age. However, according to Young, it’s still not known “whether there's a single mechanism affected by all this oxidative stress.”
The research has opened up new avenues for understanding how our bodies detect and respond to oxidative damage. The new microscope technology also allows researchers to observe single protein molecules as they move inside cells and monitor the reactive oxygen build up.
It was found out that the same proteins inside these reactive oxygen are the ones connected to a long list of disease.
Which chronic diseases are most affected by these sluggish proteins are not specified, or how many of them ‒ all that still needs to be figured out.
But Leonard Zon from the pediatric medicine faculty of Harvard Medical School says, “This opens up an avenue of research to understand how oxidant damage in the body is being sensed and I think that's a really important area of research to continue and I think that will have impacts in health.”
The million-dollar question now is: How can we use this information to reverse or prevent chronic disease?
Diet is a key player, with experts suggesting that reducing intake of highly processed foods and added sugars could alleviate issues like diabetic neuropathies. However, reversing the damage isn't a quick fix, and those who have suffered from chronic diseases may always be more vulnerable.
According to Jonathon Ditlev, molecular biologist from The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, “Limiting highly processed foods and added sugars like corn syrup would help especially with problems like the neuropathies common among people with diabetes, though restoring healthy cellular function won't happen overnight.”
Although, once these diseases start, it’s hard to revert to a healthy state. Although, Young said that, “If we're right that this protein mobility problem underlies disease, it creates a path for drugs to address these diseases.”
So, there's hope. The study has sparked conversations with biotech and pharmaceutical companies about developing treatments that could act as “traffic police” to clear the cellular congestion.
Ditlev also mentioned that, “Considering that it costs $10 billion to $15 billion to bring a new drug to market, it would be a lot more cost effective to repurpose an existing drug.”
Moreover, existing drugs might already exist that can help ease these protein traffic jams, offering a more cost-effective solution than developing new medications.
Knowing all of this, it makes one think about what goes into their bodies. Young adds, “Now, knowing what it is that I do when I have my excess sugar, it's easier to avoid it somehow.”
Source: SugarMD / Youtube.
Have you experienced health improvements by cutting back on sugar? Are you concerned about how sugar may be affecting your health as you age? Share your stories and insights in the comments below!
After all, what’s wrong with a little dash of sugar? It seems to perk everything right up. But what if the sweet life is secretly souring our health?
A groundbreaking study published in the scientific journal Cell has cast a new light on the role of sugar in our health—or rather, the havoc it wreaks within our bodies.
Biologist Richard Young, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his team have discovered that our sweet tooth might be to blame for the traffic jams happening at a cellular level, leading to a host of chronic diseases.
With age, our bodies naturally produce more reactive oxygen species, which are linked to chronic conditions. This research suggests that our dietary choices, especially our sugar intake, could be accelerating this process.
Excessive sugar consumption may be a common cause behind many chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, auto-immune disease, and cardiovascular disease. Image source: Pexels / Nikolaos Dimou.
Normally, sugar from our diet is converted into fuel for energy. However, when we consume too much added sugar—think of downing two sodas with your meal—the balance is thrown off.
This excess sugar leads to an overproduction of oxygen inside cells, causing what Young describes as a burning effect that damages cellular machinery.
"If you get very very high levels of oxygen inside cells, it damages the equipment," Young said.
This isn't just a minor inconvenience. The study observed that when cells are overwhelmed with reactive oxygen, half of the proteins inside—the workers of the cell—get stuck in traffic jams.
These proteins are crucial, and when they're delayed, it can lead to a variety of chronic diseases.
While the study doesn't pinpoint which chronic diseases are most affected by these cellular slowdowns, it’s been known that for years, people who suffer from chronic diseases produce too much of these reactive oxygen species inside cells.
From type 2 diabetes to cardiovascular disease and auto-immune disorders, the list of conditions potentially exacerbated by sugar is long and concerning.
Older people also tend to have more reactive oxygen species, which makes chronic diseases more prominent with age. However, according to Young, it’s still not known “whether there's a single mechanism affected by all this oxidative stress.”
The research has opened up new avenues for understanding how our bodies detect and respond to oxidative damage. The new microscope technology also allows researchers to observe single protein molecules as they move inside cells and monitor the reactive oxygen build up.
It was found out that the same proteins inside these reactive oxygen are the ones connected to a long list of disease.
Which chronic diseases are most affected by these sluggish proteins are not specified, or how many of them ‒ all that still needs to be figured out.
But Leonard Zon from the pediatric medicine faculty of Harvard Medical School says, “This opens up an avenue of research to understand how oxidant damage in the body is being sensed and I think that's a really important area of research to continue and I think that will have impacts in health.”
The million-dollar question now is: How can we use this information to reverse or prevent chronic disease?
Diet is a key player, with experts suggesting that reducing intake of highly processed foods and added sugars could alleviate issues like diabetic neuropathies. However, reversing the damage isn't a quick fix, and those who have suffered from chronic diseases may always be more vulnerable.
According to Jonathon Ditlev, molecular biologist from The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, “Limiting highly processed foods and added sugars like corn syrup would help especially with problems like the neuropathies common among people with diabetes, though restoring healthy cellular function won't happen overnight.”
Although, once these diseases start, it’s hard to revert to a healthy state. Although, Young said that, “If we're right that this protein mobility problem underlies disease, it creates a path for drugs to address these diseases.”
So, there's hope. The study has sparked conversations with biotech and pharmaceutical companies about developing treatments that could act as “traffic police” to clear the cellular congestion.
Ditlev also mentioned that, “Considering that it costs $10 billion to $15 billion to bring a new drug to market, it would be a lot more cost effective to repurpose an existing drug.”
Moreover, existing drugs might already exist that can help ease these protein traffic jams, offering a more cost-effective solution than developing new medications.
Knowing all of this, it makes one think about what goes into their bodies. Young adds, “Now, knowing what it is that I do when I have my excess sugar, it's easier to avoid it somehow.”
Source: SugarMD / Youtube.
Have you experienced health improvements by cutting back on sugar? Are you concerned about how sugar may be affecting your health as you age? Share your stories and insights in the comments below!
