Another Study Concludes Sugar is Toxic at “Safe” Levels

 A new study published on August 13, 2013 in the journal Nature Communications found that for mice eating a diet which contained 25% extra sugar, which is the mouse equivalent of a healthy human diet plus three cans of soda or other sweetened beverage daily, the females died at twice the normal rate and males were a 25% less likely to hold territory and reproduce.  Their results were based a toxicity test developed at the University of Utah.The researchers concluded that the results provide evidence that added sugar consumed at concentrations currently considered safe has a dramatic adverse impact on mammalian health, which demonstrates the adverse effects of added sugar at levels relevant to humans.Wayne Potts, a University of Utah biology professor and the study’s senior author said that previous studies using other tests fed mice large doses of sugar which was disproportionate to the amount people regularly consume in sweetened beverages, baked goods, candy and other processed foods.Interestingly, the mice didn’t become obese and showed few metabolic symptoms yet they died more often and tended to have fewer babies.  “We have shown that levels of sugar that people typically consume and that are considered safe by regulatory agencies impair the health of mice,” says the study’s first author, James Ruff, Ph.D.According to Potts, “This is a sensitive test for health and vigor declines. One advantage of this assay is we get the same readout no matter if we are testing inbreeding or added sugar.”  The study showed that mice suffered the same level of health degradation from added sugar as previous test results from cousin-level inbreeding.They also stated that the need for a sensitive toxicity test exists not only for components of our diet, but particularly for both pharmaceutical science, where 73% of drugs that pass pre-clinical trials ultimately fail due to safety concerns and for toxicology, where very few compounds go through critical or long-term toxicity testing.  (We feel this safety concern and need for testing also applies to the supplement industry, which is subject to little or no real safety testing.)The National Research Council recommends that people consume no more than 25% of their daily calories from “added sugar”.  This recommendation doesn’t include what is naturally in fruits, vegetables, grains and other non-processed food.  Up to 25% of Americans consume this “recommended” amount and many consume even more.The 25% sugar-added diet fed to the mice is the equivalent of a person who drinks three cans of sweetened soda or other beverage daily along with an otherwise perfectly healthy, no-sugar-added diet.  Sugar consumption in the American diet has increased 50% since the 1970 and during this same time period we have also seen a dramatic increase in metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, fatty liver and cardiovascular disease over the same period.As we point out in TurboCharged, there seems to be no safe dose of added sugar, so total avoidance is advised if you are interested in optimal health and longevity.Your thoughts and comment are always welcome.Read more here:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130813111722.htm