Science and Health

Sugar as bad as fat: Australian study

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-17 13:44

SYDNEY - A sugar-rich diet is just as bad as a high-fat diet that can cause health damage even when a person is of normal weight, a new Australian study released on Wednesday found.

A study conducted at the University of Melbourne found signs of impaired heart functioning when mice were fed a sugar-rich for just 12 weeks.

The mice ate the equivalent of a high-sugar diet for humans - for example a teenager fuelled by soft drinks and lollies - and the damage was seen to unfold even though they maintained a normal weight.

Australian researcher Kimberley Mellor said the results pointed to commonly held misconceptions about healthy eating, and an " overlooked" potential driver in the steady rise of type 2 diabetes.

"... Because we are recognizing that it is not just fat that is bad for us, it is sugar as well," Mellor told Australian Associated Press (AAP) on Wednesday.

"And all of these foods that we think of as healthy because they are low fat are actually not, because of their high sugar content," she added.

The mice were fed food high in fructose - the substance that gives sugar its sweet taste - which is a common food additive particularly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.

The mice showed signs of oxidative stress in their hearts, which leads to a breakdown of cardiac cells and a disruption of the way these cells react to calcium, an essential process which enables the heart to beat.

While the study looked for an impact on heart function, Mellor said other research also pointed to a link between a high-sugar diet and the development of diabetes.

"Fructose intake has increased so much over the last few decades and this has been in line with an increase in type 2 diabetes," Mellor said.

"There has been a view that diabetes is involved with obesity, but actually we know that many diabetics are not obese and some are not even overweight," she said.

Mellor said people should "cut out sugar as much as possible" from their diet and there was little point switching to low fat foods that were otherwise high in sugar.