Pulse Beat

Prof Dr BM Hegde 30 August 2016

Sugar, the Newfound Devil?

For decades now, the establishment, aided and abetted by the industry, has made fat the greatest devil in our disease saga. Suddenly, the US has done a U-turn. Now, they say that fat is our friend and is good; it is sugar that is the culprit. Is it possible to avoid all sugars in your diet? If you did that, you will only be left with meat and fats—a decidedly unhealthy diet. However, it is good to avoid added sugar, especially in the preserved foods made in factories. The most common sources of added sugars include soft drinks, cakes, pies, chocolate, fruit drinks and desserts. Just a single can of cola can contain up to 7tsp (teaspoons) of added sugar, while an average-sized chocolate bar can contain up to 6tsp. According to an article in Guardian newspaper, in 1972, a British scientist John Yudkin sounded the alarm that sugar—and not fat—was the greatest danger to our health. But his findings were ridiculed and his reputation ruined.

Cutting sugars completely may be difficult; fruits, veggies, dairy, eggs, alcohol and nuts all contain sugars. Many people turn to artificial sweeteners as an alternative to sugar. But, according to a study in 2014, these sweeteners may still drive diabetes and obesity. The study, published in the journal Nature, suggests that artificial sweeteners—including saccharin, sucralose and aspartame—interfere with gut bacteria, increasing the activity of pathways associated with obesity and diabetes.

What is more, they found long-term consumption of artificial sweeteners was associated with increased weight, abdominal obesity, higher fasting blood glucose levels and increased glycosylated haemoglobin levels. Together with other major shifts that occurred in human nutrition, this increase in artificial sweetener consumption coincides with the dramatic increase in the obesity and diabetes epidemics. Artificial sweeteners may have directly contributed to enhancing the exact epidemic that they themselves were intended to fight.

Is Shift Work Safe?

Shift work is associated with increased incidence of type-II diabetes, headaches, sleeplessness, higher cardiac morbidity and concentration problems. Even a single Jet flight might upset our circadian rhythm; but that gets corrected easily. Ideally, our physiology would reset to this new condition, but it might not be able to do it and the consequences of this are the onset of diseases associated with abnormal circadian rhythmicity.

Is BMI Reliable as a Measure of Health?

A recent study showed that 54 million Americans, whose BMI (body mass index) categorises them as overweight and obese, are in perfect health according to cardio-metabolic measures, while 21 million, whose BMI puts them in the normal category, are unhealthy. The study provides more evidence to support the idea that a person’s BMI (BMI= weight in kg divided by height in m2) is a flawed measure of health. In spite of this, BMI continues to be used as a yardstick for determining health status. Many employers use it to calculate workers’ healthcare costs, note the researchers behind the new study, who report their findings in the International Journal of Obesity.

Are We Headed for an Ice Age?

Professor Valentina Zharkova, a solar physicist at the UK’s Northumbria University, claims that the earth is, in fact, not warming up, but cooling down. She has been conducting extensive research on sunspots—ominously cooler regions of the sun’s surface characterised by intense magnetic activity—pivotal in influencing climate patterns. The current increase in global temperatures is a result of increased sunspot activity rather than the emission of greenhouse gases. Professor Zarkova has many supporters and detractors also. But the fact that the arctic ice cap has been seen to be enlarging, supports her thesis. Scientific future predictions are like astrology. In quantum worldview, there is no tomorrow; it is yet to be born. How can you predict long range?

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