Diabetes and blood sugar problems are killing millions of people. A new report shows that much of the blame comes from an item you eat every day.
Researchers writing in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings point out that a large body of research now shows that our penchant for eating foods with added sugar are a leading cause of diabetes and pre-diabetes. The main culprit: fructose, an added form of sugar we usually swallow in the form of high fructose corn syrup. This lethal form of sugar is added to shocking number of foods including soft drinks, spaghetti sauces, ketchup, bread and salad dressing.
According to this report, the dietary guidelines that assert it is OK to take in up to 25 percent of daily calories as added sugar is a big health mistake. There needs to be a “drastic” reduction in added sugar and, in particular, we need to eliminate most of the added fructose from processed foods.
If we don’t take care of this problem, warn the scientists, the diabetes epidemic will continue to grow. Right now, about 10 percent of adults globally have type 2 diabetes. That total has more than doubled since 1980. In the U.S., almost 30 million Americans have type 2 diabetes and 86 million suffer pre-diabetes.
“At current levels, added-sugar consumption, and added-fructose consumption in particular, are fueling a worsening epidemic of type 2 diabetes,” warns researcher James J. DiNicolantonio, a cardiovascular research scientist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, Missouri. “Approximately 40% of U.S. adults already have some degree of insulin resistance with projections that nearly the same percentage will eventually develop frank diabetes.”
Although fruits and vegetables contain fructose, the amounts are usually too small to be a problem. Plus, those foods contain natural chemicals that help the body defend itself against diabetes. According to the researchers, eating more fruits and vegetables while eliminating processed foods with added fructose “… may be one of the single most effective strategies for ensuring one’s robust future health.”
