Other studies have shown, unsurprisingly, that sugar consumption promotes weight gain in children and adults.33 All behaviors have a biochemical basis. ADHD, ADD, et al, are all likely partially due to a poor diet.49, 50 A diet that, almost always, is high in sugar.51, 52 Since studies have shown that intense sweetness surpasses cocaine reward, it is not surprising that many Americans cannot stop consuming sugar.53 But, in order to help stop alarmingly rising healthcare costs, they must stop their gluttonous consumption, and re-focus their diet on whole, real foods, all part of a Paleo Diet.
Other studies have shown that most US adults consume more added sugar than is recommended,34 and that this overconsumption leads to increased risk for cardiovascular disease mortality.54 This is literally the smoking gun that shows that sugar is killing us. Other studies have shown that higher levels of sugar also lower fitness.55 And another interesting study showed that junk food alone made rats lazy.56 Does this give you food for thought? Perhaps you should prioritize a change to your diet?
Insulin, which is secreted in order to deal with sugar in the bloodstream, blocks leptin signaling.35 Leptin is the "satiety" hormone, which helps to tell our hypothalamus to stop eating.57 Since we are now secreting 2-3 times the amount of insulin than we used to, you can see, directly, how this has resulted in disastrous consequences for our world’s health.58 And why are we secreting more insulin? Quite simply, to deal with all the sugar we are over-consuming. It is not a complicated formula, but it is a formula that is bankrupting our nation, and making so many sick and overweight.
Prevention is paradigm. Avoid a high-sugar diet, become leaner, think faster, and feel better. There is not a single better thing you can do, diet-related, that will help you to improve your health. A Paleo Diet, which is intrinsically low in sugar, high in nutrient-dense foods, and filled with micronutrients, is the best path to wellness.
References
1. Lustig RH, Schmidt LA, Brindis CD. Public health: The toxic truth about sugar. Nature. 2012;482(7383):27-9.
2. Available at: //www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html. Accessed September 13, 2014.
3. Available at: //www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/healthyeating/9987825/Sweet-poison-why-sugar-is-ruining-our-health.html. Accessed September 13, 2014.
4. Moreira PI. High-sugar diets, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2013;16(4):440-5.
5. Ford ES, Giles WH, Mokdad AH. Increasing prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among u.s. Adults. Diabetes Care. 2004;27(10):2444-9.
6. Seaquist ER. Addressing the burden of diabetes. JAMA. 2014;311(22):2267-8.
7. Available at: //www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db122.htm. Accessed September 13, 2014.
8. Available at: //wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2012/02/by-2606-us-diet-will-be-100-percent.html. Accessed September 13, 2014.
9. Johnson RK, Appel LJ, Brands M, et al. Dietary sugars intake and cardiovascular health: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2009;120(11):1011-20.
10. Available at: //www.newsherald.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/too-many-americans-are-selfish-and-self-absorbed-1.195653. Accessed September 13, 2014.
11. Available at: //www.today.com/id/30312181/ns/today-today_books/t/me-me-me-americas-narcissism-epidemic/#.VBTMylbD_IU. Accessed September 13, 2014.
12. Available at: //well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/learning-to-cut-the-sugar/. Accessed September 13, 2014.
13. Available at: //blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2014/09/12/berkeley-is-talking-about-sugar-and-the-conversation-isnt-sweet/. Accessed September 13, 2014.
14. Available at: //www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/10314705/Sugar-is-addictive-and-the-most-dangerous-drug-of-the-times.html. Accessed September 13, 2014.
15. Available at: //www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/nyregion/03sodatax.html. Accessed September 13, 2014.
16. Available at: //www.publicintegrity.org/2009/11/04/2758/food-lobbys-war-soda-tax. Accessed September 13, 2014.
17. Available at: //www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/26/172969363/how-the-food-industry-manipulates-taste-buds-with-salt-sugar-fat. Accessed September 13, 2014.
18. Available at: //www.orangejuicefacts.com/nutrition.html. Accessed September 13, 2014.
19. Ahmed SH, Guillem K, Vandaele Y. Sugar addiction: pushing the drug-sugar analogy to the limit. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2013;16(4):434-9.
20. Avena NM, Rada P, Hoebel BG. Evidence for sugar addiction: behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2008;32(1):20-39.
21. Gearhardt A, Roberts M, Ashe M. If sugar is addictive…what does it mean for the law?. J Law Med Ethics. 2013;41 Suppl 1:46-9.
22. Available at: //www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jun00/sugar0600.htm. Accessed September 13, 2014.
23. Available at: //www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/sugar-shockers-foods-surprisingly-high-in-sugar. Accessed September 13, 2014.
24. Available at: //www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-kids-consume-too-much-sugar-mostly-from-processed-foods/. Accessed September 13, 2014.
25. Lythgoe A, Roberts C, Madden AM, Rennie KL. Marketing foods to children: a comparison of nutrient content between children's and non-children's products. Public Health Nutr. 2013;16(12):2221-30.
26. Daly M. Sugars, insulin sensitivity, and the postprandial state. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003;78(4):865S-872S.
27. Musselman LP, Fink JL, Narzinski K, et al. A high-sugar diet produces obesity and insulin resistance in wild-type Drosophila. Dis Model Mech. 2011;4(6):842-9.
28. Gallagher EJ, Leroith D, Karnieli E. Insulin resistance in obesity as the underlying cause for the metabolic syndrome. Mt Sinai J Med. 2010;77(5):511-23.
29. Hofeldt FD. Reactive hypoglycemia. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 1989;18(1):185-201.
30. Yang Q. Gain weight by "going diet?" Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience 2010. Yale J Biol Med. 2010;83(2):101-8.
31. Oliver KG, Huon GF, Zadro L, Williams KD. The role of interpersonal stress in overeating among high and low disinhibitors. Eat Behav. 2001;2(1):19-26.
32. Available at: //www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2012/04/23/trustees-medicare-will-go-broke-in-2016-if-you-exclude-obamacares-double-counting/. Accessed September 13, 2014.
33. Malik, Vasanti S., Matthias B. Schulze, and Frank B. Hu. "Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review." The American journal of clinical nutrition 84.2 (2006): 274-288.
34. Yang Q, Zhang Z, Gregg EW, Flanders WD, Merritt R, Hu FB. Added sugar intake and cardiovascular diseases mortality among US adults. JAMA Intern Med. 2014.
35. Kellerer M, Lammers R, Fritsche A, et al. Insulin inhibits leptin receptor signalling in HEK293 cells at the level of janus kinase-2: a potential mechanism for hyperinsulinaemia-associated leptin resistance. Diabetologia. 2001;44(9):1125-32.
36. Available at: //www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/26/why-is-sugar-so-addictive_n_3643965.html. Accessed October 2, 2014.
37. Greeno CG, Wing RR. Stress-induced eating. Psychol Bull. 1994;115(3):444-64.
38. Available at: //www.cnn.com/2012/02/08/health/healthy-eating-tips-stress/. Accessed October 2, 2014.
39. Torres SJ, Nowson CA. Relationship between stress, eating behavior, and obesity. Nutrition. 2007;23(11-12):887-94.
40. Epstein DH, Shaham Y. Cheesecake-eating rats and the question of food addiction. Nat Neurosci. 2010;13(5):529-31.
41. Johnson PM, Kenny PJ. Dopamine D2 receptors in addiction-like reward dysfunction and compulsive eating in obese rats. Nat Neurosci. 2010;13(5):635-41.
42. Weeratunga P, Jayasinghe S, Perera Y, Jayasena G, Jayasinghe S. Per capita sugar consumption and prevalence of diabetes mellitus--global and regional associations. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:186.
43. Soubry A, Murphy SK, Wang F, et al. Newborns of obese parents have altered DNA methylation patterns at imprinted genes. Int J Obes (Lond). 2013.
44. Available at: //healthland.time.com/2012/11/29/predicting-obesity-at-birth/. Accessed October 2, 2014.
45. Walker RW, Dumke KA, Goran MI. Fructose content in popular beverages made with and without high-fructose corn syrup. Nutrition. 2014;30(7-8):928-35.
46. Available at: //www.diabetes.org/advocacy/news-events/cost-of-diabetes.html. Accessed September 29, 2014.
47. Kerti L, Witte AV, Winkler A, Grittner U, Rujescu D, Flöel A. Higher glucose levels associated with lower memory and reduced hippocampal microstructure. Neurology. 2013;81(20):1746-52.
48. Crane PK, Walker R, Hubbard RA, et al. Glucose levels and risk of dementia. N Engl J Med. 2013;369(6):540-8.
49. Millichap JG, Yee MM. The diet factor in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Pediatrics. 2012;129(2):330-7.
50. Johnson RJ, Gold MS, Johnson DR, et al. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: is it time to reappraise the role of sugar consumption?. Postgrad Med. 2011;123(5):39-49.
51. Kanoski SE, Davidson TL. Western diet consumption and cognitive impairment: links to hippocampal dysfunction and obesity. Physiol Behav. 2011;103(1):59-68.
52. Crescenzo R, Bianco F, Coppola P, et al. Fructose supplementation worsens the deleterious effects of short-term high-fat feeding on hepatic steatosis and lipid metabolism in adult rats. Exp Physiol. 2014;99(9):1203-13.
53. Lenoir M, Serre F, Cantin L, Ahmed SH. Intense sweetness surpasses cocaine reward. PLoS ONE. 2007;2(8):e698.
54. Schmidt LA. New unsweetened truths about sugar. JAMA Intern Med. 2014;174(4):525-6.
55. Ruff JS, Suchy AK, Hugentobler SA, et al. Human-relevant levels of added sugar consumption increase female mortality and lower male fitness in mice. Nat Commun. 2013;4:2245.
56. Blaisdell AP, Lau YL, Telminova E, et al. Food quality and motivation: a refined low-fat diet induces obesity and impairs performance on a progressive ratio schedule of instrumental lever pressing in rats. Physiol Behav. 2014;128:220-5.
57. Myers MG, Cowley MA, Münzberg H. Mechanisms of leptin action and leptin resistance. Annu Rev Physiol. 2008;70:537-56.
58. Larsson H, Ahrén B. Glucose intolerance is predicted by low insulin secretion and high glucagon secretion: outcome of a prospective study in postmenopausal Caucasian women. Diabetologia. 2000;43(2):194-202.