Diet Soda, Metabolic Syndrome, and Weight Loss
February 12, 2008 03:24 PM ET Katherine Hobson Permanent Link
As I write this, I am nursing a glass of Diet Pepsi, one of the embarrassing number that I put away on a typical day (starting about five minutes after I wake up, to my boyfriend's abject horror). I've resolved to cut back on my consumption in the past, mostly because I'm cheap enough to resent paying for something with absolutely no nutritional value, but have always been defeated by the calorie factor. Besides, doesn't everyone deserve a vice? But because of my love-hate relationship with the stuff, two recent studies about artificial sweeteners caught my eye.
One, published in Circulation, came as quite a shock: Drinking diet soda, it suggested, puts me at higher risk of developing a group of risk factors like high blood pressure and unhealthy levels of "bad" cholesterol that are tied to heart disease and diabetes. Another paper, published in Behavioral Neuroscience, found that—in rats, at least—cutting the traditional link between sweet flavor and high calories seems to throw off the ability to judge the caloric content of food. That, no surprise, leads to overeating. So much for the calorie factor.
The first study, which looked at the food intake of more than 9,500 middle-aged adults, is investigating potential dietary factors behind the "metabolic syndrome," which isn't a disease in itself but a cluster of symptoms—a large waist circumference is another one. Among its many findings: Those who drank the most diet soda were 34 percent more likely to have metabolic syndrome than those who drank the least.
Before you toss your cans (or, in my case, two-liter bottles), though, realize that this study shows only an association; it does not at all prove that drinking soda actually leads to metabolic syndrome. As New York University nutritionist Marion Nestle notes on her blog, the habit might be a marker for some other less-healthy behaviors that actually do cause the syndrome. So, as the authors of the study say, it's an interesting finding that needs more investigation.
The study in rats has been getting a lot of media attention, which has surprised a lot of the nutritionists I've talked to since the idea behind the research isn't new. That said, here's a rundown on the theory: Starting with their first taste of breast milk, mammals begin to associate sweet taste with calorie-dense foods. They get the message that eating something sweet means they don't need to eat as much to maintain their weight as they might of something nonsweet. But, the theory goes, what if that connection is disrupted say, by eating foods flavored with a highly sweet but noncaloric sweetener? Then they have no way of gauging through flavor alone whether something is likely to be high in calories or not. Without those cues, the animal may overeat.
In this case, the rats studied at Purdue University who were fed low-fat yogurt flavored with saccharine ate more rat chow and got fatter than those who ate the same yogurt flavored with glucose. The rats that ate the saccharine-sweetened yogurt were also less able to compensate for calories (i.e. eat less at the next meal to make up for a lot of food eaten at the last one) than those whose meals were "predictive"," or sweetened with glucose. What does it mean for humans? The authors conclude that while you can't take what you find in lab rats and assume it will apply to people, too, "it is conceivable that the widespread use of artificial sweeteners may have similar effects on us.
It's true that thanks to artificial flavorings and fats, and the sheer variety of our diets, "it's very difficult to link particular tastes and sensory experiences with what food is anymore,"says Barbara Rolls, professor and Guthrie chair in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. "We often have no clear signal as to what the calorie content of any of our foods is." So she advises that, because we tend to eat a certain constant volume of food, we should consciously make choices that are lower in density. That means veggies and fruits as the basis of our diet, rather than foods that are more likely to be calorie-dense (like processed and fried foods).
Meanwhile, other research has shown that in humans, drinking diet soda as a replacement for regular soda actually does lead to weight loss, she says. Susan Swithers, one of the authors of the rat study, acknowledges that sweeteners may work when used as part of a conscious calorie-reduction plan even if they also unconsciously dull the sweetness-calories link. But no one is saying that artificial sweeteners are the key one way or the other: They aren't likely to be the magic bullet to get you from fat to thin any more than they're likely to be the sole reason you got fat in the first place.
I am not a rat, and I make a conscious effort to keep my diet pretty healthy. So I'm going to stick with my Diet Pepsi. But, for the sake of my wallet, I'll try to alternate glasses of soda with that original diet drink, water.
Girls who feel unpopular more likely to get fat
By Anne Harding
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adolescent girls who rank themselves at the bottom of the social totem pole are more likely to gain weight over time than their peers with a more positive view of their social standing, new research shows.
Based on these findings, programs aiming to prevent overweight and obesity in teen girls should focus on helping them feel better about themselves, as well as improving their eating and exercise habits, study co-author Adina R. Lemeshow told Reuters Health.
In the study, conducted while Lemeshow was a graduate student at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, the researchers followed 4,446 girls aged 12 to 18 for 2 years. All were asked to rank their social standing on a 10-point "ladder," with the bottom being "people who no one respects and no one wants to hang around with" and "people in your school with the most respect and the highest standing" at the top.
The average self-ranking was 7.7, while just 4 percent of the girls ranked themselves at 4 or below. After adjusting for several factors that could influence both social status and weight gain, such as body mass index (BMI) at the study's outset, household income, and self-esteem, the researchers found that the girls who considered themselves to have the lowest social status were 69 percent more likely to have a 2-point increase in BMI over the following 2 years.
This is equivalent to gaining about 11 pounds more than expected, Lemeshow, who now works for the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, said in an interview.
"For girls, it could be useful to have programs that focus on personal skills or how to face social problems and challenges" when seeking to prevent obesity, she said.
In an editorial accompanying the study, Drs. Clea McNeely and Robert Crosnoe of Johns Hopkins University point out that low social, political and economic status are known to be fundamental causes of disease.
The current study findings suggest that self-perceived, subjective social status can also lead to illness, they note. But interventions designed to address obesity in the context of social status must be designed carefully, they add.
"Grouping together multiple at-risk youth to deliver some behavioral intervention can make things worse by creating a new peer culture organized around the very behaviors that the intervention was trying to change."
McNeely and Crosnoe call for a better understanding of how teens influence one another's health behavior to ensure that such interventions are effective.
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, January 2008.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adolescent girls who rank themselves at the bottom of the social totem pole are more likely to gain weight over time than their peers with a more positive view of their social standing, new research shows.
Based on these findings, programs aiming to prevent overweight and obesity in teen girls should focus on helping them feel better about themselves, as well as improving their eating and exercise habits, study co-author Adina R. Lemeshow told Reuters Health.
In the study, conducted while Lemeshow was a graduate student at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, the researchers followed 4,446 girls aged 12 to 18 for 2 years. All were asked to rank their social standing on a 10-point "ladder," with the bottom being "people who no one respects and no one wants to hang around with" and "people in your school with the most respect and the highest standing" at the top.
The average self-ranking was 7.7, while just 4 percent of the girls ranked themselves at 4 or below. After adjusting for several factors that could influence both social status and weight gain, such as body mass index (BMI) at the study's outset, household income, and self-esteem, the researchers found that the girls who considered themselves to have the lowest social status were 69 percent more likely to have a 2-point increase in BMI over the following 2 years.
This is equivalent to gaining about 11 pounds more than expected, Lemeshow, who now works for the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, said in an interview.
"For girls, it could be useful to have programs that focus on personal skills or how to face social problems and challenges" when seeking to prevent obesity, she said.
In an editorial accompanying the study, Drs. Clea McNeely and Robert Crosnoe of Johns Hopkins University point out that low social, political and economic status are known to be fundamental causes of disease.
The current study findings suggest that self-perceived, subjective social status can also lead to illness, they note. But interventions designed to address obesity in the context of social status must be designed carefully, they add.
"Grouping together multiple at-risk youth to deliver some behavioral intervention can make things worse by creating a new peer culture organized around the very behaviors that the intervention was trying to change."
McNeely and Crosnoe call for a better understanding of how teens influence one another's health behavior to ensure that such interventions are effective.
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, January 2008.
Promising Diabetes Study
Sirtris Reports Promising Diabetes Study
By KEITH J. WINSTEINJanuary 8, 2008
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. said its formulation of resveratrol, a substance found in red wine, helped diabetics lower their blood sugar in an early-stage clinical trial.
Sirtris, Cambridge, Mass., is working on commercializing resveratrol and related drugs to fight a number of diseases. Advocates suspect resveratrol may also increase life span, though that hasn't yet been shown.
Sirtris released results yesterday from an early-stage study involving 98 diabetics at an investor conference sponsored by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in San Francisco. It is the first study to show beneficial effects in humans from resveratrol. Previous studies had focused on mice and rats.
"We chose diabetes because it's a big market, but the biology says the drug could work on any number of diseases," said David Sinclair, a professor at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Sirtris. The company has said 2012 is the earliest it could get to the market with a diabetes drug, which would happen only if further phases of clinical testing in much larger groups of patients are successful.
In the so-called Phase-1b study, Sirtris gave daily doses of resveratrol to 67 diabetics who weren't on other treatment. It gave placebos to 31 others. The study took place in India.
After 28 days, those taking resveratrol had improved their scores on an oral glucose-tolerance test, which measures the body's ability to break down and use sugar, a fundamental problem for diabetics. Those taking the placebo didn't show an improvement.
Resveratrol also seemed to lower base-line levels of glucose in the blood, though that result wasn't statistically significant. None of the patients reported a significant side effect, the company said.
Write to Keith J. Winstein at keith.winstein@wsj.com
By KEITH J. WINSTEINJanuary 8, 2008
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. said its formulation of resveratrol, a substance found in red wine, helped diabetics lower their blood sugar in an early-stage clinical trial.
Sirtris, Cambridge, Mass., is working on commercializing resveratrol and related drugs to fight a number of diseases. Advocates suspect resveratrol may also increase life span, though that hasn't yet been shown.
Sirtris released results yesterday from an early-stage study involving 98 diabetics at an investor conference sponsored by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in San Francisco. It is the first study to show beneficial effects in humans from resveratrol. Previous studies had focused on mice and rats.
"We chose diabetes because it's a big market, but the biology says the drug could work on any number of diseases," said David Sinclair, a professor at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Sirtris. The company has said 2012 is the earliest it could get to the market with a diabetes drug, which would happen only if further phases of clinical testing in much larger groups of patients are successful.
In the so-called Phase-1b study, Sirtris gave daily doses of resveratrol to 67 diabetics who weren't on other treatment. It gave placebos to 31 others. The study took place in India.
After 28 days, those taking resveratrol had improved their scores on an oral glucose-tolerance test, which measures the body's ability to break down and use sugar, a fundamental problem for diabetics. Those taking the placebo didn't show an improvement.
Resveratrol also seemed to lower base-line levels of glucose in the blood, though that result wasn't statistically significant. None of the patients reported a significant side effect, the company said.
Write to Keith J. Winstein at keith.winstein@wsj.com
Can sleep trouble cause diabetes?
Can sleep trouble cause diabetes?
U. OF C. STUDY Volunteers who were roused needed more insulin
January 1, 2008
BY JIM RITTER Health Reporter/jritter@suntimes.com
Researchers have identified a possible new risk factor for diabetes: not getting a good night's sleep.
In a small study, University of Chicago researchers tested the theory on nine healthy young adults in a sleep lab.
For three nights, researchers prevented volunteers from getting the deepest and most restorative type of sleep.
Afterward, volunteers' bodies did not use insulin as well as before: they needed more insulin to dispose of the same amount of a sugar solution.
This reduced insulin sensitivity was comparable to the effect of gaining 20 or 30 pounds.
Earlier studies found that not getting enough sleep can increase the risk of obesity and diabetes.
The U. of C. study is the first to suggest that not getting the right kind of sleep also could increase diabetes risk.
The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers monitored volunteers' brain waves. As soon as volunteers started to enter deep "slow-wave" sleep, researchers sounded acoustic tones. If that didn't rouse volunteers, researchers spoke their names over the intercom or gently nudged them. Sleep was disrupted 250 to 300 times a night.
Volunteers typically had vague memories of hearing noises only three or four times. But they woke up feeling tired and cranky.
Volunteers were aged 20 to 31. But they slept like they were 40 years older. People in their 20s typically get 80 to 100 minutes of slow-wave sleep, while those over age 60 get less than 20 minutes.
If you're spending an adequate amount of time sleeping, but still wake up tired, you might not be getting enough slow-wave sleep. This often happens to people with obstructive sleep apnea.
Obesity and aging are two big risk factors for diabetes. Obesity and aging also reduce sleep quality, further increasing the risk of diabetes, researchers said.
U. OF C. STUDY Volunteers who were roused needed more insulin
January 1, 2008
BY JIM RITTER Health Reporter/jritter@suntimes.com
Researchers have identified a possible new risk factor for diabetes: not getting a good night's sleep.
In a small study, University of Chicago researchers tested the theory on nine healthy young adults in a sleep lab.
For three nights, researchers prevented volunteers from getting the deepest and most restorative type of sleep.
Afterward, volunteers' bodies did not use insulin as well as before: they needed more insulin to dispose of the same amount of a sugar solution.
This reduced insulin sensitivity was comparable to the effect of gaining 20 or 30 pounds.
Earlier studies found that not getting enough sleep can increase the risk of obesity and diabetes.
The U. of C. study is the first to suggest that not getting the right kind of sleep also could increase diabetes risk.
The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers monitored volunteers' brain waves. As soon as volunteers started to enter deep "slow-wave" sleep, researchers sounded acoustic tones. If that didn't rouse volunteers, researchers spoke their names over the intercom or gently nudged them. Sleep was disrupted 250 to 300 times a night.
Volunteers typically had vague memories of hearing noises only three or four times. But they woke up feeling tired and cranky.
Volunteers were aged 20 to 31. But they slept like they were 40 years older. People in their 20s typically get 80 to 100 minutes of slow-wave sleep, while those over age 60 get less than 20 minutes.
If you're spending an adequate amount of time sleeping, but still wake up tired, you might not be getting enough slow-wave sleep. This often happens to people with obstructive sleep apnea.
Obesity and aging are two big risk factors for diabetes. Obesity and aging also reduce sleep quality, further increasing the risk of diabetes, researchers said.
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