New Insight to Sugar’s Role in Metabolism

Wouldn’t it be nice if weight were really just a matter of calories in, calories out?

But science has made it increasingly clear that not all calories are equal – nor is calories in/calories out the sole equation when it comes to overweight and obesity.

For instance, different combinations of foods can have very different, even surprising effects, as shown in a study just published in BMC Nutrition.

The study made use of a technology known as a room calorimeter – a small chamber that can measure a person’s energy expenditure or metabolism under various conditions. Twenty-seven participants were each isolated in such a chamber for two 24-hour periods. During one stay, breakfast and lunch each contained 15% protein; during the other, 30%. As protein content went up, carb content went down.

Participants were served either a sugary or artificially sweetened drink with each meal.

Evaluating the metabolic differences between meals, the researchers found that when the sugary drink was consumed, fat-burning ability was reduced. And despite consuming more calories – energy – participants didn’t feel any fuller. They did show a stronger preference for salty, savory foods.

As lead author Dr. Shanon Casperson described it in a news release,

We found that about a third of the additional calories provided by the sugar-sweetened drinks were not expended, fat metabolism was reduced, and it took less energy to metabolize the meals. This decreased metabolic efficiency may “prime” the body to store more fat.

Now, think of the standard fast food meal – burger, fries, Coke – and it seems even clearer why this type of eating would lead easily to weight gain. It’s a lot of protein and a lot of sugar, all at one go.

But it’s important to remember that when we’re talking about sugary drinks, we’re not just talking about soda pop but any drink with sugar: flavored teas, juice and juice-based drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, and more.

Dr. Casperson said: “Our findings suggest that having a sugar-sweetened drink with a meal impacts both sides of the energy balance equation. On the intake side, the additional energy from the drink did not make people feel more sated. On the expenditure side, the additional calories were not expended and fat oxidation was reduced. The results provide further insight into the potential role of sugar-sweetened drinks – the largest single source of sugar in the American diet – in weight gain and obesity.”

But before you think that reaching for the diet drink instead will help keep the weight off, another new study suggests otherwise. In a new meta-analysis out of Canada, researchers found that

not only were artificial sweeteners dodgy when it came to weight management, but people who drank them routinely had an increased body mass index and risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Oops.

Granted, most studies to this point are observational and so can’t show cause and effect. And like many dietary studies, they have relied a lot on self-reported data, which isn’t always the most accurate. Still, the findings are consistent with other research over the past decade-plus which suggests that not only do diet drinks do little to reduce obesity, they may actually encourage it.

And, of course, there are plenty of other health reasons to steer clear of artificial sweeteners.

Bottom line, practically speaking? If you’re going to enjoy a beverage with your meal, stick with water or, at minimum, a non-sweetened, sugar-free drink.

For more on the impact both sugared and artificially sweetened drinks can have on your health, see our previous posts here and here.

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New Science on Acupuncture’s Impact

This past spring, the FDA released new guidelines that include acupuncture as a valid therapy for treating pain. At least some of this comes from the need to emphasize drug-free therapies in the midst of the ongoing crisis of opioid abuse.

“[Health care providers] should be knowledgeable about the range of available therapies, when they may be helpful, and when they should be used as part of a multidisciplinary approach to pain management,” the agency wrote in the proposal.

At the same time, science continues to reveal more about what happens physiologically when acupuncture is done.

Just last week came news of a small but intriguing study that found acupuncture, properly done, appears to raise levels of nitric oxide. This, in turn, increases blood flow and spurs the release of the body’s natural pain-relieving substances.

For the latest study, the LA BioMed researchers used a low force and rate/reinforcement method of acupuncture. They gently inserted acupuncture needles into the skin of 25 men and women, aged 18-60 years, and delicately twisted the needles for two minutes or until they achieved a sensation of “de qi” (soreness, numbness, distension or pain). They then manipulated the needles using gentle amplitude and moderate speed for two minutes every five minutes for a total of 20 minutes.

They also applied electrical heat for 20 minutes and found elevated levels of nitric oxide at the acupoints. To further validate their findings, they conducted the test with high-frequency and force, which is known as a reduction method, and found nitric oxide levels over the areas of the skin region were reduced.

Another recent study looked at acupuncture’s impact on carpal tunnel syndrome – a condition chosen at least partly because it’s one of the few chronic pain disorders with measurable, objective outcomes.

Here, three groups were studied. One had needles inserted at sites on the wrist meridian but far away from the wrist itself; one had them inserted at the wrist; one served as a control group and had sham acupuncture. Sixteen total treatments were given over the course of two months.

All groups reported improved symptoms, but there was one big difference. As an article in Popular Science described it, `

[Study author Vitaly] Napadow found that while participants in all three categories stated that they felt an improvement in pain, only participants who had received acupuncture—either at the site of the pain, or, somewhat surprisingly, via those mysterious “energy channels”—actually experienced nerve transmission improvements. And to further make the case, participants who had needles inserted right at the wrist did indeed improve even more than those who received distal needle acupuncture.

Earlier studies had shown that carpal tunnel doesn’t just causes changes in the wrist—it also causes changes in regions of the brain’s gray matter. The nerve damage in the wrist creates a sort of blurring in the brain in terms of its ability to process signals from the hand. When Napadow stuck study participants in an fMRI, he found that those pathways in the brain had improved, though he’s quick to note that even these impressive outcomes don’t equate to ‘curing’ carpal tunnel. “We improved the disorder and certainly kept it from getting worse, but we did not magically heal the patient,” he says.

This is impressive stuff.

Of course, acupuncture is just one safe and effective option for addressing chronic pain. Ozone and prolozone therapy can both be excellent ways of moving beyond drug-focused “pain management.” In other cases, nutritional balancing may be helpful – or addressing issues such as sleep deficits and chronic stress that can wear down a body’s resilience.

As always, the ideal is to find the cause of the pain or dysfunction and from there, choose the most appropriate therapy for addressing it and supporting healing.

Image by Marnie Joyce, via Flickr

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