Dietary sugar and prolonged life

[Guest guest]

I do not have links to the actual research papers, but the references are

included inline below.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine

November 15, 2009

Will Avoiding Dietary Sugar Prolong Life?

Nobody has yet shown any way to extend the life span of

humans. However, both exercise and calorie restriction (with

adequate nutrients) have been shown to extend the life span of

animals. Both of these measures apparently extend life by

increasing the number and size of mitochondria in cells and

making them turn food into energy more efficiently. Each cell in

your body contains up to several hundred mitochondria which

provide the most efficient chemical reactions in your body for

converting food into energy.

An exciting new study on worms offers a potential method

for you to prolong life and good health. When blood sugar levels

rise too high, sugar enters cells in large amounts. An earlier

study showed that adding sugar to the diet of the worm, C. Elegans,

shortens its life (Cell Metabolism, October, 2007). Now the

researchers have found that preventing sugar from entering cells

by altering the genes for DAF-2, DAF-16 and Heat Shock Factor-1

causes the same changes as avoiding sugar and extends the worms'

life span up to 20 percent (Cell Metabolism, November 2009).

These benefits could also occur in humans because we have the

same three genes that control sugar entry into cells as those

of the worms.

Calorie restriction and exercise probably prolong life

by the same mechanism: they enlarge and activate mitochondria in

cells that turn food to energy. This helps mitochondria to clear

free radicals much more rapidly from the body. Free radicals can

damage cells and therefore shorten life. The worms' cells

responded to the absence of sugar inside cells by increasing their

ability to clear free radicals from their bodies which prolonged

their lives. Indeed, when sugar was allowed to again enter their

cells, they still could clear free radicals faster and live longer

because their enlarged mitochondria were more efficient in removing

free radicals.

This research on worms questions the way doctors treat

type II diabetes when they prescribe drugs to lower blood sugar

levels by driving sugar into cells. The best treatment may be to

develop diets and drugs that prevent blood sugar from entering

cells in the first place.

For now, we know that you will shorten your life and

increase risk for many diseases by allowing blood sugar levels to

rise too high after meals. A diet that keeps sugar from rising too

high after meals (and reduces the entry of sugar into cells) can

prevent diabetes, help control all the side effects of diabetes

(JAMA, December 16, 2008), cause the most weight loss, and

allow many type II diabetics to safely stop their medications

(Nutrition and Metabolism, January 2009). Avoid foods that cause

the highest rise in blood sugar levels: sugar in liquid form

(sugared drinks, fruit juices, and adding sugar to any drink);

foods made from flour (bread, spaghetti, macaroni, pretzels,

bagels and so forth); and foods with added sugar.

You should also exercise every day. Exercise causes

muscles to remove sugar from the bloodstream at a very rapid rate

and this effect lasts maximally for about half hour after you stop

exercising, then tapers off until it stops completely after about

17 hours. Furthermore, since lack of vitamin D causes high blood

sugar levels, you should make sure that your blood level of

vitamin D3 is above 75 nmol/L (see the note on new vitamin D

recommendations below).

[Guest guest]

It’s my understanding that whole wheat flour is Ok. Below just says “flour” - but I wonder if they mean white flour?

Dr. Kenyon did the experiments on worms. She couldn’t do CR (too hard she said) but after the results of her experiments, she stopped eating sugar.

Also there’s some question whether artificial sweetners raise blood sugar levels.

On a personal rant, my latest BP reading at the doctor’s was: 115/70; I am the only one of my immediate family (mother, father, 2 deceased brothers) who didn’t need to long ago start BP meds, as I approach septuagenarian-hood. And I’m damn proud of that.

On 11/12/09 10:48 AM, " blairmd " <blairmd@...> wrote:

I do not have links to the actual research papers, but the references are included inline below.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine

November 15, 2009

Will Avoiding Dietary Sugar Prolong Life?

Nobody has yet shown any way to extend the life span of

humans. However, both exercise and calorie restriction (with

adequate nutrients) have been shown to extend the life span of

animals. Both of these measures apparently extend life by

increasing the number and size of mitochondria in cells and

making them turn food into energy more efficiently. Each cell in

your body contains up to several hundred mitochondria which

provide the most efficient chemical reactions in your body for

converting food into energy.

An exciting new study on worms offers a potential method

for you to prolong life and good health. When blood sugar levels

rise too high, sugar enters cells in large amounts. An earlier

study showed that adding sugar to the diet of the worm, C. Elegans,

shortens its life (Cell Metabolism, October, 2007). Now the

researchers have found that preventing sugar from entering cells

by altering the genes for DAF-2, DAF-16 and Heat Shock Factor-1

causes the same changes as avoiding sugar and extends the worms'

life span up to 20 percent (Cell Metabolism, November 2009).

These benefits could also occur in humans because we have the

same three genes that control sugar entry into cells as those

of the worms.

Calorie restriction and exercise probably prolong life

by the same mechanism: they enlarge and activate mitochondria in

cells that turn food to energy. This helps mitochondria to clear

free radicals much more rapidly from the body. Free radicals can

damage cells and therefore shorten life. The worms' cells

responded to the absence of sugar inside cells by increasing their

ability to clear free radicals from their bodies which prolonged

their lives. Indeed, when sugar was allowed to again enter their

cells, they still could clear free radicals faster and live longer

because their enlarged mitochondria were more efficient in removing

free radicals.

This research on worms questions the way doctors treat

type II diabetes when they prescribe drugs to lower blood sugar

levels by driving sugar into cells. The best treatment may be to

develop diets and drugs that prevent blood sugar from entering

cells in the first place.

For now, we know that you will shorten your life and

increase risk for many diseases by allowing blood sugar levels to

rise too high after meals. A diet that keeps sugar from rising too

high after meals (and reduces the entry of sugar into cells) can

prevent diabetes, help control all the side effects of diabetes

(JAMA, December 16, 2008), cause the most weight loss, and

allow many type II diabetics to safely stop their medications

(Nutrition and Metabolism, January 2009). Avoid foods that cause

the highest rise in blood sugar levels: sugar in liquid form

(sugared drinks, fruit juices, and adding sugar to any drink);

foods made from flour (bread, spaghetti, macaroni, pretzels,

bagels and so forth); and foods with added sugar.

You should also exercise every day. Exercise causes

muscles to remove sugar from the bloodstream at a very rapid rate

and this effect lasts maximally for about half hour after you stop

exercising, then tapers off until it stops completely after about

17 hours. Furthermore, since lack of vitamin D causes high blood

sugar levels, you should make sure that your blood level of

vitamin D3 is above 75 nmol/L (see the note on new vitamin D

recommendations below).