Increased awareness of the health consequences of eating too much sugar has fueled a dramatic uptick in the consumption of zero-calorie artificial sweeteners in recent decades. However, new research finds sugar replacements can also cause health changes that are linked with diabetes and obesity, suggesting that switching from regular to diet soda may be a […]
Starving cancer, feeding knowledge
Cancer, it could be said, grows like a weed: rapidly, invasively, and with devastating impact on the place it infests. Also like a weed, cancer can’t grow on its own — it needs nourishment, which it drains from the human body, just as weeds take nutrients in the soil away from other plants. “Think of […]
Fructose and glucose in high fructose corn syrup deliver a one-two punch to health
Consuming high fructose corn syrup appears to be as bad for your health as consuming sugar in the form of fructose alone, according to a new study from researchers at the University of California, Davis. The study reports health risks related to the type of sugar consumed, but also reveals novel risks when sugars are […]
Sugar binges increase risk of inflammatory bowel disease
Short-term increases in sugar consumption could increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease and have a significant impact on our health, a new study out of the University of Alberta suggests. In a study published in Scientific Reports, U of A researchers found that mice had an increased susceptibility to chemically induced colitis and more […]
High-fructose corn syrup boosts intestinal tumor growth in mice
Does sugar directly feed cancers, boosting their growth? The answer seems to be ‘Yes’ at least in mice according to a study led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Weill Cornell Medicine. Their study, published in Science, showed that consuming a daily modest amount of high-fructose corn syrup — the equivalent of people drinking […]
Artificial sweeteners have toxic effects on gut microbes
FDA-approved artificial sweeteners and sport supplements were found to be toxic to digestive gut microbes, according to a new paper published in Molecules by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The collaborative study indicated relative toxicity of six artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, saccharine, neotame, advantame, and acesulfame […]
Diabetes App Forecasts Blood Sugar Levels
Columbia University researchers have developed a personalized algorithm that predicts the impact of particular foods on an individual’s blood sugar levels. The algorithm has been integrated into an app, Glucoracle, that will allow individuals with type 2 diabetes to keep a tighter rein on their glucose levels — the key to preventing or controlling the […]
Serious Health Risks Associated With Energy Drinks
A new review of current scientific knowledge on energy drinks finds their advertised short-term benefits can be outweighed by serious health risks — which include risk-seeking behavior, mental health problems, increased blood pressure, obesity and kidney damage. The study, published in Frontiers in Public Health, also highlights the worrying trend of mixing energy drinks with alcohol. […]
Professor And Her Students May Have Found A Cure For Lyme Disease
Could a common sweetener that’s already in the kitchen cupboards in many American homes — stevia — prove to be an effective treatment for a disease as debilitating and persistent as Lyme disease? It’s too early to say that for sure, but research by Eva Sapi, a University of New Haven professor of cellular and molecular […]
Is Soda Bad For Your Brain? (And Is Diet Soda Worse?)
Americans love sugar. Together we consumed nearly 11 million metric tons of it in 2016, according to the US Department of Agriculture, much of it in the form of sugar-sweetened beverages like sports drinks and soda. Now, new research suggests that excess sugar—especially the fructose in sugary drinks—might damage your brain. Researchers using data from the Framingham Heart […]