A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF SUGAR INTAKE AND RISK OF TYPE 2 DIABETES IN WOMEN Prevailing beliefs over the past 20 years regarding sugars and diabetes admonished that added sugar, primarily sucrose, should be avoided and that naturally occurring sugars should be restricted in the diabetic diet (1,2). Support for these beliefs was based largely on results from animal and human studies suggesting that simple sugars would confer a higher postprandial glycemia than starch (3). Consequently, diets for diabetic patients have been sugar restricted for fear of stimulating hyperglycemia (1), exaggerating insulin response to carbohydrates (4,5), and causing possible cardiomyocyte dysfunction (6) and/or accelerated loss of β-cells (7). However, several metabolic studies have reported that inclusion of a moderate amount of dietary sucrose within a balanced diabetic diet did not elicit subsequent deleterious effects on glycemic control (2,8–12). Different types of sugars may have variable metabolic effects on glycemia or lipemia (13–15). After fructose ingestion, several researchers observed blood glucose levels that were reduced compared with levels after starch or sucrose ingestion in diabetic patients (10,15–18). Additionally, studies conducted in healthy subjects noted that different amounts of fructose intake did not change HbA1c levels (19), yet they significantly elevated plasma triglycerides (20). The risks and benefits of sugar ingestion in metabolic studies of diabetes have been controversial, and the data on primary prevention, namely, on long-term effects of sugar intake on risk of type 2 diabetes in healthy individuals, are sparse. The need for scientific bases on primary prevention have been addressed by several researchers (2,21). The Women’s Health Study (WHS) prospective cohort offered an opportunity to investigate the relation of sugar consumption and subsequent development of type 2 diabetes in a group of initially healthy women with homogeneous demography. This study provide another evidence that the intake of sugars does not appear to play a deleterious role in primary prevention of type 2 diabetes. These prospective data support the recent American Diabetes Association’s guideline that a moderate amount of sugar can be incorporated in a healthy diet.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 21:49:56 +0000
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