Sugar is a hidden threat
Daily consumption of relatively small, non-obese and diabetic excess sugar can reduce life expectancy and reduce the likelihood of successful fertilization.
Researchers from the University of Utah, working under the guidance of Professor Wayne Potts, came to this conclusion after conducting experiments on 156 mice (58 males and 98 females).
At the first stage of the experiment, young animals were divided into 2 groups, which were kept on different diets.
The control group was fed a nutrient mixture of wheat, corn and soybeans. Starch was mixed into the feed as a carbohydrate component. The same nutrient mixture for the experimental group was generously flavored with a mixture of glucose and fructose in equal amounts, since it is in this ratio that these simple carbohydrates are part of the most popular sweetener – sucrose.
As a result, regardless of the amount of food eaten, 25% of the calories of the experimental group of mice were obtained from "additional" carbohydrates. Translated into the human diet, this is equivalent to eating three tin cans of sweet soda a day against the background of an optimally balanced diet.
At first, males and females were kept in separate cages for 26 weeks, after which the mixed-sex animals, which had microchips implanted to track their behavior, were placed in special enclosures the size of a living room, known as "mouse barns". Such aviaries are fenced off in the "territory" with mesh partitions through which animals can climb, and have a certain number of "nests" for mating. This provides conditions for normal competition and natural behavior of mice, including the search for partners.
After 32 weeks of keeping in such enclosures, 35% of the females contained in the feed with the addition of refined carbohydrates died, and only 17% of the females of the control group.
Observation of animal behavior showed that the males contained in the "sweet" diet controlled 26% less territory than the males of the control group. Moreover, their offspring were 25% smaller than the offspring of the males of the control group.
At the same time, the examination of animals did not reveal a relationship between the type of diet and the likelihood of obesity, as well as fasting blood levels of insulin, glucose and triglycerides.
According to the authors, the results obtained are evidence of a pronounced negative effect on the metabolism of refined carbohydrates in mammals. Unfortunately, the harmful effects of sugars cannot be demonstrated using traditional methods, so today almost nothing is known about them.
Article by James S. Ruff et al. Human-relevant levels of added sugar consumption increase female mortality and lower male fitness in mice is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on materials from the University of Utah:
Sugar is Toxic to Mice in ‘Safe’ Doses.
16.08.2013