In humans and other mammals, sugars and the sugar-polymer glycogen are essential for basal metabolic processes and physical activity (PA). The failure to consume or synthesize sufficient sugar to maintain an adequate supply to glucose-dependent tissues (e.g., neurons, red blood cells) results in rapid death.16 For example, the cells of the central nervous system require a large, finely regulated, and continuous supply of sugar (glucose),16, 17 and cell death occurs rapidly with sugar deprivation (e.g., neuroglycopenia).17 Stated more simply, if we do not eat enough sugar or sugar-polymers, or our bodies do not produce enough sugar, we die.
Given the importance of sugars and sugar-polymers in biological life processes and their essential role in energy metabolism,18, 19 it is not surprising that these nutrients played critical roles in both human evolution7-9, 20 and dietary history.21-26
Sugar in the form of glucose is one of the World Health Organization ‘s (WHO’s) Essential Medicines,37 During recovery, the WHO prescribes a diet that is more than five times the current WHO recommendations for sugar consumption.36, 40 It was estimated that 90% of all diarrheal mortality could be prevented if sugar-based prescriptions were used in 100% of cases.38 In other words, sugary sweetened beverages save lives.
When individuals decrease their PA below a metabolic tipping point, (denoted as ‘Sedentary’ in Figure 1), energy intake is dissociated from energy expenditure causing more calories to be consumed than expended. The resulting positive energy balance leads to increments in nutrient-energy storage and body-mass.59, 61 The increased body-mass initiates a positive feedback-loop that decreases strength-to-weight-ratios that further depresses PA (i.e., heavier/larger bodies move less30, 113) and leads to further decrements in insulin sensitivity in both peripheral and central tissues. Thus, physical inactivity drives the overconsumption that leads to metabolic diseases. Given that skeletal muscle-cells are responsible for 75 to 95% of whole body glucose uptake,74 any decrement in the insulin sensitivity of these cells will adversely affect metabolic health.
In addition to their essential roles in the maintenance of basal metabolic processes (e.g., brain function), sugar and sugar-polymers (i.e., glucose and glycogen) are also requisite energy substrates for PA. 115 While at rest, skeletal muscle-cells are a major determinant of fatty acid oxidation,116-118 but as the dose of PA increases, the oxidation of blood sugar and glycogen increases exponentially.117, 118 The energy demands of PA behaviors are variable30, 119 and can exceed that of basal metabolism. 30, 120 The increased demands of high levels of PA require that large amounts of dietary sugar and/or sugar polymers be consumed. Thus, as described in the following section, numerous organizations recommend diets that are high in sugar and/or sugar polymers for recovery, health, and performance.
Ryan Gutierrez
Given the necessity of dietary sugars and/or sugar-polymers for PA and athletic performance, medical and health organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Dietetic Association recommend a high sugar and/or high sugar-polymer diet for recovery and performance enhancement in highly-active individuals.121 These evidence-based guidelines explicitly recognize the importance of individual differences and recommend sugar and sugar-polymer consumption ranging from 6 to 10 grams per kilogram per day depending on the total daily energy expenditure, sex and training status of the individual, mode of training, and the environmental conditions during exercise.121
Sugar Consumption Is Entirely Innocuous in Active Populations
Given the large energy demands of PA, it is not uncommon for active individuals and populations to consume more than 70% of their energy needs in some form of sugars,9, 122, 123 and/or sugar-polymers.25, 124, 125 Anthropologic research shows that modern hunter-gatherers seasonally consumed 20-80% of their total energy intake as ‘added sugar’ (i.e., honey, 122, 123 a disaccharide of glucose and fructose) while increasing their glycemic and fructose loads via the intrinsic sugars in fruits and tubers.8, 9, 122 This is 5-8 times greater than current recommendations. Despite the massive consumption of sugar and high glycemic loads, these populations have some of the lowest NCD risks ever recorded.119, 126, 127 For example, modern hunter-gathers have a very low prevalence of hypertension, low body mass index, low total cholesterol, and unlike inactive Americans, these health metrics do not vary with age.126
In addition to anthropologic evidence, epidemiologic evidence demonstrates that highly-active individuals and athletes exhibit high levels of metabolic health throughout their lifespan. 128, 129 These individuals maintain high insulin sensitivity in concert with low levels of body fat and low levels of metabolic disease130-133 while consuming diets rich in simple sugars and using SSBs to enhance athletic performance.134-137 For example, a survey conducted at the US Professional Championship Road Race demonstrated that more than 80% of the cyclists drank SSBs during the race,138 and marathoner Frank Shorter credited his 1972 gold-medal marathon performance to his use of SSBs. 136 Research demonstrates that glucose and fructose are the sugars of choice “to restore muscle glycogen deposits after exercise” 134 and “sucrose should continue to be regarded as one of a variety of options available to help athletes achieve their specific carbohydrate intake goals.”135
Angel Johnson
i can has bbq sauce with my lard on keto?
Joshua Morales
From a historical perspective, the greatest increases in sugar availability in the US occurred from the late 19th century until World War II and remained relatively flat until 1980. During this period, sugar availability increased from less than 10 lbs per capita to more than 100 lbs per capita per year; an increase of more than 1 lb. per person per week. 14 Given that the US population experienced large improvements in every health metric examined over the period from 1880 to 1980, 11, 12 it is unequivocal that sugar consumption has a positive association with health and well-being. In 1979, the availability of sugar in the American food supply had never been higher and the US Surgeon General’s report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention began with the unequivocal statement that, “The health of the American people has never been better.” 140 If sugar were harmful, large increments in the availability of dietary sugars should not have occurred in confluence with decade-by-decade improvements in public health. Clearly, a century of increased sugar availability did not have the deleterious dose-dependent effects that the diet-centric rhetoricians claim
Similarly, the United Kingdom experienced increments in health and wellbeing in lockstep with increases in sugar availability as it rose from less than 10 lbs per capita at the turn of the 19th century to over 100 lbs before the Second World War. As in the United States, this substantial increase is sugar availability was linked to better, not worse health. For example, “Significant positive correlations exist between the secular increase in brain weight of adults in London born between 1860 and 1940, and the secular trend in sugar consumption in the United Kingdom.”141 Clearly, these data do not support a negative effect of increased sugar consumption on health and wellbeing.
Luke Morgan
With the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1980s, Cuba was forced to rely on domestic crops such as sugar cane. While overall sugar production declined,142 domestic sugar utilization increased from 530 metric tons in 1980 to 637 in 1995.143 Concomitant with that increase in sugar use was a large and significant increase in PA and significant declines in obesity, T2DM, and NCDs. 144
Oliver Brooks
tl;dr
Thomas Perry
keto only good for cutting
David Gray
You can't defend 80g of a 100g serving size being sugar m8
Why? Fructose is transported via glut5, glucose via sglt1. Those transporters are saturable so you get much higher uptake and ergogenicity when both are combined.
>didn't read your post but here's some retard on youtube
Parker Cooper
Nope. Keep grasping at straws fat eather
Henry Cruz
wow maybe the best possible way to eat is EVERYTHING IN MODERATION YOU DENSE FUCKING RETARDS
Daniel Robinson
all I know is when I eat food full of refined sugars I feel like trash. the bullshit rhetoric this guy uses in the article abstract also makes me wonder what his motivation for writing something like this is.
also 1 citing paper LMAO, literal academic rubbish
100% jewbullshit or retarded sugar-addicted fat american troll
Lucas Perry
>published only a few months ago Providing a shitty anecdote without posting your body or any of your fitness achievements and then mudslinging all without offering an actual argument is a lot more telling of your own motivation btw.
Nicholas Sanders
I really do hate they way most people go about fighting obesity when they only want to tax soda. Why not tax sugary snacks as well? California is about to pass a law taking soda off kids' menus, but nothing about desserts or anything else sugary.
Jason Kelly
He’s a professor giving a lecture at a US med school.
