Does Sugar Make us Fat?

If you get your nutrition advice from a woman’s magazine, you will probably be under the assumption that sugar is the source of all evil. Fear not, my fellow sweet tooth; you can indeed have your cake and eat it – and enjoy it! This current attack on sugar is ludicrous, and just another scapegoat for the obesity ‘epidemic’. Through reading the next few paragraphs, you too will be more informed to make flexible choices in your diet, leading to more long term success and better weight management without having to deprive yourself.

So where does this idea that sugar makes us fat come from? Well, there are a load of theories which look at how insulin raises when we eat foods high in sugar. Insulin is a hormone which helps shuttle carbohydrates into fat stores, and also works to inhibit fat burning. High insulin levels are also linked to obesity. All this makes it seem, to the uneducated observer, that sugar causes fat. But is there any substantiation to this claim beyond wild accusations from petri dish observers viewing a small time scale out of context to the human body in the grand scheme of things? In short – no.

Surwit and colleagues (1997) compared two separate diets, one containing 43% table sugar and one with just 4% table sugar. These people completed 6 weeks of these diets, and then the results of their body composition were taken. The results? There were NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES seen in both the loss of bodyfat or bodyweight between the two diets. So a diet almost half in sugar produced the same weight loss as one devoid of sugar. On top of this, a whole load of biomarkers and things such as satiety remained the same for both groups.

But I thought sugar enters your blood faster and raises insulin more

It does – but weight gain/ loss is more complicated than simply blaming one hormone and the amounts/speeds that it raises. You can look at short term studies all you want, but the real answer is in the long term trials.

In 2008 Aston et al. studied the effects of glycemic index on bodyweight in overweight and obese women, finding no correlation between faster acting carbohydrates and increases in weights when calories are the same. So even when the carbohydrates come into your blood at a faster/slow rate or insulin released is high or low it doesn’t mean you will get fat.

What does this mean for me?

What it means is that, in terms of weight loss, eating sugar is not going to impede your goals. In fact, if you are a sweet tooth like me, eating sugar can help you achieve your weight loss goals. Depriving yourself of some sweet things will more likely damage your motivation, leading to ditching the diet and stalling your weight loss/gaining weight.

Weight loss is a product of being in a calorie deficit, regardless of what your diet looks like. Look at This Study by Sacks Et al (2009) comparing diets with different amounts of carbs, protein and fats. There was no difference in the weight loss or lipid profiles of the subjects, even though they ate wildly varying diet compositions. Sure, I would make sure your protein intake is adequate (1 gram per pound of bodyweight) to ensure you lose more fat than muscle, but after that, feel free to make flexible choices with your calories.

Take home message

As usual, when it comes to weight loss, calories are king; set your weekly goals for calories and stick to them. Don’t deprive yourself of a bit of sugar every now and again, if you want a bit of cake and it fits into your calorie allowance, go ahead and enjoy it.

I should point out that I am not advocating a diet full in sugar. Whilst this could (as demonstrated by the scientific study) produce weight loss, it would not provide you with adequate nutrition in terms of vitamin, mineral, fibre, content etc. I would limit sugar intake to 100 grams per day if you are sedentary, and allow more if you are active. Don’t go crazy and eat nothing but sugar, but at the same time don’t completely eliminate it from your diet in the fear that it will make you fat (it won’t).   

As always, eat food high in nutrition on the whole, but enjoy sweets in moderation.

Scientific References

   Surwit RS, et al. Metabolic and behavioral effects of a high-sucrose diet during weight loss. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Apr;65(4):908-15.

Sacks FM, et al. Comparison of Weight-loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein and carbohydrates. N Engl J Med. 2009 Feb 26;360(9):859-73.  

Aston LM, Stokes CS, Jebb SA(2007). No effect of a diet with a reduced glycaemic index on satiety, energy intake and body weight in overweight and obese women. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Jan; 32(1):160-5. Epub 2007 Oct 9.

Calorie cycling?

No, this has nothing to do with getting on a bike and cycling away your calories. This is a concept that can, once again, really aid you in your weight loss goals for several reasons. It will allow you more freedom to eat larger portions, get rid of cravings, aid in maintenance of metabolism and therefore keep your weight loss continuing for longer, and your ability to diet will be improved dramatically.

Remember, the person who loses half a pound a week for a year will be better off than the person who loses 10 pound a week for a month, and then quits. This is why choosing a diet that is sustainable in the long term and which doesn’t cut out any of your foods is the best option.... like this one.

What is calorie cycling?

A typical dieting approach involves a method (direct or indirect) of cutting overall calories. Most approaches employ a specific daily deficit – one where every day is a low calorie day. The main problem with this, as you will have found, is that your metabolism will eventually drop to match the new calorie intake. For example, if you normally eat 2,000 calories a day, dropping to 1,500 a day will initially see weight loss. But after a week/month, your metabolism will drop down so that it only uses 1,500 calories per day. The result – no more weight loss.

Has your weight loss frustratingly stopped?

Calorie cycling is where you would alternate the amount of calories you eat per day. For example, one day you would eat 1,300 and the next you would eat 2,000. The advantages of this approach are;

·         You are only really dieting one day at a time – when it gets tough, you can remember that “Tomorrow is a high calorie day”. This is a huge psychological advantage over an orthodox diet.

·         Human metabolism is much more reactive to 3 day spans. By using your ‘up days’ (high calorie days), you are essentially telling your body that there is still food available and there is no need to drop metabolic rate.

·         You can combine your high calorie days with your exercise days (if you are exercising) so that the extra nutrients are used to support muscle maintenance/glycogen replenishment rather than fat replenishment.

·         You can use the high calorie days to eat some foods you have been craving – how many other diets can say this?

·         Even if those foods are a little sugary, they will be better partitioned as your skeletal tissue will now be more insulin sensitive (a good thing) and your liver will be glycogen depleted.

What this means for you is less fat, more lean body tissue (think toned body), and a diet which is mentally easier to stick to and physically easier to stick to.

There is evidence that this type of calorie cycling can also be valuable for a range of health benefits, such as lower inflammation, positive effects on asthma, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, heart disease markers etc. There are even animal studies showing that it can extend life-spans a very significant amount, and lower risks for Parkinson’s disease. It is too early to say regarding humans, but preliminary tests look good.

How to do this?

Work out how many calories you need per day to maintain your weight. For example, if you are a typical active male, this would be around 2,500 calories per day. Eat at maintenance level every other day, and in between those days, cut your calories by 500-1,000 calories. So it may look something like this;

Day	Calories
Monday	2,500
Tuesday	1,500
Wednesday	2,500
Thursday	1,500
Friday	2,500
Saturday	2,500
Sunday	1,500

That totals 14,500 calories for the week, which is a 3,000 calorie deficit – almost a pound of fat. With the above plan, the person was also on high days for the weekend (when they may be going out, socialising), and only had 3 diet days in the week. By eating the correct foods on the ‘down days’, the person would be able to feel fully satiated. By combining the calories like we discussed last week, this could also mean two big meals of 750 calories each. Then on ‘up days’, they would be able to be a little more lenient on their food choices and have a little of what they felt they were missing out on. Maybe a bit of ice cream J

 Ice cream on a diet? surely not!