“Saturated fats are not associated with all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, or type 2 diabetes”¹. That’s the bold and somewhat startling concluding sentence from the latest major review study to evaluate the link between intake of saturated fat and the risk for leading causes of death. The study follows hot on the heels of two other high profile studies that involved reviews of randomised trials examine the role of saturated fat intake in risk of major disease^{2, 3}.

In science it’s easy to dismiss one study, even if it employs sound methodology. Before scientist start claiming that something is ‘scientific fact’, they ideally like to see initial findings verified by several other independent studies. But with the publication of three major separate independent studies in the space of 12 months^1-3, even the harshest sceptics will be forced to have a hard look at the new evidence and re-evaluate their stance/position on the issue.

Interestingly though, the other major finding to emerge from this latest study published on the 12^th August 2015 in the prestigious British Medical Journal, was that trans fatty acid intake was associated with all cause mortality, total cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease mortality.

‘Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils’ is a common ingredient known to contain trans fats, with elaidic acid being the major occurring one. Common sources of trans fat such as elaidic acid are margarine and fried foods, although many food companies and fast food chains (i.e. McDonald’s & KFC) now have trans fat-free version of french fries and fried chicken.

So avoiding trans fat intake is not as simple as avoiding fried foods. This is highlighted by findings of another study published in the British Medical Journal in which the relationship between consumption of fried foods and risk of coronary heart disease was examined in a Spanish cohort. Spaniards typically use olive and sunflower oils which are much less prone to trans fat formation when used for frying than say cheap vegetable oil. This was thought to largely explain the lack of association between intake and heart attack risk in this Mediterranean country⁴.

In contrast, a recent study looking at the impact of fried food consumption as part of a so-called ‘southern-style’ diet found  a significant positive link between risk of heart disease and consumption of fried foods⁵. But in contrast to the above study that involved a Spanish cohort, the ‘Southern’ subjects in this study were predominantly African-American and residents of southern states of America. In contrast with Spain, this region of the US is not known for their use of high quality vegetable oils such as olive and sunflower, but rather cheaper oils that are more prone to trans fat formation and content.

So while the traditional advice to consume minimal saturated fat to reduce one’s risk of major disease seems in desperate need of review, it’s important to highlight that consumption of fat in the form of trans  fats (from fried foods and the like) still represents a significant risk for heart and associated chronic disease. It’s likely that the type of oil, the degree of thermal degradation of the oil, and the type of food likely affect the production of trans fatty acids during the frying process and, as such not all fried foods have the same nutritional value.   

1. de Souza RJ, et al. Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. BMJ. 2015;351:h3978.
2. Chowdhury R, Warnakula S, Kunutsor S, et al. Association of dietary, circulating, and supplement fatty acids with coronary risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2014;160:398-406.
3. Harcombe Z, Baker JS, Cooper SM, et al. Evidence from randomised controlled trials did not support the introduction of dietary fat guidelines in 1977 and 1983: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Open Heart. 2015;2:e000196.
4. Guallar-Castillón P, et al. Consumption of fried foods and risk of coronary heart disease: Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. BMJ 2012;344:e363
5. Shikany JM, et al. Southern Dietary Pattern is Associated with Hazard of Acute Coronary Heart Disease in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study. Circulation. Aug 10. [Epub ahead of print]

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The notion that one could run a fast marathon without consuming an ounce of fluid sounds like a ridiculous notion in this day and age. But that’s the exact paradigm shared by many elite marathon runners right up until the 1970’s¹. In this sense, the widely promoted idea that athletes need to actively stay hydrated so as to minimise body water loss is still a relatively new idea in sport. But to the disappointment of sport drinks companies, new research is starting to question the validity and safety of the current hydration guidelines².

What Is Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia?

Exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) is the name given to the condition of critically low plasma sodium levels that arise principally from excessive fluid consumption associated with exercise. Low sodium levels ultimately impair organ and brain function leading to impaired exercise performance. Symptoms usually consist of nausea, vomiting, headache, bloating, and swelling of hands, legs, and feet.

With record participation numbers in popular events such as the City to Surf, one almost has to “have their head in the sand” to miss the messages that are beamed constantly about the need to stay hydrated during fun runs and the like. Water and electrolyte aid stations are a common feature in any mass participation fun runs or marathons. To omit them would be considered downright dangerous and potentially harmful to competitors.

Incidence of Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia

But with an increase in the number of reports of EAH in recent times, authorities and scientists alike are increasingly questioning the validity of the current guidelines on fluid consumption during exercise. A recent study of participants in the London Marathon found that of the 88 study volunteers that were recruited,  11 (12.5%) developed asymptomatic hyponatraemia (serum sodium 128-134 mmol/l)³. Compared with participants who did not develop EAH, they consumed more fluid and gained more weight.

The table below is taken from a recent 2014 review on EAH in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. It shows the reported incidence of EAH across a range of popular endurance and ultra-endurance sports⁴. Prevalence of EAH tends to be higher in longer events and in females.

Original Fluid Consumption Patterns & Beliefs

Ron Hill, a famous distance runner from the 1960s and 70s (the second man to break 2:10 for the marathon) did not take in any fluid during his winning run at the 1970 Commonwealth Games Marathon^{5, 6}. Accordingly he lost 3.9% of his bodyweight, but having set a world record with a time of 2:09:28, it’s obvious the lack of fluid intake and associated increased body water loss did little to affect his performance.

Ron represents a number of successful runners who operated on the belief that fluid intake during running was to be kept to a minimum and totally restricted if possible. American Joseph Forshaw who finished fourth in the 1908 Olympic Marathon and tenth in the 1912 Olympic Marathon wrote: ‘I know from actual experience that the full race can be covered in creditable time without so much as a single drop of water being taken or even sponging of the head’⁶.

Renowned Englishman marathon runner Jim Peter (who set the world marathon record of 4 occasions) expressed a similar belief: ‘[In the marathon race] there is no need to take any solid food at all and every effort should also be made to do without liquid, as the moment food or drink is taken, the body has to start dealing with its digestion, and in so doing some discomfort will almost invariably be felt’⁶.

Evolution of Fluid Consumption Guidelines

Up until 1969, the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) official advice was to avoid drinking during exercise. In fact, up until 1975, race organisers were not permitted to provide runners with access to fluid until completion of 16km¹. However, this changed gradually over the next two decades; starting in 1975 with the recommendation to consume fluid regularly both before and during exercise⁷. As shown in the table below, the increase in the recommended frequency of fluid intake during exercise culminated in 1996 with the recommendation to consume “the maximal amount that can be tolerated”⁸. It was only in 2007 that a more individualised recommendation was made to consume enough fluid to prevent greater than 2% body weight drop⁹. 

Is Dehydration Detrimental to Performance?

The whole premise of the above hydration guidelines is that any loss of body water (and associated weight) is detrimental to performance. A landmark study in 1969 linking >3% loss of bodyweight during exercise with unsafe increases in body temperature was the catalyst to the change in hydration guidelines¹⁰. But the study has since been widely criticised for its flawed design and conclusion, with many more recent studies suggesting that loss of body weight during exercise does not necessarily infer poorer performance and in fact may predict better performance¹. 

The key assumptions that underpin the belief that >3% loss of bodyweight are as follows¹¹:

• All the weight lost during exercise must be replaced if health is to be protected and performance is to be optimised
• The sensations of thirst underestimate the real fluid requirements during exercise
• The fluid requirements of all athletes are always similar so that a universal guideline is possible
• High rates of fluid intake can do no harm

But as we will see below, there is ample evidence showing that each of the above assumptions are misplaced.

Running Speed & Body Weight Loss

Challenging the notion that a loss of body weight is detrimental to performance are studies showing a trend for faster runners to lose more body weight when exercising. For example, studies in the late 1960's showed that race winners of marathons were those who lost the most weight and usually had the highest postrace core body temperatures^{10, 12}. A 2011 study found an inverse correlation between percentage body weight change and finishing time in 643 marathon runners.

Perhaps one of the most fascinating studies concerns the sweat and fluid consumption rates of elite marathon runners. The graph below shows the actual fluid consumption rates of elite marathon runners (all with sub 2:10 marathon times) in comparison to the existing ACSM guidelines. It’s evident that most runners fall well below¹⁴.

What’s even more intriguing is the average body weight loss when fluid consumption and sweat rates were taken into account. On average, the body weight loss of the 5 elite marathoners was found to be 8.8% during a marathon. This took into account average measured sweat rates of 2.3 litres per hour.

Sweat Rate & Fluid Consumption of Haile Gebrselassie

One case in point is that of popular Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie (multiple world record holder and Olympic Gold Medalist). In winning the 2009 Dubai marathon (run at 16.0^oC and 53.5% relative humidity) in a time of 2:05:29, Selassie was found to have a reduction in body mass of 5.7kg (58.2-52.5kg); equivalent to a 9.8% body mass reduction. Haile was measured to have ingested 1.7L during the race, which gave him an estimated sweat rate of approximately 3.6 L/h¹⁴ as shown below.

Measured Body Mass Change for Haile Gebrselassie During 2009 Dubar Marathon14
Body Mass Loss (Kg/Hr)	Total Body Mass Loss (Kg)	Body Mass Loss (%)
3.6	5.7	9.8

The brief but powerful sample of data cited in this article seemingly provide a compelling case that >3% body mass loss is not detrimental to performance, particularly when concerning marathon running.

Another angle to approach the issue of the effect of minor dehydration on performance is to measure the relative performance of athletes when starting in a hydrated versus a dehydrated state.

Researchers from Amsterdam and Cape Town were the latest to examine this when they tested 40-km time trial performance in the heat in different states of hydration. One trial had the cyclists’ start hydrated but were not allowed water during the time trial. The other two trial has the cyclists’ starting dehydrated, with one allowing them to drink water ad-libitum and the other allowing no fluid ingestion. Body mass loss was as expected with the dehydrated trial + no water resulting in the greatest decrease. However, interestingly, power output, heart rate, gastrointestinal temperature, average skin temperature, rating of perceived exertion, thermal sensation and thermal comfort.

Together with other literature, these findings suggest the body holds a reservoir of fluid that is ample to meet reasonable exercise demands (1-2hr), without the need for additional fluid intake, even in hot conditions (>30^oC).

Reconciling Practice with Recommendations

Given, the findings above on the relatively high rates of sweat and body mass loss and accompanying low fluid intakes in elite runners, the question must be asked why fluid replacement guidelines from leading organisations such as the ACSM encourage such liberal fluid consumption, which has undoubtedly played a role in the increased rates of EAH².

In a nutshell, many of the assumptions and conclusions drawn from initial studies (that formed the basis of ACSM guidelines) were flawed. The points below provide an overview of the key issues.

• There is no credible evidence that athletes must drink “the maximal amount that is tolerable”⁸ to optimise performance and prevent medical consequences¹¹
• There is no proof that all the weight lost during exercise must be replaced immediately, since the resting human may carry a fluid reserve of about 2 litres^{6, 16}
• Initial studies on fluid loss during exercise do not account for the practices of elite marathoners, who run at speeds of ~19km/hr compared with 8.5 and 15.0 km/h¹⁷
• Moreover, initial studies on fluid loss during exercise do not account for the lower environmental temperatures typically experienced in many major city marathons¹⁸ or indeed the ambient conditions encountered where the world’s fastest marathons are run¹⁹.
• Sweat rate is not determined by skin blood flow (i.e. cardiovascular response)²⁰, change in body temperature, or body water loss. As such, elevated body temperature during prolonged exercise in the heat without fluid consumption is not caused by reduced sweating²¹.
• Classical studies show that sweat rates are maintained in dehydration^{20, 23-25} and therefore, sweating can be reasoned as a unique human trait that protects them from developing heatstroke during exercise in the heat²⁶, rather than something that is detrimental to optimum performance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that there is a complex and fascinating history concerning the original beliefs and practices of fluid intake during exercise and the dramatic changes to these beliefs as reflected in the current ACSM guidelines.

With ACSM being one of the key international body’s influencing fluid consumption patterns during exercise, it’s important to highlight ACSM principle sponsors in the form of Gatorade, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) and Coca-Cola. Annual turnover for the US sports drink industry grew from a respectable USD 217 million in 1985 to a massive USD 2.69 billion in 2003. This growth  in sales occurred at precisely the time that athletes were being advised by the US Military and the ACSM to change their drinking behaviours from avoiding drinking (up to 1969) to drinking ‘as much as tolerable’ during exercise (1987 to 2007).

One of the best ways of explaining the disparity between existing ACSM hydration guidelines and the practices of elite athletes comes from the concluding statement in a study entitled: “Drinking behaviours of elite male runners during marathon competition”.

“there exists a tolerable range for dehydration that may not negatively impact on running performance in elite runners but may even confer an advantage by preventing a significant increase in body mass due to the “overconsumption” of large volumes of fluid¹⁴”

1. Noakes TD. Is drinking to thirst optimum? Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism. 2010;57(suppl 2):9-17.
2. Cotter et al. Are we being drowned in hydration advice? Thirsty for more? Extreme Physiology & Medicine. 2014;3:18.
3. Kipps C, et al. The incidence of exercise-associated hyponatraemia in the London marathon. Br J Sports Med. 2011 Jan;45(1):14-9.
4. Urso C, et al. Physiopathological, Epidemiological, Clinical and Therapeutic Aspects of Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia. J Clin Med. 2014;3(4):1258-75.
5. Muir AL, et al. Physiological aspects of the Edinburgh commonwealth games. Lancet. 1970;2:1125-1128.
6. Noakes TD: Lore of Running. Champaign, Human Kinetics Publishers, 2003.
7. American College of Sports Medicine: The American College of Sports Medicine position statement on prevention of heat injuries during distance running. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1975;7:vii-vix.
8. Convertino VA, et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand: Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996;28:i-vii.
9. Armstrong LE, et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand: Exertional heat illness during training and competition. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39:556-572.
10. Wyndham CH & Strydom NB. The danger of an inadequate water intake during marathon running. S Afr Med J. 1969;43:893-896.
11. Noakes TD, et al. Overconsumption of fluids by athletes. BMJ. 2003;327(7407):113–114.
12. Pugh LG, et al. Rectal temperatures, weight losses, and sweat rates in marathon running. J Appl Physiol. 1967;23:347-352.
13. Zouhal H, et al. Inverse relationship between percentage body weight change and finishing time in 643 forty-two-kilometre marathon runners. 2011;45:1101-1105.
14. Beis LY, et al. Drinking behaviors of elite male runners during marathon competition. Clin J Sport Med 2012;22:254–261.
15. Berkulo MA, et al. Ad-libitum drinking and performance during a 40-km cycling time trial in the heat. European Journal of Sport Science. 2015 Feb 12:1-8. [Epub ahead of print]
16. Noakes T, Martin DE. IMMDA-AIMS Advisory statement on guidelines for fluid replacement during marathon running. New Stud Athletics 2002;17:15-24. www.usatf.org/coaches/library/ (accessed 18 Aug 2015).
17. Montain SJ, Cheuvront SN, Sawka MN. Exercise associated hyponatraemia. Quantitative analysis to understand the aetiology. Br J Sports Med. 2006;40:98–105.
18. Cheuvront SN, Haymes EM. Thermoregulation and marathon running: biological and environmental influences. Sports Med. 2001;31:743–762.
19. Fudge BW, Pitsiladis YP, Kingsmore D, et al. Outstanding performances despite low fluid intakes: the Kenyan running experience. In: East African Running: Towards a Cross-Disciplinary Perspective. Pitsiladis YP, Bale J, Sharp C, et al, eds. London, United Kingdom: Routledge; 2006:63–84.
20. Shibasaki M, et al. Non-thermoregulatory modulation of sweating in humans. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2003;31:34-39.
21. Noakes TD & Speedy DB. Case proven: exercise associated hyponatraemia is due to overdrinking. So why did it take 20 years before the original evidence was accepted? British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2006;40:567-572.
22. Ladell WS. The effects of water and salt intake upon the performance of men working in hot and humid environments. J Physiol. 1955;127:11-46.
23. Costill DL, et al. Fluid ingestion during distance running. Arch Environ Health. 1970;21:520-525.
24. Adolph EF. Water metabolism. Annu Rev Physiol. 1947;9:381-408.
25. Eichna LW, et al. Performance in relation to environmental temperature. Bull Johns Hopkins Hospital. 1945;76:25-28.
26. Heinrich B. Racing the antelope. New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc, 2001:1-292.

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The flavour industry is one of the most dynamic, progressive trade areas in the world. This makes sense considering flavour development governs pretty much most of what we eat. From food to beverages to protein powders and other supplements, flavour is ever present and always evolving. To stay ahead of the pack, here are 5 new and emerging flavour trends that you should be on the lookout for for the 2015/2016 period.

1. Bitter & Burnt

People have always had a love hate relationship with bitter tastes, however as people get older, their palettes change. What was once considered gross, no longer holds the same face-scrunching reactions that accompanied the food. As we progress to 2016, food companies will be employing some slightly bitter taste sensations as a way to offset their salt reduction strategies. This is because bitterness creates a strong taste impact, which can mask the plainness of salt reduction and is perceived to be healthier than increasing the sweetness of foods. Think dark chocolate, purposely burnt and caramelised vegetables, grapefruit and citrus rinds. While you’re not going to see the bitter taste in all food products, expect to see more dark chocolate and coffee varieties in protein powders.

2. Sweet & Heat

Sweet and savoury snacks have been around for the last couple of years and have made their way from foods to popcorn, chips and everything in between. However, this taste sensation is slowly losing ground to spicier taste profiles. The rise of kimchi, ghost pepper and other spicy Thai and South American flavours have slowly been trending in food service areas and are bound to make it to the mainstream in terms of snacks. The benefits of spicy foods on fat metabolism have long been known with capsaicin a well studied compound to support fat loss. So go on, spice things up and get your tastebuds ready for the eventual arrival of hotter snacks. While spicy protein bars and protein chips are awhile off, the supplements industry is definitely looking into its possibility.

3. Ginger & Spice

Spices have always been popular, but ginger and more aromatic, winter spices such as cardamom, nutmeg and cloves are definitely getting a much bigger market share. Ginger in particular is growing in the supplement industry thanks to researched benefits for appetite suppression, weight loss, metabolism and testosterone support. Get ready to see more of ginger type compounds both in your foods, beverages and fat burners, pre workouts and natural test boosters.

4. Savoury Yoghurts

As we head into “Peak Greek”; the period where popularity of Greek yoghurt hits its heights before an eventual drop, companies are looking at different ways to market its potential and delay hitting the peak. Enter savoury yoghurts. While the idea of savoury yoghurts for many of us doesn’t really go beyond kebabs, lamb and tzatziki, niche companies are already adopting trends of creating savoury styles yoghurts using vegetables, legumes, grains, spices and antipasti ingredients. It’s a new way to create a protein packed snack and get a serving of your vegetables.

5. Desserts & Protein Powders

Supplement company’s are going beyond the usual chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavours when it comes to releasing new protein powders. True innovators in the category are heading straight for popular desserts. So you can feel as though you’re truly satisfying your sweet tooth without the unnecessary carbs, fat and extra calories. Popular novel flavours to come out around 2015 include glazed donut, snickerdoodle, salted caramel and honeycomb variants. However, as we head into 2016, expect to see some of the following flavour influences in your protein powders:

• Maple flavours
• Nutty flavours such as almonds, pecans and pistachios
• Cheesecake flavours
• Burnt flavours – toffee, fig, caramel
• Tangy Curd Variants – Passionfruit, lemon meringue, lime
• Classic desserts such as sticky date and crème brulee

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Supplements aren’t cheap. Picking the right type of supplements to use whilst on a budget can often be a lengthy and dizzying process in which you have to start weighing up the pros and cons of each supplement, along with careful shopping to find the best deals and most cost effective brands. But you can still build a ton of lean muscle without forking out a small fortune. Here are 5 of the most important supplements to get if you’re on a budget.

1. Creatine

Creatine is considered by most professionals in the industry as the most important and most validated supplement on the market. Creatine is effective in:

• Amplifying Lean Muscle Mass Gains and Power
• Boosting Aerobic Performance and Recovery
• Increasing Bone Mineral Density
• Improving Glucose Metabolism
• Enhancing Brain Performance
• Reducing Oxidative Stress

Besides supplementation, there’s no real effective way of getting enough creatine for it to work its performance enhancing magic unless you’re happy to drink litres of milk or eat kilos of meat. As such, creatine is by far the best supplement to get if you were on a tight budget. Better yet, it’s fairly cheap, so it won’t break the bank. Go for a high quality creatine monohydrate such as Creapure.

• Best Creatine Supplement to Buy – Elemental Nutrition Creapure
• Other Alternatives – ON Micronized Creatine and Reflex Creapure Creatine

2. Protein

Protein is the building block of muscle and so is vital to support lean muscle growth. It’s also a great supplement to keep you leaner and your appetite in check, making it easier to stay away from nutrient poor junk foods. Most people can get the majority of their protein needs from food, and so it’s less important as a supplement than creatine. However, if you train often and require more protein or simply want something more convenient, a protein shake is one of the best supplements you can get. It’s also relatively cheap and can make a lot of impact without breaking the bank. Go for a blended whey protein or a whey/casein blend.

• Best Protein Supplement to Buy – Pure Supps 100% Whey
• Other Alternatives – ON Gold Standard 100% Whey or Max’s Super Whey

3. Multivitamin & Fish Oil

These two supplement categories have been lumped together as they are both sources of essential compounds. Multivitamins generally contain 24 of the essential vitamins and minerals that our body needs to optimal health and function. Fish oil and krill oil can help provide essential fatty acids which our body does not produce. As with protein powders, we can get all of our vitamin, mineral and essential fatty acids from foods alone. Having said that though, those on lower incomes and/or with particular nutrient poor diets may be at higher risk of deficiency, making a multi or fish oil supplement incredibly handy. They’re also relatively cheap and can make a world of difference.

• Best Multivitamin & Fish Oil to Buy – Nature’s Own Men’s & Womens Multivitamin and Fish or Krill Oil
• Other Alternatives – BSc Executive Stress Multivitamin, Swisse Men’s & Women’s Ultivite and Swisse Odourless Fish Oil

4. Pre Workout

The pre workout category is one of the best selling categories behind protein and one of the most well researched behind protein and creatine. Performance enhancement via the use of natural compounds is one of the biggest topic research areas in the sports science arena. While fat burner supplements are just as popular, if not more so, their effect is often not as high or as effective as many of the pre workouts. As our lives become more hectic and work schedules increase, getting the motivation to work out and work out well can be hard. A pre workout is the perfect answer to help knock out a good workout and also keep you alert during the day and avoid negative food decisions.

• Best Pre Workout to Buy – Cellucor C4 Extreme
• Other Alternatives – Pro Supps Mr Hyde & Nutrex Outlift

5. Nootropic Supplements

Nootropics is just a fancy word for any drug, supplement or ingredient which is often used to help support and improve cognitive and mental function. There are so many ingredients that help support brain health. Interestingly enough, you’ll find a lot of these ingredients in both fat burners, pre workouts and sleep support supplements. All three have their place for supporting workout capacity as well as overall health. While they rank last in this list of the best supplements to get on a budget, they still rank extremely high in the grand scheme of things. Nootropic supplements are still growing in popularity, so there aren’t that many around, but look out for ingredients such as carnitine, choline and tyrosine just to name a few.

• Best Nootropic Supplement to Buy – Elemental Nutrition Pre Workout
• Other Alternatives – Gen-Tec Acetyl L-Carnitine

Supplements on a Budget

It can be hard prioritising what to get when it comes to your supplement needs, especially when you’re on a tight budget. The fact that there are thousands of supplements in multiple categories makes it even more confusing. Generally speaking though, if you’ve got a very limited budget, focus on creatine and protein. Most of your other needs can be met through a nutrient dense diet and plenty of rest and sleep.

Fonte:http://www.mrsupplement.com.au/top-5-best-supplement-to-get-on-a-budget

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23 teaspoons of sugar a day…that’s the average consumption level for US children ranging in age from 2 to 18 years¹. And depending on which reports you believe, this is less than what the average Australian child consumes with the most recent report (2012) putting the mark at 27 teaspoons² and the latest report on teenaged males (aged 14-18) showing 51% consume a can of soft drink on any given day².

So whatever way you look at it, Aussies - both young and old - consume a lot of sugar; just like their US and UK counterparts.

Sugar intake has been a hot topic in recent times and this shows no sign waning with the recent release of the most comprehensive review of evidence on the health effects of sugary drinks to date. Eminating from the prestigious Harvard School of Public Health, the study was lead by Harvard Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Dr Frank Hu and published in the October 2015 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. While the study considered all dietary sources of added sugar and fructose, it focused particularly on the effects of what they termed - sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) on various health outcomes, from a large cross section of studies.

The study included data predominantly from US studies and populations and discussed the significance of the use of high fructose corn syrup (which usually contain 42% or 55% fructose); the predominant form of liquid sugar used in SSBs in the US.

SSBs are important because in the US they are the single greatest source of calories and added sugars in the US diet, accounting for nearly one-half of all added sugar intake. What’s more, in the US, high fructose corn syrup has gradually replaced the use of sugar because it is cheaper to produce.

The other key issue addressed in the study was the differential effects of glucose consumption versus fructose consumption. What makes the issue tricky is when talking about sugar or high fructose corn syrup, fructose is always being ingested together with roughly equal amounts of glucose. This makes it very challenging to differentiate between the effects of glucose versus fructose, even though the popular view has been to demonise fructose. Nonetheless, the authors go to extensive lengths to emphasise that fructose is metabolised in a distinctly different manner to glucose which can lead to greater fat accumulation in the liver and raised uric acid and associated gout.

The study makes strong recommendations that intake of SSBs be reduced dramatically, with even one-a-day seen as too much. The authors of the study go so far as to recommend that governments consider imposing taxes on SSBs if they are serious about reducing the burden of disease caused by high SSBs intake. In fact, Brighton, a UK city has just imposed a voluntary 10 pence tax on SSBs in an effort to curb consumption. This has been backed by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

While the study cited US data, the little data we have on Australians suggest that their consumption of SSBs are very high (particularly in teenagers)². So the study’s recommendations have particular relevance to the average Aussie.

In their conclusion, the study author’s make a pretty damming conclusion that specific consumption of SSBs “causes excess weight gain and is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes and CVD.”¹

The key difference with this landmark study is that rather than talk about sugar intake in general, it specifically points to intake of SSBs as a major risk factor for chronic disease. The simple recommendation to cut out all consumption of SSBs is highly practical for the average consumer seeking to reform their health and looking for a basic starting step.  

1. Malik VS & Hu FB. Fructose and cardiometabolic health. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2015;66(14):1615-1624.
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014, 2011-13 Australian Health Survey, cat. no. 4364.0.55.007, viewed 30^thSeptember 2015, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4364.0.55.007~2011-12~Media%20Release~Soft%20drink,%20burgers%20and%20chips%20-%20the%20diet%20of%20our%20young%20males%20(Media%20Release)~

Fonte:http://www.mrsupplement.com.au/one-fizzy-drink-too-much

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