OBESITY is one of the major epidemics of our time and is increasing at an alarming rate in both adults and children around the world.
Obesity occurs when more energy is consumed from food and beverages than is required to meet biological and physical needs. In this regard, the nutrient with the greatest influence on body weight gain is lipids.
High-fat foods are very tasty and therefore easier to over-consume and gain weight from. Fats contain twice as many calories as sugars (9 kcal per gram compared to 4 kcal per gram of sugars).
The most recent assessment of the role of sugars in health and disease was made by the US Institute of Medicine’s 2002 Committee on Food and Nutrition and was published in the report “Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for Energy, Carbo- hydrates, Fiber, Fat, Protein and Aminoacids (Macronutrients)”.
The DRI report reviewed all available evidence on the effects of sugars on chronic diseases and concluded that “based on the available data on dental cavities, behavior, cancer, obesity risk, and hyperlipidemia risk, there is insufficient evidence to establish a maximum limit of intake recommendation for total or added sugars” and “there is no clear and consistent association between increased intake of added sugars and body mass index.”
Previous reports already supported these conclusions, including the 1998 FAO/WHO expert consultation on “Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition”, which concluded that “there is no evidence of a direct implication of sucrose, other sugars and starch in the etymology of lifestyle-related diseases”.
Health authorities generally recommend high-carbohydrate diets for body weight control. Sugar and complex carbohydrates do not have different effects on weight control.
The CARMEN study, one of the most important nutritional intervention studies carried out to date in the EU, demonstrated that a reduction in the amount of fat ingested, proportionally compensated by an increase in carbohydrates, whether simple or complex, allows long-term weight control without reducing overall calorie intake.
The results showed that the two groups that proportionally reduced fat consumption by 10% and increased the consumption of sugar and other carbohydrates lost weight (between 1 and 2 kg during the 6 months of nutritional intervention) and, moreover, maintained this trend.
The importance of the CARMEN study lies in demonstrating that it is a practical solution to the major problem of obesity.
The reduction of one or two kilograms of weight – especially body fat – in the long term, as in this study, can mean a reduction of 15-30% of the overweight population, the positive impact this would have on public health.
Epidemiology also provides a clear answer regarding the effect of sugars on weight. Sugar consumption is inversely proportional to the degree of overweight. Studies in adults and children have shown that people who consume more sugars eat less fat.
As the proportion of energy consumed from sugars increases, fat intake tends to decrease and vice versa. To this must be added the knowledge that individuals with a high sugar intake and low fat intake tend to have a lower body weight than those who follow the opposite diet.
Finally, it is interesting to note that the effect of nutrients on appetite and satiety is an important factor in weight control. In recent years it has been shown that carbohydrates, both simple and complex, through well-defined psychological and physiological mechanisms, have a potent satiating effect.
