Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Increase Deep Fat in the Body

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Recent research has suggested that people who
drink sugar-sweetened beverages tend to gain a
particular type of fat, known as visceral
fat.Visceral fat is the hidden fat that lies
deep inside the abdomen, surrounding vital organs
like the liver, heart, intestines, and
kidneys.Visceral fat accumulation has been
shown to cause impaired glucose metabolism (that
leads to diabetes), lipid disorders, and
increased bloodpressure, all under the umbrella
term - metabolic syndrome. People with this
condition are at increased risk for heart disease
and type 2 diabetes.Data from the American
Framingham Study has shown that there is a direct
correlation between greater sweetened beverage
consumption andincreased visceral fat.Study
participants were categorized into four groups
non-drinkers (consumed sugar-sweetened beverages
less than once a month), occasionaldrinkers
(once a month or less than once a week), frequent
drinkers (once a week or less than once a day),
and who drank at least one sugarsweetenedbeverage
daily.
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Over 6 years of follow-up, the visceral fat
volume increased by 658 cm3 for non-drinkers, 649
cm3 for occasional drinkers, 707 cm3 for
frequentdrinkers, and 852 cm3 for those who
drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage
daily.Another study reported in 2015 in The
Journal of Nutrition concluded that soft drink
consumption was positively associated with
increased waistcircumference in Spanish adults.
Waist circumference is often used as a measure of
abdominal fat.
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This study showed that a 100 kcal increase in
energy intake by soft drink consumption was
associated with a 1.1 cm increase in
waistcircumference. On the other hand,
substituting 100 kcal of soft drinks with 100
kcal of whole milk and juice was associated with
decrease in waist circumference by 1.3 cm and 1.1
cm, respectively.In conclusion, there is enough
scientific evidence for us to limit the
consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in our
diets.
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Does plate-size affect how much we eat? There
are several studies reported in literature on
whether varying plate-size has an effect
onconsumption of food or not. The results
presented in these studies are mixed and
contradictory. Some concluded that smaller
plate-size helped reducing consumption, but
others did not.Recently a meta-analysis of
several previously reported studies was published
in the Journal of the Association for Consumer
Research. This meta-analysis combined results
from 56 studies that evaluated effect of
plate-size on food consumption. The combined
analysis showed that halving the plate size led
to a 29 reduction in amount of food consumed.
Interestingly, reduced food consumption was
dependent on two important factors.
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The first is that smaller plates reduce
consumption best if consumers are in a situation
where they are serving themselves. That is,
smaller plates at a buffet encourage people to
serve themselves less, and by extension, to eat
less.The second is that the smaller plates work
well if the consumers are unaware of the purpose
of using small plates. Even if the change to
small plates in a household is a conscious
decision, over time, the members of the household
are likely to forget the change, and may benefit
from the use of small plates.So, simply
switching to smaller plates can help us reduce
how much we serve ourselves, thus prevent
overeating.
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Exercise alone is not enough for weight
lossOverweight and obesity occur when more
energy is consumed than is spent through exercise
and our body stores these excess calories as fat.
Conventional weight loss approaches are typically
focused on increasing physical activity. But a
recent study examined why exercise alone does not
aid weight loss.In a study recently published
in the journal Current Biology, researchers have
found that energy expenditure plateaus above
moderate activity levels.In this study,
researchers measured daily energy expenditure and
activity levels of more than 300 men and women
over course of a week. They observed a linear
increase in daily energy expenditure in subjects
up to moderate physical activity. But subjects
who had physical activity higher than moderate
levels were not benefited in terms of extra
energy expenditure.
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Detailed results showed that study subjects with
moderate activity levels had daily energy
expenditure of about 200 calories higher than
those who were sedentary. However, subjects who
had above moderate activity levels experienced no
extra effect on energy expenditure.Even if we
exercise more, our bodies adapt to the higher
activity levels and do not burn extra calories.
This implies it is the combination of healthy
diet and physical activity, which can bring about
weight loss.
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CBSE tells schools to promote
healthy snacks in school canteensIn a recently
issued circular, Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE) has directed all its affiliated
schools to ensure that there are no high in fat,
salt, and sugar (HFSS) foods such as chips, fried
foods, carbonated beverages, noodles, pizzas,
burgers, chocolates, candies, samosas, bread
pakoras etc available in school canteens.This
circular has been issued following a report by
the Ministry of Women and Child Development
(MWCD) addressing the high levels consumption of
HFSS foods and promotion of healthy snacks in
school canteens.The board has also urged the
schools to take possible steps necessary to
ensure non-availability of HFSS foods up to 200
meters of the schoolpremises.
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As per this circular, schools need to
constitute School Canteen Management Committee of
about 7 to 10 members including teachers,
parents, students, and school canteen operators.
The Committee will take necessary steps to make
safe foods available in the school.This
committee will decide the type of foods to be
prepared in the school canteen, check the quality
of raw materials, and ensure that the food
available in school meet the food safety,
hygiene, and sanitation requirements laid down by
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI). Committee will also design physical
activity programs for students.Schools should
organize events regarding nutritious foods and
avoidance ofHFSS foods such as Nutrition Week (1
7 November). In addition, schoolsshould
regularly monitor height, weight, and body mass
index of the students and inspect lunch boxes to
rule out consumption of unhealthy foods by the
students. Schools may hire nutritionists and
physical activity experts to bring
aboutlifestyle changes effectively.VLCC
welcomes this initiative by MWCD and CBSE.
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