| I think it’s fair to say
obesity in our society today has reached a very alarming level and
according to many sources it’s actually becoming an
epidemic.
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In all honesty this section of my
web site was the most difficult for me to design. I am fortunate not
to have a weight problem so there is no way possible for me to know
what it feels like to have that problem, my heart goes out to those
of you that battle this problem.
With that said, it’s only fair to
say that there are no shortages of television, newspaper, magazine,
or radio advertisements claiming they have the “Magic Bullet”
product for weight loss. I have researched several and I can
honestly tell you the majority of them are hype and many are can
actually be dangerous to your health. My feelings in short are it’s
often times all about "profit before people”.
I believe that there are many
issues that relate to being overweight, our fast paced lifestyle,
nutrient deficient foods, exercise habits, depression, attitude, and
commitment.
Not only do we live in a fast paced
world, where things are quick and convenient, but also we are told
from every angle that fast and cheap are still good for you.
Macaroni and cheese and hot-dogs are part of a healthy meal as long
as they are accompanied by canned green beans.
If this is true than why are over
half of all Americans now considered over weight or obese? A third
of these are children or adolescents. The weight loss industry is a
multibillion-dollar industry, yet these numbers continue to
increase. If counting calories, or trying the latest “fad” diet
worked than these numbers would be decreasing each year. The fact is
there are no quick fixes, or magic pills. Education is the key to
healthy changes.
Think about this simple question:
What kind of fuel was my body designed to use? I think you‘ll find
the answer lies with nutritious, whole grain foods. Let‘s pretend
that our bodies are “Mercedes“, are you fueling your “Mercedes“ with
diesel, unleaded gasoline, high octane, or regular? Odds are that if
you are using a cheaper fuel or one that isn’t formulated for that
Mercedes, you may find it being hooked up to a tow
truck.
Our bodies are magnificently built
machines that are not only able to run efficiently, but look
attractive as well. If we fuel them with the proper foods, our
bodies can run for years with plenty of energy and no excess baggage
(fat). If we choose to fuel them with cheap, convenience foods, then
our tow truck may arrive sooner than we’d like.
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________________________________________________________________
Purdue News
June 29,
2004
Study: Artificial sweetener may
disrupt body's ability to count calories
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.
– Choosing a diet soft drink over a regular, sugar-packed beverage
may not be the best way to fight obesity, according to new research
from Purdue University. But the researchers said this doesn't mean
you should grab a regularly sweetened soft drink
instead.
Professor Terry Davidson and
associate professor Susan Swithers, both in the Department of
Psychological Sciences, found that artificial sweeteners may disrupt
the body's natural ability to "count" calories based on foods'
sweetness. This finding may explain why increasing numbers of people
in the United States lack the natural ability to regulate food
intake and body weight. The researchers also found that thick
liquids aren't as satisfying – calorie for calorie – as are more
solid foods.
Based on the research, Davidson and
Swithers suggest paying more attention to calories consumed and
engaging in regular exercise to battle the bulge.
The Purdue's researchers' study, "A
Pavlovian Approach to the Problem of Obesity," appears in the July
issue of International Journal of Obesity. Davidson and Swithers,
members of the Ingestive Behavior Research Center at Purdue, suggest
that being able to automatically match caloric intake with caloric
need depends on the body's ability to learn that the taste and feel
of food by the mouth suggests the appropriate caloric intake. Much
as Pavlov's dogs learned that the sound of a bell signaled food,
people learn that both sweet tastes and dense, viscous foods signal
high calories. This learning process begins very early in life and
perhaps without conscious awareness, according to the
researchers.
"The body's natural ability to
regulate food intake and body weight may be weakened when this
natural relationship is impaired by artificial sweeteners," said
Davidson, an expert in behavioral neuroscience. "Without thinking
about it, the body learns that it can use food characteristics such
as sweetness and viscosity to gauge its caloric intake. The body may
use this information to determine how much food is required to meet
its caloric needs."
Over the past 25 years, there has
been a dramatic increase in the consumption of artificially
sweetened foods and low viscosity, high-calorie beverages, said
Swithers, a developmental psychobiologist.
"Incidence of overweight and
obesity has also increased markedly during this period," she said.
"Our hypothesis is that experience with these foods interferes with
the natural ability of the body to use sweet taste and viscosity to
gauge caloric content of foods and beverages. When you substitute
artificial sweetener for real sugar, however, the body learns it can
no longer use its sense of taste to gauge calories. So, the body may
be fooled into thinking a product sweetened with sugar has no
calories and, therefore, people overeat."
Swithers said that the loss of the
body's ability to gauge caloric intake contributes to increased food
intake and weight gain, especially when people do not count calories
on their own. A similar dynamic is at work with foods' texture and
thickness.
"Historically, we knew that our
body learns that if the food is thick, such as whole milk, it tends
to have more calories than compared to a thinner liquid such as skim
milk," Swithers said. "Now, our research reinforces this and takes
it one step further, showing that our bodies translate this
information about perceived calories into a gauge to tell us when to
stop eating."
The researchers based their
hypothesis on Pavlovian theory. Ivan Pavlov, known for his work in
the early 20th century, is famous for his experiment in training
dogs to associate food with the ringing of a bell. After being
conditioned to the bell, the dogs salivated when they heard it –
even when they did not see or smell food. Davidson and Swithers
propose that rats learn a similar relationship between the taste or
texture of a food and the calories it contains and may use this
information to control food intake and body
weight.
Davidson and Swithers' findings are
based on two studies.
In the first study, two groups of
rats were given two different sweet-flavored liquids. In the first
group, both liquids were sweetened with natural high-calorie
sweeteners so there was a consistent relationship between sweet
taste and calories. For the second group, one of the flavored
liquids was artificially sweetened with non-caloric saccharin so
that the relationship between sweet taste and calories was
inconsistent.
After 10 days of exposure to the
flavors, the rats were allowed to eat a small amount of a sweet,
high-calorie chocolate flavored snack. The researchers compared the
two groups' ability to compensate for the calories contained in the
chocolate snack. The rats that had experienced the inconsistent
relationship between sweet taste and calories were less able to
compensate for the calories contained in the snack and ate more than
the rats that had experienced the consistent relationship between
sweetness and caloric intake.
"This suggests that experience with
the inconsistent relationship reduced the natural ability of the
rats to use sweet taste to judge the caloric content of the snack,"
Swithers said.
In the second study, two groups of
rats were given a high-calorie dietary supplement along with their
regular food every day for 30 days. Although the supplements were
identical in calories and nutritive content, they differed in
viscosity. For one group the supplement had the consistency of thick
chocolate pudding, whereas for the other group, the supplement was
similar to chocolate milk. Davidson and Swithers found that over the
course of the study, the rats given the milk-like supplement gained
significantly more weight than the rats given the more viscous,
pudding-like supplement.
"This finding indicates that rats
are less able to estimate and compensate for the calories contained
in liquids than in semi-solid foods," Davidson said. "If the body is
less able to detect and compensate for calories contained in
liquids, then intake of high-calorie beverages compared to
semi-solid or solid foods could increase the tendency to gain
weight."
The number of Americans consuming
sugar-free products increased from less than 70 million in 1987 to
more than 160 million in 2000. During the same period, the
consumption of regular soft drinks increased by more than 15 gallons
per capita annually.
"Increased consumption of
artificial sweeteners and of high-calorie beverages is not the sole
cause of obesity, but it may be a contributing factor," Swithers
said. "It could become more of a factor as more people turn to
artificial sweeteners as a means of weight control and, at the same
time, others consume more high-calorie beverages to satisfy their
cravings."
Davidson and Swithers are
evaluating potential mechanisms that may produce the short- and
long-term effects on food intake and body weight, as well as whether
age or gender are contributing factors. Additional research also
will need to evaluate if the body and brain can be retrained to
naturally measure calories after consuming artificial sweeteners or
high-calorie beverages.
The National Institute of Child
Health and Development, National Institute of Digestive Diseases and
Kidney Disorders, and Purdue School of Liberal Arts funded this
research.
Writer: Amy Patterson-Neubert,
(765) 494-9723,
apatterson@purdue.edu
Source: Susan
Swithers,
(765)494-6279, (317)345-5828,
swithers@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service:
(765)
494-2096;
purduenews@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: B-roll footage
of Susan Swithers in her lab is available by contacting
Amy
Patterson-Neubert,
(765) 494-9723,
apatterson@purdue.edu.
PHOTO
CAPTION:
Susan Swithers, associate professor of
psychological sciences, and Terry Davidson, professor of
psychological sciences, studied how artificial sweeteners disrupt
the body's ability to naturally count calories. Based on the
research, Davidson and Swithers suggest that switching to a diet
drink may not be the best solution to fight obesity. Their study, "A
Pavlovian Approach to the Problem of Obesity," appears in this
month's International Journal of Obesity. Both researchers are
members of the Ingestive Research Center at Purdue. (Purdue News
Service photo/David Umberger)
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is avame> ailable
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