Although it may sound like a bad infomercial, a study financed by the National Institutes of Health has shown that cutting added sugar in children’s diets can improve their overall health incredibly quickly.
The study looked at 43 obese kids and discovered that in just 10 days, many obesity-related health problems could be improved by removing or cutting back on added sugar, even when calories and savory junk food intake remained the same. The children who were chosen had chronic metabolic disorders like high blood pressure or high cholesterol in addition to being obese.
The kids' blood pressure and cholesterol dropped, and some of them even lost weight, even though their calorie intake and other fatty foods remained unchanged. The kids swapped out sugary pastries and cereals for bagels and chicken teriyaki for turkey hot dogs or hamburgers during the experiment.
They were still allowed as much fatty food as they desired during the experiment. Several of the children also had improved function in their liver and kidneys and several reported feeling “too full” during the experiment. Yet, 42 out of 43 of the participants said they found the new diet to be appetizing.
Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at Benioff’s Children’s Hospital at the University of California San Francisco said of the study:
“This paper says we can turn a child’s metabolic health around in 10 days without changing calories and without changing weight – just by taking the added sugars out of their diet. From a clinical standpoint, from a health care standpoint, that’s very important.”
While this study indicates a major step forward in learning about nutrition, it should also be noted that many scientists and nutritionists remain skeptical. Barry Popkin, nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, advocates for a tax on sugary drinks, but remains a little wary of the results of the new study.
“While this work is suggestive of a dramatic beneficial health effect, there are too many careful, well-controlled studies on this topic that do not find such unique, dramatic results.”
Scientists and nutritionists hope to expand on this study to see if the findings can be replicated.