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Is nutrition about to undergo a revolution?
Have our experts’ nutritional guidelines been wrong for the past few years? The answer seems to be yes.
While it was recommended to cut out all possible fats from the diet in order to avoid cardiovascular diseases, now the first results of two important American studies make the link between the so-called diseases of civilization and the consumption of sugars, i.e. refined white sugar contained in confectionery and sweet liquors as well as sugar in “healthy” foods such as bread or pasta.
Professor Walter Willett of Harvard University is leading two surveys that have been accumulating data on 120,000 health professionals for 12 years. His mission? To discover the nutritional factors that can reverse the epidemic of chronic diseases, cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.
“I think we have the answer,” he says. Rapidly absorbed sugars such as potatoes, white bread, pasta, rice and refined sugars may be linked to heart disease. Our findings lead us to conclude that insulin is responsible for this condition. The more insulin resistant a person is, the more harmful sugars are to them.”
After analyzing the dietary behavior of 915 diabetics, it was found that the risk of diabetes increased by 50 percent in those who consumed the most rapidly absorbed sugary foods.
These studies also showed a protective effect: the fiber in cereals reduced this risk by 30%. When the two harmful conditions are met: fast-absorbing sugars and low fiber intake, the risk of diabetes increases by a factor of 2.17 in men and 2.5 in women.
