Sugar appears to have specific and detrimental effects to mammalian physiology, including humans. The effects of sugar have been extensively investigated in rats, and a number of well designed nutritional studies have shown that feeding rats sucrose or fructose can cause the development of insulin resistance in just a few short weeks. Similar studies on humans have also shown the development of insulin resistance with high intakes of sucrose and fructose. Sugar therefore seems to have the same detrimental effect on rats as it does in humans, and this centres on the deterioration of the insulin signal system and elevations in the concentration of fasting blood glucose levels. Other studies have been performed on rats to investigate the effects of sugar and one recent study used a rat model to help elucidate the effects of feeding sugar to young rats. In particular, the study investigated the effects of feeding sugar to young pups in order to assess changes to gut bacteria.
Consumption of sugar may alter the microbial populations living in the gut. This makes sense because the bacterial populations in the gut require a source of energy and that energy comes from the food we ingest. Particular strains will thrive on particular foods and thus eating high amounts of sugar will favour the growth of certain bacteria over others. Evidence also suggests that yeast grow particularly well on a high sugar diet. The shifts in microbial populations following regular consumption of sugar may be bad for the health. Rat studies are consistent with human studies in this regard.
Young rats pups were given access to one of a number of drinking solutions including 35 % fructose: 65% glucose, 50 % fructose: 50 % glucose, 65 % fructose: 35 % glucose or containing control (no sugar). After ad libitum access to the solutions, the rats had their faeces analysed to assess the microbial populations in the gut. Sugar consumption caused decreases in Prevotella and Lachnospiraceae incertae sedis but increases in Bacteroides, Alistipes, Lactobacillus, Clostridium sensu stricto, Bifidobacteriaceae and Parasutterella. However, no pattern was consistent for an individual sugar. Therefore feeding sugar to rats had effects on the bacterial populations living in the gut, and this may subsequently have caused health effects. One caveat for this study is that while rats are useful models for disease, and they do consume an omnivorous diet like humans. They are not humans and rats studies should always be taken in context. Therefore this information comes with the usual caveats about extrapolation to humans.
Eat Well, Stay Healthy and Protect Yourself
RdB
