Sugar + Protein = An Increased FAT Accumulation?
Remember physics? Boy, was that a fun class—or rather a nightmare for some. We all know that P = Fv. And that W = FΔx. If you didn’t know that, just play along. But now we have a new equation to memorize, and that is SUGAR + PROTEIN = FAT. The combination of sugar and protein in a single meal can have some negative consequences when it comes to your overall health.
What this Equation Means Regarding Sugar
Researchers have now found that your body gets thrown for a loop when you drink a beverage that contains both protein and sugar. In fact, it causes the body to store more fat. When speaking with a researcher from the USDA Agricultural Research Service Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, she mentioned that, “We found that about a third of the additional calories provided by the sugar-sweetened drinks were not expended, fat metabolism was reduced, and it took less energy to metabolize the meals. This decreased metabolic efficiency may ‘prime’ the body to store more fat.”
For this study, researchers utilized 14 women and 13 men all around the age of 23. Each individual was asked to complete two 24-hour visits to their facility for testing. During their time as the facility, they received “two 15% protein meals (breakfast and lunch) after an overnight fast on one visit and two 30% protein meals after an overnight fast on the other visit. The increase in protein was counterbalanced by a decrease in carbohydrates. All meals were composed of the same foods and they provided 17g of fat and 500 kcals. Participants consumed a sugar-sweetened drink with one of the meals and a non-sugar sweetened drink with the other meal.” Researchers were interested in finding out how many calories the individuals were able to burn each minute after consuming the meals and how much came from each macronutrient source (protein, fat, carbs).
In order to study the changes made by the body, all participants were asked to enter into a room calorimeter for the entire 24-hour period that measured the room temperature, pressure, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, as well as movement in the room itself. All of these played a factor in how an individual’s body reacted from the food they were given and their overall energy expenditure.
The findings of the study showed that on average, there was an 8% reduction in fat oxidation when all meals (regardless if they were made up of 15% protein or 30% protein) were consumed with a sugary beverage. This overall encourages the body to store fat rather than use the meal as an energy source.
One researcher said, “Our findings suggest that having a sugar-sweetened drink with a meal impacts both sides of the energy balance equation. On the intake side, the additional energy from the drink did not make people feel more sated. On the expenditure side, the additional calories were not expended and fat oxidation was reduced. The results provide further insight into the potential role of sugar-sweetened drinks—the largest single source of sugar in the American diet—in weight gain and obesity.”
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