How accurate are the claims that a diet high in sugar is linked to cancer? A recent issue of Cancer Research described a study that looked at the effects of high sugar diets and the risk of colon cancer. An increased incidence of DNA mutations was observed with increased doses of table sugar in rats.
Elaine Gottschall, a biochemist and cell biologist, describes in detail the benefits of a low-carbohydrate diet plan in her book Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet. The logic of the Specific Carbohydrate diet is that bacterial overgrowth can be regulated by a diet that restricts the type of carbohydrates that feed the bacteria that damage the intestines. The diet has been used successfully to treat people suffering from intestinal diseases.
“I have a sweet tooth, but I do have willpower,” said Crystal Tillis, a sophomore psychology student from Baton Rouge. “I am definitely conscious about the sweets I eat.”
One of the main principles of the Atkin’s Diet, another popular low-carb diet is the Atkin’s Principle of Disease Prevention. It suggests that a controlled carbohydrate (sugar) diet will regulate insulin production, which may improve many health risks, including breast cancer and pancreatic cancer.
Researchers from the nutrition department at Boston’s Simmons College also agree that the consumption of refined grains, contained in white bread, may raise insulin levels in the body, which, in turn, could cause cell division and turn pre-cancerous cells cancerous.
Despite such research, some health care providers disagree about the dangers of sugar. B.D. Schmitt, M.D., wrote in the Children’s Hospital of Orange County newsletter that “eating sweets is basically not harmful. Candy does not cause cancer, heart disease, or diabetes.” Schmitt is the author of Your Child’s Health, Bantam Books.
While a diet high in sugar has its risks, it may be challenge to many people to give it up. “I am willing to cut back on sugar, but it would be extremely difficult to cut it out sugar from my diet,” said Enitra Jones, a junior biology major from Gretna. Anything in moderation should be O.K.”
