Is there something of sugar? Some top researchers believe that this natural sweetener may not only speed up, but even cause, aging.
A sudden rush of sugar in the blood stream may speed up aging process Poor sugar, It & # 39; s been blamed for most concerning. .
The earliest suspicions about 15 years ago, when work on sugar aging link begin in a medical bio-chemistry lab at Rockefeller University in New York City, where Anthony Cerami, Ph, D., and his collections are still pursuing sugar & # 39; s role in aging process.
It was Cerami who first noticed that the same chemical process that a streak toughen and reaction to occur in sugar and protein called the "browning reaction" - occurs in human cells, especially as they age. Indeed, approval to In time, it may may help solve many age related problems, from wrinkles to cataracts to certain types of cancer.
According to Cerami, sugar is a part of the culprits that substance in the basic energy source for human beings, the substance in which our cells are constantly washed through our lifetime. to understand how glucose might sugar behaves in diabetes, because diabetes tend to suffer age related complications - such as atrorosclerosis, cataracts and joint stiffness - much earlier than most people.
Accelerating Aging
When glucose enters the blood stream from the intestine, it is taken up by the glycogen in the liver and the muscles, or is converted to fat and stored in fat cells until the body needs it. Under normal circumstances, the level of glucose in the blood kept remarkably stable by the hormone insulin. Insulin, which positions too glucose to build up in the blood stream, left unchecked, this Even with such treatment, however, problems of aging occur earlier.
Cerami and then colleague Ronald J. Koenig, found that part of the structure of all cells, can be greatly affected by the elevated glucose level in diabetics & # 39; blood. Over a period of week to months, a The AGE particles in turn act like like, glue, sticking some of the other protein molecules together in a rigid lattice work pattern called cross-linking. they protein clumps together in this way, they can clog arteries; blur vision, damage kidneys and lungs - conditions often associated with aging. It occurred to Cerami that glucose might have destructive after glucose affected proteins play a role in the age related diseases for the diabetic is at risk early in life, they may play a role in the same disease when they happen l ater.
Sugar & # 39; s Stiffening Effect
Cerami began examining non diabetics & # 39; Long lived proteins for evidence of the process. When Cerami soaked these crystalline proteins in a glucose solution, the mixture turned opaque (resembling a lens with a cataract) and the proteins clumped together. It was the browning reaction all over again, and it led Cerami to believe that cataracts are formed with help of glucose.
Preliminary research of several centers in the United States and Britain appears to confirm the connection between sugar and contracts, and aging skin.
Epidemiologist Paul F. Jacques, at the USDA & # 39; s Human Nutrition Research Center on Again in Boston, has shown in preliminary studies that galactose, derived from the sugar in milk, may play a role in the development of cataracts, By itself, In people who are deficient in this enzyme, Jacques found, this conversion process is slowed, eventually occurred cataracts.
Collagen is the most abundant protein the human body. As collagen Its stiffened and broken more easily when stretched. It is stiffened and broken more easily when stretched. Once again, the glucose protein reaction had speed up the aging process.
Cerami & # 39; s results were reinforced by those of Vincent M. Monnier, associate professor of pathology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Monnier found that centenarians have as much as ten times more sugar laden, children suggesting that sugar does indeed play a key role in aging.
Other possible aging connection: Ceremi thinks glucose hardened collagen may trap cholesterol on the walls of blood vases, causing atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Richard Bucala, have recently begun to explore the possibility that glucose, reacting with DNA cause genetic mutations that can lead to cancer.
"It became intrigued by the whole question of increased incidence of cancer with age," was was plausible that AGEs may accumulate on DNA, leading to alteration of genetic material. Therefore, damaged cells might be unable to repair themselves or properly reproduce The immune system can also be affected by glucose induced mutations under its ability to keep cancer cells in checked have not been tatted AGEs can indeed cause mutations in bacterial DNA. Next on the research agenda is studying mammalian cells in culture to See also the same types of changes in genetic material occurs.
Control Sugar, Control Aging
One tentative suggestion is to limit dietary intake of sugar. (Nutritionally, this is no problem). But after since all food is extremely converted by the body into sugar , can this really be effective? The research is severely conclusive; still, some scientists say, may be.
British researchers Anna Furth, a biologist at Open University, and John Harding, of the Department of Ophthalmology at Oxford University, suggest that heavy sugar snaking can adversely affect even non diabetic people. When we take in a candy bar & # 39; s worth of A sugar, the level of glucose in the blood rises sharply and as insulin struggles to cope with it. A sudden rush of glucose in the bloodstream (from that candy bar or a glass or orange juice - remember, fruits contain fructose, which is, of course, sugar!) Begins the browning reaction that cause the protein to cross link.
Perhaps one of the most effective ways to protect you, they are protected too much soon to translate that theory into action. say, is to take carbohydrates as part of a mixed meal with protein, fat and fiber and no crab snacking on an early stomach.
One solution may be to to supplement macrophages, immune system scavengers Taking another tack, researchers theorize that there must be a way to remove the end products of the browning reactions, AGEs, before they ' That AGEs may be topped by AGEs may be to build up in the places not easy reached for cleanup. A drug to improve the macrophage removal system is one long term hope .
Cerami and two former Rockefeller collections, Micheal Brownlee and Peter Ulrich, have already produced such drugs, called aminoguanidine. Trials with diabetic rats have shown that it can If the results of aging. FDA approval, marketing of the products would be two to three years away.
"It 's getting up in the morning and facing a lot of physical problems "that makes aging unpleasant, he says." Our research is not aimed at letting people live to be 400, but at improving the quality o life.
Avoiding the Sugar Rush
Are some foods more likely to end up as the six essential nutrient groups the body needs, water, vitamins, minerals do not convert to glucose at all. But according to Gail C. Frank, professor of nutrition at California State So in a sense, as in a sense of life, as a society, as a sense of life, It does not make you ingest table sugar (sucrose), fruit sugar (fructose) or starches such as those in potato or pasta, they & # 39; re converted to glucose ever.
But Frank suggests that if you are absorbed into the "sudden rush of glucose" that research Furth and Harding believe may exacerbate the protein cross linking involved in aging, a solid food, such as a banana, will be absorbed into the Also, more not much more slowly then a liquid, such as a glass of orange juice. them (eg hard candies) are absorbed more quickly than starches taken alone, since the chemical structure of starch is much more complex .
A glass of orange juice on an empty stomach necess glucose in the blood stream in as little as a minute; while nutrient balanced meal for several hours to digest, there by prolonging the absorption of glucose.
