July 21, 2017

expert reaction to study looking at sugary drinks with meals and energy and fat metabolism

Publishing in BMC Nutrition scientists examine the effects sugar-sweetened drinks – when combined with a meal – have on energy balance and fat metabolism.

Prof. Tom Sanders, Professor emeritus of Nutrition and Dietetics, King’s College London, said:

“This is a very small study where subjects were given a sugary drink along with a test meal containing one of two different levels of protein.  While those that drank the sugary drink had a significantly lower rate of fat oxidation – meaning fat wasn’t broken down as quickly – the effects of the level of protein in the meal were not statistically significant, so the claim about lower rates of fat oxidation with higher protein foods is not justified by the evidence.

“It is already well known that carbohydrates (including sugar) and to a lesser extent protein stimulate insulin release – this has the effect of reducing the release of free fatty acids from adipose tissue (in other words reducing the breakdown of fat) for up to three hours after a meal.  This would explain the lower rates of fat oxidation observed here.”

Dr Ian Johnson, Nutrition researcher and Emeritus Fellow, Quadram Institute Bioscience, said:

“This interesting study explores some of the complex effects of differences in dietary composition on energy intake and expenditure in humans.  The work is unusual in that it was carried out under very precisely controlled laboratory conditions which make it possible to measure energy inputs and outputs with great accuracy.  The results do suggest a mechanism whereby consumption of sugary drinks with meals might interfere with the body’s ability to regulate energy intake, and eventually lead to weight gain.  However, for this to happen the observed effects would need to be maintained over an extended period of time, and the authors themselves are careful to point out that they have not yet shown this.”

* ‘Postprandial energy metabolism and substrate oxidation in response to the inclusion of a sugar- or non-nutritive sweetened beverage with meals differing in protein content’ by Shanon L. Casperson et al. published in BMC Nutrition on Friday 21 July 2017. 

Declared interests

Prof. Tom Sanders: “Prof Tom Sanders is a Scientific Governor of the charity British Nutrition Foundation, member of the scientific advisory committee of the Natural Hydration Council (which promotes the drinking of water), and honorary Nutritional Director of the charity HEART UK. He is now emeritus but when he was doing research at King’s College London, the following applied:

Tom does not hold any grants or have any consultancies with companies involved in the production or marketing of sugar-sweetened drinks. In reference to previous funding to Tom’s institution: £4.5 million was donated to King’s College London by Tate & Lyle in 2006; this funding finished in 2011. This money was given to the College and was in recognition of the discovery of the artificial sweetener sucralose by Prof Hough at the Queen Elizabeth College (QEC), which merged with King’s College London. The Tate & Lyle grant paid for the Clinical Research Centre at St Thomas’ that is run by the Guy’s & St Thomas’ Trust, it was not used to fund research on sugar. Tate & Lyle sold their sugar interests to American Sugar so the brand Tate & Lyle still exists but it is no longer linked to the company Tate & Lyle PLC, which gave the money to King’s College London in 2006.

Tom also used to work for Ajinomoto on aspartame about 8 years ago.

Tom was a member of the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee that recommended that trans fatty acids be removed from the human food chain. Tom has previously acted as a member of the Global Dairy Platform Scientific Advisory Panel and Tom is a member of the Programme Advisory Committee of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. In the past Tom has acted as a consultant to Archer Daniel Midland Company and received honoraria for meetings sponsored by Unilever PLC. Tom’s research on fats was funded by Public Health England/Food Standards Agency.”

Dr Ian Johnson: “Ian Johnson served as an invited expert on The SACN working group on carbohydrates and health 2010-2015.”