Warning: terrifying information! According to a new study conducted by the prestigious University College London (in England), a diet rich in sugars would reduce thelife expectancy…
The work was conducted on… flies. Scientists conducted a small experiment for 3 weeks with two groups of female flies: the first group was entitled to a balanced diet with only 5% sugars, while the second group (lucky?) benefited from a daily calorie quota made up at 40% of carbohydrates – a sugar intake 8 times higher, therefore.
Results ? The scientists found that the flies in group 2 (those that had gorged themselves on sugar for 3 weeks) had an average lifespan that was 7% shorter than the flies in group 1 (those that had had the right to good young healthy meals for 3 weeks). Concretely, the latter lived approximately 90 days against 84 days the corny ones of the other group.
The culprit: the FOXO gene
Behind this phenomenon, there is of course a story of genetics. The researchers understood that, in the flies of group 2, the expression of a gene had been inhibited by the excess of sugar. However, the FOXO gene is generally involved in the notion of longevity in flies, fungi, worms… and humans.
“For the moment, we do not know if this genetic phenomenon is transposable to humans, nuances Dr. Adam Dobson, co-author of this work published in the specialized journal Cell Reports. However, we know that excess sugar is linked to the premature aging of cells: we can therefore fear an impact on human life expectancy. »
Another good reason to drastically reduce the content of our cake cupboard for 2017…
To read :
Infographic: the harmful effects of sugar on health
The sugar industry would have paid scientists
Nutrition: we should not exceed 6 sugar cubes per day
