When a statement predicting that 50% of the British population are to be obese by 2050 is called an ‘underestimate,’ you know there is a problem. The typical Briton consumes 12 teaspoons of sugar a day. Obesity is an epidemic. And what’s more, obesity isn’t just a problem for the West. In developing countries, where economies and living standards are improving, obesity is exploding.
A study in India cited 70% of urban Indians to be obese or overweight.2 This problem isn’t just India’s problem, either. Overweight and obesity rates since 1980 have almost doubled in China and Mexico. In South Africa, obesity rates have risen by 33%, surpassing the UK. In addition, the wealth of the Middle East and the development of Latin America have also contributed to obesity rates on par with Europe.3
Obesity is one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. In Europe alone, 1 million deaths are attributed to excess weight.4 The problem with obesity is that it reduces life expectancy and increases the risk of comorbities such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.5 One of the strongest links between obesity and its associated complications is found with type 2 diabetes. Excess body fat is prevalent in 64% of cases of diabetes in men and 77% of cases in women.6 An increase in body fat alters the body’s response to insulin, which can lead to insulin resistance or prediabetes. If not managed correctly, this may eventually turn into type 2 diabetes. The irony of the situation is that obesity is preventable. It’s simple: fewer calories in than out. Everyone is aware of this simple fact, so why are an increasing number of people becoming overweight?
Professor Jimmy Bell, obesity specialist at Imperial College, London, recently stated: “Genetically, human beings haven’t changed, but our environment, our access to cheap food has.” With time, the food we eat has changed alongside the number of calories we consume. Is sugar to blame for obesity? Many people blame sugar. A growing voice is concerned with sugary drinks, junk food and a cynical industry focused on profit rather than health. But is it simply a scapegoat? Surely it’s the overconsumption of calories that is the problem — which is not specific to sugar? Whatever the truth is, sugar is certainly a target.
The new tobacco
According to Simon Capewell, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool: “Sugar is the new tobacco”. Public interest has led to food companies being told to cut the amount of sugar they use and polyols are becoming increasingly more popular in food and drink as sweetener agents. As the popularity of polyols increases, it seems that those in the know aren’t just looking to move away from sugar; they’re looking to go natural too.
Polyols, often described as sugar alcohols, are neither sugar nor alcohol. Essentially, they are low-digestible carbohydrates formed through hydrogen being added to their sugar source. Erythritol is a polyol naturally found in fruit that is particularly gaining momentum. Erythritol can be bought alone as a ‘100% Pure Natural Sweetener’ or found in the majority of stevia-based products increasingly becoming available in health food stores and supermarkets nationally.
The selling point for erythritol isn’t just that it’s all-natural. It contains approximately 95% fewer calories than sugar (0.24 calories/g compared with the 4 calories/g of table sugar); but, on top of this, it doesn’t spike blood glucose levels and thus becomes an appropriate choice for people with insulin resistance and diabetes. Hyperglycaemia, or prolonged spikes in blood glucose levels, are one of the main causes of diabetic complications. Polyols such as erythritol essentially stabilize these spikes and prevent blood glucose levels spiking.
Erythritol isn’t the only polyol in demand. Xylitol, a natural sugar alternative produced from Birchwood is the bestselling sweetener available from Amazon. In fact, the top 10 best-selling products all contain polyols — whether xylitol-based or stevia-erythritol blends. Again, it is xylitol’s natural occurrence in fruit that contributes to its success. It has a similar effect on blood glucose to erythritol and is far cheaper than erythritol (or stevia-erythritol blends).
The rise of Stevia
According to Mintel, there was a 400% worldwide increase in new stevia-based products between 2008 and 2012, with a 158% rise from 2011–2012.7 Why? It’s simple; refined sugar is now linked in the media to obesity, and obesity is seen as an epidemic. Even if there is a low-calorie, low-GI polyol sweetener boom, it may not prevent the UK and the rest of the world reaching the outrageous ‘underestimates’ of global obesity. Sugar is just the microchasm. It’s about calories, price, labelling, education and understanding. But, over and above that, it’s about wanting to change; it’s about discipline. And it’s not just about sugar; it’s about calories per se.
The adage that “I can’t afford to eat healthily” is regularly purported in the media. In fact, more than 40% of people with type 2 diabetes who contribute to the diabetes.co.uk forum support that exact motto. However, it’s not just the food affordance that is the problem. With more than 100,000 people in the diabetes.co.uk forum, it is quickly understood from the original post that it’s about convenience, time and habits. On probing such comments, it is soon understood that a number of lifestyle factors can be improved. Whether it’s activity levels, an understanding of the calories and nutrients present in food that is eaten or food choices in general, it soon transpires that it isn’t all sugar’s fault.
What is evident, however, is the affinity towards polyols and sugar replacements. Quite simply, sugar is the easiest thing for people to replace. It takes motivation and determination to keep up regular exercise or reduce portion sizes. It takes willpower to restrict calories.
To replace sugar, you just need to buy a different product. The only question left is taste. And if it tastes good, you have a winner — exactly what has happened with the likes of xylitol and erythritol. Polyols are indeed contributing towards reducing the calorie and sugar contents of food and drink. They may even help to lessen the obesity explosion. Unfortunately, however, it isn’t just sugar replacement that is going to prevent the obesity crisis. It’s about having access to the foods that are good for you — and wanting to eat them.
References
1. http://easo.org/obesity-facts-figures.
2. http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/diseases/obesity-a-rising-epidemic-in-india_26551.html.
3. www.odi.org.uk.
4. C. Tsigosa, et al., “Management of Obesity in Adults: European Clinical Practice Guidelines,” The European Journal of Obesity 1(2), 106–116 (2008).
5. www.mediweightlossclinics.com/patients/resources/articles/obesity-facts.
6. J.C. Seidell, “Epidemiology of Obesity,” Semin. Vasc. Med. 5(1), 3–14 (2005).
7. www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22758059.
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