These are the negative health effects that can occur when ingesting protein mixes and sugary drinks
The consumption of sugary drinks has exploded in recent decades. Their high availability and low price, in addition to the advertising campaigns boasting their potential to provide an " energy kick " have catapulted them to success, especially energy drinks, one of the types of beverages that contain the most added sugar. Without forgetting, of course, the artificial juices that are even recommended for the little ones, although most of them are sugar and calorie bombs.
On the other hand, little by little the concept has also been expanding that diets rich in protein can help you lose weight or, at least, maintain and manage it better. But what happens if we mix both things? Can mixing a protein-rich dinner with sugary drinks be counterproductive? According to a recent study published in BMC Nutrition, yes, a lot.
Protein and sugary drinks, a bad combination
According to this work, carried out by Dr. Shanon Casperson and her colleagues, combining protein-rich foods and sugary drinks lowers metabolic efficiency. In other words, this combination would slow down the metabolism, increasing the production and storage of body fat.
Currently added sugars from food account for 16% of all energy consumed in an average day in Western society, approximately 91 grams of sugar each day, most of it from sugary drinks.
On the other hand, diets rich in proteins have been shown to collaborate in the good management of body weight thanks to their potential to increase satiety, increase metabolism and reduce energy intake. Now, if this diet is combined with sugary drinks, the exact opposite of what is sought is achieved: decrease metabolism and gain body weight.
How does the study was realized?
To discover this counterproductive effect of high-sugar beverages, the researchers measured oxygen consumption, carbon hazard production, and urine nitrogen excretion (a key component of protein). By knowing how much protein is used in the diet, calculating carbohydrates and fat use is easy using body respiration. In order to carry out this process, they used a " metabolic chamber ", a hermetically closed room where it is possible to measure caloric consumption by calculating the gases of respiration.
In this case, the 27 healthy volunteers who participated in the research ate exactly the same foods throughout the day. In one of their visits, the diet of these volunteers consisted of 15% protein, while in another visit their diet consisted of 30% protein. They also associated with all meals a sugary drink or sweetened with added sugar. After each meal, the volunteers were asked about their satiety.
According to their results, the consumption of sugary drinks with meals decreases the use of fat and thermogenesis (heat production) induced by the diet. In addition, combining a sugary drink with a meal rich in protein produced a more marked decrease in metabolism than when the sugary drink was taken alone. In fact, according to the study data, the body of the individuals studied only used 80 of the 120-kcal provided by each drink rich in sugar. This would mean that there is a 40-kcal surplus for each sugary drink, which will be stored in the form of fat, regardless of the amount of protein consumed with these drinks.
According to the researchers, these results alert us, even more if possible, of the detrimental effects that the consumption of beverages rich in sugar can cause. Not only can they collaborate in the production of fat independently, but they can decrease metabolic efficiency when consumed together with a protein diet, which theoretically should produce the opposite effect (an increase in metabolism).
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