Bingeing On Sweet Treats Ups Your Risk Of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Consuming too much sugar increases your weight, which in turn puts you at a higher risk of heart diseases, obesity, and hypertension. But a new study has found that short-term increase in sugar intake could increase your likelihood of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

IBD is multifactorial in nature, developing due to a complex interaction between genetic, environmental, microbial and immunological factors. The role of diet in the development of IBD has always remained unclear. Previous studies pertaining to the western diet and IBD have focused on high-fat content alone or in combination with high sugar.

The study conducted by the researchers at the University of Alberta sought to assess the short-term dietary exposure to high sugar on colitis so as to examine how daily fluctuations in one's diet might trigger disease flares in susceptible individuals.

The study involved adult wild-type mice who were fed a high-sugar diet. After a couple of days, they were then treated with dextran sodium sulfate to induce colitis. Their disease severity was assessed daily.

The findings revealed that the mice that were placed on a high sugar diet had greater intestinal tissue damage and a defective immune response. The researchers also reported that these issues got alleviated when the diet was supplemented with short-chain fatty acids that are normally secreted by the good bacteria in the gut. The findings make it evident that short term exposure to a high sugar diet increased one’s chances of acquiring colitis by reducing short-chain fatty acids and increasing gut permeability.

The research team has proven that just two days on a high-sugar diet and the absence of short-chain fatty acids leads to an increase in gut permeability and paves the way towards further research on how a person's diet might affect the bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract.

"Surprisingly, our study shows that short-term sugar consumption can really have a detrimental impact, and so this idea that it's OK to eat well all week and indulge in junk food on the weekend is flawed," Karen Madsen, the study’s lead author said.

She commented that people generally refuse to change their diet, even if you explain that it will fix their health issues. And thus, using short-chain fatty acid supplements alongside one's favorite diet (especially if it contains too much sugar), can help protect them against the detrimental effects of sugar on inflammatory bowel disease.