America’s favorite stimulant is under fire from scientists that criticize fast-food chains latest push to increase their revenue through caffeinated coffee blends of sugar and fat. Researcher Marie-Soleil Beaudoin has found that the typical meals found in America’s most profitable restaurant chains are possibly doubly dangerous when coupled with caffeinated coffee drinks.
In a news release form the University of Guelph, the PhD student Beaudoin is quoted as saying, “The results tell us that saturated fat interferes with the body’s ability to clear sugars from the blood and, when combined with caffeinated coffee, the impact can be even worse.”
These warning are particularly troublesome for people suffering with type-2 diabetes and metabolic diseases such as acidosis. The ability to move sugar throughout the body without impediment is central to health. The combination of sugar and fat always spells doom for the internal functions of the body, especially when sugar is left to sit in organs longer than normal.
Most of the study centered around America’s number one beverage amongst adults, but it also examined how digestive hormones reacted once they were contact with caffeinated coffee. The results were startling:
Besides testing the participant’s blood sugar levels, the researchers looked at gastro-intestinal effects by measuring incretin hormones released by the gut after ingesting the fat. These hormones signal the pancreas to release insulin to help clear the blood of sugar. The researchers discovered these hormones’ responses to carbohydrates are blunted after ingesting the fat beverage
The latest marketing campaigns from fast-food giants should be placed in context with the larger push in America to provide “fine-dining” experiences on a budget. Most “well-to-do” restaurants also provide coffee as an accompaniment to dessert, after serving high fat and sugar meals to patrons. The caramel mocha frappe that is served at McDonalds through their McCafe promotion is a way to provide a similar luxury on-the-go. The only difference is McDonalds uses known chemical irritants like high fructose corn syrup and aspartame in their drinks to cut costs and expensive restaurants usually don’t.
Let’s continue to keep in mind the system is broken, and the food industry in America is in the market to make as much money regardless of the health of it’s customers. This story is not ground-breaking, just a stark reminder of how the whole system of food and nutrition needs an overhaul and separation from economic interests.
