Fiber is one promising compound that has been demonstrated to alleviate metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. These conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels.

Researchers found that the yeast that had an overactive influx of glucose caused the Ras proteins to activate too much, which would then allow the cells to grow at an accelerated rate.  Our research reveals how the hyperactive sugar consumption of cancerous cells leads to a vicious cycle of continued stimulation of cancer development and growth,” said researcher Johan Thevelein from KU Leuven in Belgium.

Defective Ras signaling has been cited as a contributing factor to many other human illnesses, including diabetes and immunological and inflammatory disorders.

Over consumption of sugar affects the following organs more than others: biliary tract, lungs, colon, pancreas, prostate and skin.

A good whole food, low glycemic load diet has about a 1:1 sugar to fiber ratio.  The current U.S. average is about 12:1.  This is the result of both adding sugar to just about all manufactured foods and the removal of fiber during processing.  The 1:1 ratio in a whole food diet comes from about 50 grams of natural sugars per day and about 45 grams of natural fiber.  The average daily intake of fiber in the U.S. is about 12-15 grams, while the average sugar intake is 180-220 grams.  The U.S. fiber intake doesn’t look that bad in light of the currently recommended amount of 14-15 grams.  This is the disconnect between current research and typical policy and recommendations.

Sugar to fiber ration when consuming simply the natural carbohydrate with no added sugar use the table below.

Fruits              Vegetables                Grains

Natural sugar                       5-12 gms       0.5-1gms                   0.5-1gms

Fiber                                   1-3 gms          2-4 gms                    2-4gms

Sugar to fiber ratio               1.5-10 to 1     0.1-0.5 to 1                0.1-0.5 to 1

The cupcake has a sugar to fiber ratio of greater than 18 to 1, while the cereal bar is greater than 19 to 1.  Both list the fiber as less than one gram so could be 0.1 grams, or it could be 0.5 grams.  These are on the order of 30 to 180 times higher than it would be without added sugar and with all of the natural fiber not refined out!