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The winners of MOUSE SURVIVOR don’t eat added sugar

In a mouse eat mouse world – to make it, a mouse needs to be tenacious, strong as a lion & tough as nails. It is all about survival of the fittest…

It is a dog eat dog world – to make it, you need to be tenacious, strong as a lion & tough as nails. The TOP DOG ! Ok, ok……. it is great to be the TOP DOG, but only the genetically gifted, make it to the VERY TOP. Most of us have to settle for somewhere near the TOP.

The objective is to be ahead of the pack. It is all about SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.

So what does it take to SURVIVE ?

Suriving on the island

Researchers from the University of Utah created “Mouse Survivor”. Instead of placing genetically identical lab mice in a warm cosy cage, they took genetically different wild mice and put them in a big room with “mouse barns”. The barn was divided into six distinct “territories” – separated from each other with wire mesh. Each territory had a nest box, a feeding station and drinking water. Not all territories within the barn were “optimal” – 4 were nice and cosy, 2 were so-so. .

Meet the contestants

Each rendition of “Mouse Survivor” kicked off with 26 mice : 8-10 males, competing for 6 territories and 14-18 females.

The game commenced once the animals had been weaned at 4 weeks old.

For 26 weeks, the mice lived in either the girls dorm or the boys dorm, while they “grew up”, for the contest. During the 26 week period the mice were fed a diet of standard mouse chow, with a little extra, not enough to make them fat, just enough to change the composition of their dinner.

• For half of the mice, the little extra came in the form of added sugar.
• The other half, got their extra calories in, as corn-starch

At 30 weeks of age – the mice were dropped off at “Mouse Survivor island”.

Let the games begin….

The 32 week long contest ordeal, was on…

The dining arrangements on the island, left all the mice eating the same added sugar diet. The team monitored what happened “in the mouse barn”, by keeping tabs with the help of a little technology. Each mouse had a microchip implanted.

NOTE : The two groups of animals did not look different at the start of the contest. None of the mice were FAT !

Winning the territory and the girl

The wimps ended up being the males eating the added sugar diet.

The added sugar mice, struggled to win territory and they fathered significantly less pups, but there was no difference in the death rate among the males.

It was pretty high – life is tough in the REAL WORLD.

Girl gossip

The sugar added ladies turned in a mixed performance. Initially, the sugar girls got pregnant first, appearing to be better suited for the trials and tribulations of pregnancy. But, despite falling pregnant quicker, motherhood proved more elusive. Final stats showed they had lower reproductive rates.

But more concerning was the higher death rate.

At the end of the 32 weeks, 35 % of the females on the extra sugar diet, had died. This figure was double that seen in the control mice, the control group recorded a 17 % death rate.

Sugar is not adding to life

In mice at least, composing the daily calorie intake, so that 25 % of the calories come from sugar, is detrimental to health and vigour.

What about humans ?

Well it is pretty reasonable to assume what applies to mice, more than likely applies to men. After all, house mice have been eating what we eat for the last 10 000 years or so. And lots of “men” are consuming lots of sugar.

The dose of sugar used in this study, would be considered pretty normal and fall within official recommendations. It amounts to three sugar-laden cold drinks, remember fruit juice is also a sugar laden beverage, with an otherwise healthy meal plan.

Want to be among the FITTEST ?

The message is clear…………… being the fittest, requires cutting back on the sugar.

Further reading