Does Fructose Make You Fatter?

[n2doc]

High-fructose corn syrup is a sweetener used in many processed foods ranging from sodas to baked goods. While the ingredient is cheaper and sweeter than regular sugar, new research suggests that it can also make you fatter.

In a small study, Texas researchers showed that the body converts fructose to body fat with “surprising speed,'’ said Elizabeth Parks, associate professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. The study, which appears in The Journal of Nutrition, shows how glucose and fructose, which are forms of sugar, are metabolized differently.

In humans, triglycerides, which are a type of fat in the blood, are mostly formed in the liver. Dr. Parks said the liver acts like “a traffic cop” who coordinates how the body uses dietary sugars. When the liver encounters glucose, it decides whether the body needs to store it, burn it for energy or turn it into triglycerides.

But when fructose enters the body, it bypasses the process and ends up being quickly converted to body fat.

“It’s basically sneaking into the rock concert through the fence,” Dr. Parks said. “It’s a less-controlled movement of fructose through these pathways that causes it to contribute to greater triglyceride synthesis. The bottom line of this study is that fructose very quickly gets made into fat in the body.”

more:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/does-fructose-make-you-fatter/index.html

[truedelphi]

1. Back in the 80's, When the corn lobby was first allowed to use their corn syrup

"Fructose" in products from bread and muffins to jams, jellies, soda pop etc., many nutritionists testified before Congress that our nation would suffer an epidemic of diabetes and obesity.

Which is exactly what is occurring.

But ain't it better that we all have diabetes and are fat than for us to extend money to Cuba and its COmmunist sugar cane??

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. Doesn't surprise me a bit.

There is an obvious correlation between the onset of the obesity epidemic and the introduction of HFCS into practically everything @ 25 years ago.

I've made a deliberate effort to cut HFCS from my diet, but it's not easy. It's in almost all processed food, including crunchy salty such as chips and crackers where you wouldn't think there is any sugar in the first place. Takes a lot of label checking to find things that are made with just plain sugar.

[tbyg52]

4. You can't hardly even get *bread* without the stuff! nt

[hedgehog]

6. Not to mention spaghetti sauces!

[Mabus]

9. I'm not working right now

and so I have time to cook from scratch. That's helped us cut way back on hidden sugars and salt. It really does make so much of a difference. My stepdaughter is visiting us. She asked what brand of tortilla chips we had because she loved them. I told her that I got some masa harina and made them from scratch. She thought they were the best she ever had.

Like you, I checked labels for a while and then I gave up. One day, I was standing in the store aisle, reading labels and being disappointed when I realized that I could make most of the stuff that we liked and that it would probably be healthier. At first, it seemed more expensive - not to mention time consuming - but I think that the food I'm making is overall more nutritious and we seem to be more sated with smaller quantities. My other bitch is that cooking/baking from scratch eats up some of my DU time.

[DailyGrind51]

3. Any sugar (substance with the "ose" suffix) not used immediately

for energy, is broken down into the simplest sugar, glucose, converted, and stored in the fat cells as glycogen until needed for energy. Ever hear the old cliche, "seconds on the lips, years on the hips"?

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. That's the HFCS producers' argument -

The article refutes it. HFCS is processed DIFFERENTLY than other sugars.

Ever see a cookbook from the turn of the last century? Betty Crocker @ 1910? They used TONS of sugar in all their recipes - often double what is used in modern cooking. But we got through 4/5 of the 20th century without an obesity epidemic.

Why is that?

[DailyGrind51]

18. They used to have bacon and eggs for breakfast back then too,

until they found out about the dangers of high cholesterol. Children did not reach sexual maturity so early either. I guess the "that was then, this is now" argument applies? :shrug:

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. Please, read what I said.

They used double the fucking sugar we do today with NO ILL EFFECTS. We switch to HFCS and within 20 years 1 person in 20 is diabetic.

High Fuctose Corn Syrup is POISON.

[salvorhardin]

20. I don't think it's that simple

After all, our forebearers didn't consume most of their calories in the form of sweet drinks either.

Preliminary Data Suggest That Soda And Sweet Drinks Are The Main Source Of Calories In American Diet

ScienceDaily (May 27, 2005) — Tufts researchers recently reported that while the leading source of calories in the average American diet used to be from white bread, that may have changed. Now, according to preliminary research conducted by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Americans are drinking these calories instead. The research was presented in abstract form at the Experimental Biology Conference in April of this year and a more comprehensive paper is being developed.

Odilia Bermudez, PhD, MPH, studied the reported diets of a large nationwide sample of American adults. Among respondents to the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), more than two thirds reported drinking enough soda and/or sweet drinks to provide them with a greater proportion of daily calories than any other food. In addition, obesity rates were higher among these sweet drink consumers. Consumers of 100% orange juice and low fat milk, on the other hand, tended to be less overweight, on average.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050527111920.htm

One needs to consider activity levels, sleep patterns (since sleep deprivation has been found to lead to obesity) and myriad other factors. There's just no way of telling right now whether the predominant use of HFCS is coincident or causal with the obesity epidemic. There is also the view that there is no obesity epidemic, rather like the autism epidemic it is one created by redefining the definition of obesity and a change in cultural attitudes.

[DailyGrind51]

21. Sugar is sugar, there really is no difference, except for the complexity.

Polysaccharides take longer to break down than monosaccharides. ALL sugars are hard on the pancreas, no matter how complex or simple.

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. Wrong. That is exactly what the article and the experiment were about -

finding evidence that "sugar is NOT sugar". Not all sugars metabolize the same way. This article is evidence that what the producers have been saying, and you are saying, is wrong.

Or do you have contrary evidence? Evidence that the testing was flawed in some way?

[hvn_nbr_2]

22. So these stupid researchers did a useless study that you already knew the answer to...

and what's more, they got the wrong answer because you already knew there can't be any difference.

[applegrove]

5. I don't doubt that. I eat alot of processed food and have gained quite

a bit of weight over the last 18 years. Some of it is meds. But some of it is my diet. Time to change that.

[fasttense]

7. I cook a lot of my own foods.

And grow a lot of our own vegetables. I find that anything cooked from scratch has a lot less calories than boughten pre-made products, even hamburgers and cookies. I still have a slight weight problem. It maybe that I quit smoking four months ago.

[Skink]

10. I say use it all in fuel until electric cars are available.

[prole_for_peace]

11. a recent LTTE in my local paper defended HFCS

and SURPRISE it was written by a member of the Corn Refiners Association!!!!

"The Sunday article headlined, “Jason’s Deli test kitchen team creating the tastes of tomorrow,” may mislead consumers about high fructose corn syrup.
High fructose corn syrup, sugar and several fruit juices all contain the same simple sugars.
New research continues to confirm that high fructose corn syrup is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like sugar and honey.
High fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as sugar. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted high fructose corn syrup “Generally Recognized as Safe” status for use in food, and reaffirmed that ruling in 1996 after thorough review.
High fructose corn syrup offers numerous benefits, too. It keeps foods fresh. It enhances fruit and spice flavors. It retains moisture in bran cereals and helps keep breakfast bars moist.
Consumers can see the latest research and learn more at www. HFCSfacts.com


AUDRAE ERICKSON
President
Corn Refiners Association
Washington, D.C."

[BuddhaGirl]

12. that letter was in my local paper recently too!!

:mad: nasty bit of propaganda for sure!

[prole_for_peace]

16. I just wrote a quick and dirty LTTE reply

"Audrae Erickson's letter of July 11th took exception to an article detailing Jason's Deli decision to move from using high fructose corn syrup. Apparently, according to this letter, HFCS is healthy and natural. But what else would the "President of the Corn Refiners Association" say. Well I take exception to this claim. HFCS is not all natural. It is entirely man-made and has caused liver and heart damage in laboratory rats. There is also preliminary evidence it is carcinogenic. As to the claim that HFCS is an “all-natural ingredient” because it is made from corn and fructose is the sugar naturally occurring in fruit? Well, wine and isopropyl alcohol both contain alcohol. However, the rubbing stuff for cotton balls should never go in your wineglass. And, as to its "healthiness"; regular sugars (glucose) an be metabolized by every cell in the body but fructose is metabolized by the liver which ends up releasing triglycerides into your bloodstream and generally has trouble dealing with this unknown substance. In short, because our bodies have absolutely no way of understanding this highly engineered substance…they convert it into storage material and chuck it away…hence we are fattened up. I encourage all readers to do their own research into food additives and not just to accept what producers and even our on FDA and USDA say on the matter."

unfortunately we are limited to 250 words.

[BuddhaGirl]

17. great letter!

good for you :-) :thumbsup:

[tech3149]

13. purely anecdotal, but I've not had any processed foods or soda

in the last five years. My weight is down to what it was when I got out of HS. I don't work out or do any serious amount of physical work, in fact I do less than I did when I was working. I enjoy a high level of fatty foods, eggs, and meat, so I'd say that my situation indicates that avoiding HFCS is a most healthy choice. I don't think that's too bad for a 55 y/o.

As a side note, I don't think dieting to control weight variations is very productive. If your body doesn't feel it's getting the right nutrition in a timely fashion it will convert whatever caloric intake it gets and convert it to fat for long term storage. I will admit that I never had a weight problem but only a slight gain over years and I didn't pay much attention to the content of the food I ate during that time.

[TechBear_Seattle]

14. When buying processed food, I always get organic

I'm not so concerned about fresh foods, but for processed foods like chips, cookies, etc., I have a strong preference for organics. They rarely use tropical oils or HFCS.

[Jim__]

15. "...dieters shouldn’t eliminate fruit from their diets."

We shouldn't eliminate fruit from our diets? Should we cut back on it? I eat lots of fruit, and I've lost a lot of weight over the last 5 years or so while using fresh fruit for snacks. I'm not sure what this article is recommending we do.