Report: High-Fructose Corn Syrup Not Solely Responsible For Obesity Epidemic

[DainBramaged]

From the study (High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Separating Facts from Myths) Executive Summary:

"Since the 1970s, the use of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the U.S. food supply has increased dramatically — typically as a replacement for sucrose (table sugar) in soft drinks and many food products. The prevalence of obesity has also increased substantially between the 1970s and the early 2000s. Because of this coincidental timing, HFCS has been erroneously demon-ized as a unique cause of the obesity epidemic in the United States.

Sucrose and HFCS have essentially the same composition, and thus it would be highly unlikely for them to have different effects on body weight or metabolism. Experimental evidence, as well as analyses of epidemiologic data, indicate that sucrose and HFCS have equivalent effects on food intake and therefore on body weight. Scientific evidence does not support the notion that HFCS is uniquely responsible for the American obesity epidemic."

http://www.scribd.com/doc/119477304/High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup-Separating-Facts-from-Myths?elq=ace44f68ca414f35a0bf71817fef22f3&elqCampaignId=111


This from the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), primarily funded by the petroleum, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Industry friendly, full of shit.

[Capt. Obvious]

1. Study shows poor eating and lack of exercise to be contributing factors.

[Berlum]

2. No thanks. Don't want no stinkin GMO-corn sugar goop in me.

As an American citizen, I have a right to know what's in my food, and to refuse crap even if some "Campaign" tries to convince me that crap is ok.

[FarCenter]

28. Drought resistance genes have been engineered into sugar cane.

[Berlum]

49. Alzhiemers, MS and Parkinsons disease rates have skyrocketed

[FarCenter]

50. Possibly due to aluminum

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9119528/Is-aluminium-really-a-silent-killer.html

More likely than anything related to GMO.

Geographical associations between aluminium in drinking water and death rates with dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Norway

Comparisons of maps and correlation and regression analysis indicate a geographical association between aluminium (Al) in drinking water and registered death rates with dementia (coded from death certificates as the underlying or a contributory cause of death) in Norway. High levels of Al in drinking water are in most cases related to acid precipitation. In general, correlations between aggregate environmental measurements and mortality are a weak source of evidence for risk factors for disease, however, and interpretations regarding cause-and-effect relationships should therefore be made with great care. The major uncertainty probably relates to the use of registered death rates with dementia as a measure of incidence rates of Alzheimer's disease. The dementia rates are correlated with population density, and it is possible that the association between AI and dementia might be due to differences in diagnosis and reporting of dementia. Thus, the present study can only be regarded as introductory, and further epidemiological studies are needed to help elucidate the role of AI in Alzheimer's disease. The results provide little evidence of an association between AI in drinking water and Parkinson's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01734064

[Berlum]

51. rates starting climbing when GMOs occultly foisted on the world

Caveat Emptor. You can eat all the GMOs if you want - glug them down in HFCS if you choose. That's your right.

But no one -- no person and no multinational corp -- has the right to occultly foist this mystery mutant crap on anyone else without their knowledge and consent.

[etherealtruth]

3. I highly doubt there is a singular answer

The epidemic is complex.

Poor food choices, poor selections (try grocery shopping in many inner city or rural areas), the availability of cheap (albeit filling) processed food, the infiltration of hormones (and other contaminants) into our water supply ...

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Really appreciate your noting who wrote that study.

Saves us from having to figure it out....

[ananda]

5. HFCU should be avoided at all costs.

Period. It really can't be demonized enough.

However, I'm sure there are also other factors contributing to obesity,
such as stress, lack of exercise, carb excess, processed foods, and
supersized meals.

[Pisces]

20. We have a winner!!!

[Major Nikon]

6. Not full of shit

The idea that HFCS is different in its effects on the body compared to table sugar (sucrose) has been soundly debunked.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588

If anyone tells you that you can switch from HFCS to sucrose without reducing your sugar intake and be more healthy, they are "full of shit".

[DainBramaged]

7. The people who did this 'study' are industry mouthpieces

and no matter how much you disagree, they are and always will be full of shit.



PS

Obesity leads to diabetes, sugar in all forms is bad in excess, we know that, but I believe the food industry as a whole is primarily responsible for this epidemic.

Super size me, a great great documentary, is way better to study than any shit these industry pigs spew.

http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/63283

[Major Nikon]

10. So you're pinning all your hopes on ad hominem, and then reference a one sided "documentary"?

You referenced a "documentary" which only casually mentions HFCS and was authored by someone who intentionally consumed 5,000 calories per day and didn't exercise. Who could have possibly guessed a poor outcome there? There's nothing scientific about what you referenced. I'm not disputing that if you stuff your face with high caloric shit and don't exercise you can expect shitty health, so this seems more than just a bit disingenuous.

I just referenced a dietician from the Mayo clinic who has been with the Mayo clinic for over 34 years who says the same thing. Is the Mayo clinic an industry mouthpiece that is full of shit? Yes or no. If you can't argue logically and are intent on completely ignoring reasonable counter arguments, then you are incapable of having a reasonable discussion on this issue.

Just sayin'

[DainBramaged]

15. I'm too sexy for my food, too sexy for my food.......

When I eliminated most of the HFCS from my diet I dropped 16 pounds in three weeks, and I walk nearly five FIVE miles a day on the campus I work on going between buildings.


Don't tell me HFCS aren't responsible, along with an industry that forces bad choices on it's customers.


Have a nice day


http://www.celestialhealing.net/Food_contain_HFCS.htm

[Major Nikon]

21. Diet and exercise. Who would have guessed that would have worked?

I never claimed HFCS was good for you, so if that is the argument you are countering, you have a pretty good Strawman, but not much else. The USDA recommends no more than 40 grams of supplemental sugar per day from all sources based on a 2000 calorie per day diet. If you are outside those limits, you can expect negative consequences. Nobody is forcing anyone to shove anything down their gullet. Nutritional information is posted on just about all processed food and provides valuable information that people ignore at their own peril.

This is what the article you referenced says:

Experimental evidence, as well as analyses of epidemiologic data,indicate that sucrose and HFCS have equivalent effects on food intake and therefore on body weight. Scientific evidence does not support the notion that HFCS is uniquely responsible for the American obesity epidemic.

There is nothing about this which isn't true. If you want to hear the same thing from different sources, be my guest:

Based on the currently available evidence, the expert panel concluded that HFCS does not appear to contribute to overweight and obesity any differently than do other energy sources.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17653981

The data presented indicated that HFCS is very similar to sucrose, being about 55% fructose and 45% glucose, and thus, not surprisingly, few metabolic differences were found comparing HFCS and sucrose.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19064535

[DainBramaged]

22. Holy shit do you think we are stupid?

Jesus lighten up with your crap, we KNOW KNOW KNOW too much of ANYTHING especially sugar in any form is no good for you.


You wanted to be the sugar expert, you accomplished it.


Go defend another industry elsewhere

[Major Nikon]

25. Stupid is as stupid does

You posted that diet and exercise caused you to lose weight. I wouldn't exactly characterize that as new information. People have known this for thousands of years.

As I said, if you want to argue rationally, ignoring relevant points does not enhance your credibility. Dismissing this as industry defending when I clearly posted unbiased sources is of little more value than drunken gibberish. I also don't take my marching orders from you and will post on what I like when I like the same as you.

Cheers!

[DainBramaged]

30. No I didn't write that damn it, you're simply SEEING what you want it to read

I WALK upwards of 5 miles a day at work, until I stopped with HFCS consumption I didn't lose weight


Go argue with someone who gives a shit, this thread is about a report by an industry hack organization, not your ability to use the Google. Or your sdtupid fucking comment accusing me of being drunk

Bye.

[Major Nikon]

32. Here's what you did write via DU mail...

DainBramaged

Go fuck yourself

The entire point of starting a discussion thread is discussion. If you just want people to agree with you, I suggest you try something else.

For the record, I didn't call you stupid or drunk. Your own words speak for themselves.

Just sayin'

[loli phabay]

42. this is par for the course for this poster, its better yo just read and smile

Than to try to engage. Science is not their strongpoint or manners.

[Major Nikon]

57. Agreed

He/she promised to put me on their ignore list. Somehow I think I can stand being thrown into that briar patch.

DainBramaged

Time to go on the ignore list

Post that asshole

[DainBramaged]

43. And you calling me a drunk is appropriate?

I didn't post this thread for agreement I posted it for information, you can cry all you want but the fact is you came here to try and disrupt the thread and you think we don't notice?




Dismissing this as industry defending when I clearly posted unbiased sources is of little more value than drunken gibberish

Oh really?

Go bother someone who gives a shit.


And my response was

> Alerted.
>


Good, you want to call me a drunk, thats my response, maybe I'll ding your reply in my thread.


Alert my ass


Alert my response too


One last comment

I can't remember the last time I alerted on a PM, because that's what they are Personal Messages. If you think bringing that to the table is appropriate, you've convinced me of your intentions from the beginning. MAjor.


I can think of other comments....

[Major Nikon]

55. You LIE!

This is what I posted:

Dismissing this as industry defending when I clearly posted unbiased sources is of little more value than drunken gibberish.

Emphasis added.

[Berlum]

16. Indeed - this is POO - paid corporate SPEW made to look like "science"

Poo sucks it far worse than anything woo.

[Dreamer Tatum]

17. The Dirty Harry School of Medical Research has spoken

Sample of One is all YOU need. You don't need anyone telling YOU how it is. Not the MAYO CLINIC, especially.

Anyone who disagrees with you? Well...they have an AGENDA.

DainBramaged...Sample of One. Go ahead, Science...Make Your Day.

[KittyWampus]

8. It's probably a prime factor in DIABETES too.

[DainBramaged]

9. Absolutely

Six years ago after my last surgery, I needed to find a local endocrinologist. I found one who was just starting her practice, I was her third patient.


Today, she has NO openings for new patients, has three additional doctors in the practice, and 90% of her patient load is diabetic and/or obese patients.


She also brings her dog to work.

I loves her she saved my life.

[Major Nikon]

11. As are all simple carbohydrates

Just sayin'

[Orrex]

13. I CAST YOU OUT!

BEGONE, YOU WRETCHED ADVOCATE FOR SCIENCE LITERACY!

[Orrex]

12. A tanker carrying HFCS crashed near here once

The vile, filthy substance instantly killed everything within 1,000 miles.

That's how evil it is.


Totally true story.

[hedgehog]

14. We can compare HFCS and cane sugar and say they both contain A, B and C,

but obviously they are different substances, suggesting that HFCS also contains D, E and F.

Oatmeal is oatmeal, but steel ground oatmeal is digested more slowly than rolled oats, and rolled oats more slowly than quick cooking oats.

I think there is reason to suspect that HFCS is handled differently in the human body than cane sugar.

There is also the question of whether the introduction of HFCS raised the proportion of simple sugars in the American diet.

[Major Nikon]

26. Both HFCS and cane sugar contain almost exclusively A and B

A being fructose and B being glucose. The proportions to the most commonly used form of HFCS are almost identical.

It may seem to you that the body metabolizes one differently from the other, but there is no solid empirical evidence to suggest as much and most objective experts don't believe it. HFCS is metabolized into fructose and glucose by stomach acid. Sucrose is metabolized into the same components by enzymatic action also in your digestive tract soon after ingestion just like HFCS. Both are introduced into the blood stream as fructose and glucose.

I do believe that HFCS is consumed in larger amounts simply because it is cheaper. The USDA recommends no more than 40g of supplemental sugar based on a 2000 calorie per day diet. The average American consumes 153g of supplemental sugar per day which is nearly 4 times more. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out where the problem is.

[DainBramaged]

31. Mr. Diet expert strikes again

Why do you think this thread is about you???


Oh wait we get it, attention, faux experts trying to interject their personal viewpoint to change the perception of the HFCS industry trying to blame ALL sugars for what they cause.


We get it Mr. expert, we get it.

[Major Nikon]

34. I'm sorry if you find relevant information inconvenient

[DainBramaged]

36. Your attempt to change the dicussion is obvious

Have a nice day alerting

[Major Nikon]

58. You have yet to even discuss your own topic

The OP article posited that HFCS is no worse than sucrose. As yet all you've done is hurl vulgar insults in lieu of anything approaching substantive discussion.

[DainBramaged]

37. Princeton study, keep trying to discredit them

Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."

[Major Nikon]

59. No problem

Complicating things further, the researchers cite a related study of female rats that found no difference in weight gain between animals that consumed HFCS or sugar over an eight-week period.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/03/high-fructose-corn-syrup-hfcs-sugar-princeton-study.html

Detractors point out what they say are even more devastating flaws in the Princeton study, including the decision to examine male and female rats in separate experiments and to attribute significance to statistically indistinguishable weights.

"I'm skeptical," leading food policy scholar Marion Nestle writes in a blog post. "I don't think the study produces convincing evidence of a difference between the effects of HFCS and sucrose on the body weight of rats."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/25/corn.syrup.sugar/index.html

[Sunlei]

18. refined corn sugar and super-refined wheat flours- should be only for hog/beef fattener feed use.

get a label on the super fattening crap as "not for human consumption"

[Pisces]

19. You keep eating the crap. I'll make different food choices when possible. Remember when cigarettes

didn;t cause cancer??

[DainBramaged]

23. Where did I say I am eating this shit?

Reading skills you ain't got none.....

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Of course it isn't; it's not common in the UK, but we have an obesity problem too

In the UK, consumption of HFCS is negligible (0.38kg per person per year), whereas in the US it’s 65 times higher (24.78kg per person per year).

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Research/Research-round-up/Behind-the-headlines/High-fructose-corn-syrup-fuelling-diabetes/

UK: 24.4% of adults are obese
USA: 31.8%

Source: United Nations FAO report: http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3300e/i3300e07.pdf

[FarCenter]

27. And the incidence of Type II diabetes became extremely low during World War II in the UK

[nolabels]

29. The fat part would be my least worry

Pancreatic Cancers Use Fructose, Common in a Western Diet, to Fuel Growth
(snip)
In his study, Heaney and his team took pancreatic tumors from patients and cultured and grew the malignant cells in petri dishes. They then added glucose to one set of cells and fructose to another. Using mass spectrometry, they were able to follow the carbon-labeled sugars in the cells to determine what exactly they were being used for and how.

Heaney found that the pancreatic cancer cells could easily distinguish between glucose and fructose even though they are very similar structurally, and contrary to conventional wisdom, the cancer cells metabolized the sugars in very different ways. In the case of fructose, the pancreatic cancer cells used the sugar in the transketolase-driven non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway to generate nucleic acids, the building blocks of RNA and DNA, which the cancer cells need to divide and proliferate.

“Traditionally, glucose and fructose have been considered as interchangeable monosaccharide substrates that are similarly metabolized, and little attention has been given to sugars other than glucose,” the study states. “However, fructose intake has increased dramatically in recent decades and cellular uptake of glucose and fructose uses distinct transporters ... these findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation. They have major significance for cancer patients, given dietary refined fructose consumption.”
(snip)
http://www.cancer.ucla.edu/index.aspx?recordid=385&page=644

[La Lioness Priyanka]

33. chances are that no one thing is causing obesity

there are likely different forms and different contributors

however i am a big michael pollan fan: eat food, mostly plants, not too much

Where "food" is defined as something your great grandmother would be able to recognize as food and does not come out of boxes and weird science experiments

thats my 2 cents

[loli phabay]

44. cook from scratch, only shop the outside aisles, grow your own

Fish and hunt. Its the only way to ensure that you get half decent food.

[maddezmom]

35. I would agree with this

Diet, excercise and genes all play a role.

[DainBramaged]

38. HFCS is a major contributing factor when diet exercises and genes are left out

Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."



Princeton University

[maddezmom]

39. Do you have a link to the study?

[DainBramaged]

40. Within my new thread on this subject in GD

It is so good to see you...

[maddezmom]

41. Just made a post in it.

: hi:

[duffyduff]

47. This smacks of quackery right out of "Prevention" magazine

Amazing how easily people on this site fall for this garbage.

[duffyduff]

45. There is NO "epidemic" of "obesity," whatever that is.

People naturally get "heavier" as they get older, and there are more people in this country getting older.

Weight gain also has a lot to do with diabetes and hormone changes especially with women in menopause. It has nothing to do with exercise and eating "right."

What I despise is a shallow mentality, common on this website and others, that believes physical appearance is a sign of virtue. It is always aimed at women--never men. Now we have so-called doctors who now call body type a "disease" and are aided and abetted by the fashion industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and the diet industry.

They are all in cahoots to foster a sick mentality that creates far more problems than it solves.

You are not better because you are "thin." You are not healthier because you are "thin." You aren't ANYTHING other than being "thin." You are what you are physically, and nothing will change that. Body type does NOT equal worth, got it?

[AtheistCrusader]

48. I'm male, and I am definitely obese.

But I am getting better. I'm only carrying one sack of concrete mix worth of useless baggage now, instead of two, and I can complete marathons (4 so far!).

60 more lbs, and I'll be within a healthy fat% range, and much happier.

Already my life is better having lost that initial 60lbs. My clothes fit better, I can keep up with my son, I can do all sorts of strenuous activity that used to give me problems.

This is NOT just a body type/body image issue.

[Dash87]

53. There's an epidemic b/c lots of people are obese

As a result, the nation has more health problems which lead to higher healthcare costs. Other countries like Japan don't have this problem. Nations with similar diets, like the UK, have the same problems.

[DainBramaged]

54. This is about food additives, and a cause and effect

If you choose to take offense at the word obese every time it is mention in studies about food additives, that is your personal cross to bear.


There is a middle ground between being a tentpole and a small moon, while its a PROVEN fact that obesity no matter what the cause is much more damaging on the person's health than a moderate body size.

My sister is a perfect example, she STILL eats the wrong food in spite of her health issues and obesity. She hasn't eaten a fresh vegetable in decades.


Have a great day

[Lydia Leftcoast]

63. No epidemic of obesity?

I have my school pictures from the 1950s, Midwestern kids raised on meat and potatoes, whole milk, and mostly canned vegetables. While not all the kids were thin, only one was actually fat.

I blame a combination of poverty (it's cheaper to buy the $1 menu items that all the fast food places have than to cook nutritious food, especially if you've never been taught how--home ec. is a "frill" in the new testing-oriented school systems) and lack of time (if both parents are tired after work, it's easier to order a pizza than to cook) and more time spent in the car than walking.

I inherited the body type of my mother, grandmother, great-aunt, great-grandmother, and all their descendants: pear-shaped with a tendency to put on weight after menopause. However, I am much more physically fit than my mother, who, when she was younger than I am now, could not carry a bag of groceries for six blocks.

[laundry_queen]

46. Key word: "Solely" so in other words "IS partly responsible." nt

[MADem]

52. Not "solely" or even "uniquely responsible"--but they share a big chunk of the blame.

When I was a child, "catsup" or "ketchup" tasted something like this:

Take some unadulturated (i.e. No Shit Added) tomato paste, add enough water to make it the consistency of catsup, toss in maybe a hint of garlic powder, a little oregano, if that's your thing, and a bit of salt. Then throw that on a burger (it will have to be organic -- even a soyburger tastes more like an old school burger than the tasteless stuff of today) and be transported back in time.

Nowadays, you have to read every label, and catsup companies are starting to charge MORE for "No HFCS" product--what nerve.

If you have a skinny, sick person and you want to put some weight on them, HFCS is the way to go.

[lunasun]

56. If you have a skinny, sick person and you want to put some weight on them, HFCS is the way to go.

No ill person should have mass GMOs and eating high sugar would make almost all illnesses worse I would think.

[MADem]

62. I'm talking pure calories, not long term nutrition.

ENSURE is loaded with that shit...and that's what they give old folks who can't/won't eat. It puts meat on their bones for purposes of having something for their metabolisms to burn.

[lunasun]

67. Ensure is primarily made with ingredients that are definitely not about long term health

The top two ingredients in Ensure are almost identical to the top two ingredients in soft drinks! With some GMO soy protein and GMo corn oil added and yet the front label claims, 'No.1 Doctor-recommended!'

It wasn't too long ago that doctors were actually being paid to promote cigarettes in ads .. Seems with enough money, you can get doctors to recommend just about anything, no matter how bad it is for your health

As far as giving it to old folks I agree with comment in post #51

[MADem]

72. And that's why it should never be used for any great length of time.

It does, however, have real utility if you have an older person in hospital, weighing ninety pounds, needing to weigh at least 110, who cannot eat for whatever reason--lack of appetite, inability to taste, what-have-you. That crap got a friend of mine "over the hump" until she was able to eat again. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't in serious need of caloric intake and who is able to eat real, good food.

[hankthecrank]

60. Thanks for this info

Just saying the other day about ketchup tastes bad

[MADem]

61. We always make our own--kicking it old school! nt

[hankthecrank]

64. I still travel allot for work

Can't make stuff myself but it nice to able to do it when I do get home

Plus on the two discussions was able to add to my ignore list so it's a plus

[MADem]

65. If you're "on the road" you can buy tomato paste in a tube, like toothpaste....

you can mix it up in your hotel room! I think the brand is "Amore" that is most popular in USA.

[Major Nikon]

66. You still don't get it do you?

Wait for it to disappear...

DainBramaged (38,620 posts)
30. You still don't get it do you?

Go preach to someone else. As a person who occasionally likes a 3Musketeers or Oreo, don't try to push your brand of purity on me or anyone else.


Meh x 3

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3047009

[markiv]

68. sugared vs fructose soda and drinks is splitting hairs

if you're drinking 460 calories in a 32oz, it really doesnt matter where those calories came from

[DainBramaged]

69. Well thanks for that brilliant revelation

We will make a note of it and remember calories are calories whether empty or yummy.


PS

I think we all understand that anyway.....

[markiv]

70. no, i dont think people do

or this topic wouldnt have been posted

[DainBramaged]

71. This OP was done for one reason, to expose the attempt to deflect the attention HFCS is getting

yet few if any of you reading this thread understand the people who put out this bit of information the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) are bought and paid for by industry to put out positive spin on bad press.


It isn't about calories, I'm sorry you didn't get that point. many others didn't either.