What Drives Obesity - Diets High in Fat? Carbohydrates? Actually, It's Everything - and Fructose Is at the Center

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A new study led by CU Anschutz researcher Richard Johnson, MD, unifies a number of hypotheses behind the dietary cause of obesity that once seemed incompatible
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Written by Kelsea Pieters on October 17, 2023

Nutrition experts have recognized for many years that Western diets rich in fats and sugar may be behind the cause of obesity, but debate has reigned over the primary culprit - intake of too many calories? Specific foods such as carbohydrates or fat? This has led to some groups recommending reducing sugar, some reducing carb intake, while others believe the key is reducing high fat-foods.

A paper published today in the research journal Obesity suggests these theories are not incompatible with each other, and that they can all be brought together in one unified pathway that centers around one true driver: fructose.

According to Richard Johnson, MD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus researcher, and his colleagues, the primary problem in obesity is fructose, which is present in table sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Fructose can also be made in the body from carbohydrates (particularly glucose). When fructose is metabolized, it lowers the active energy in the body (known as ATP, or adenosine triphosphate) which causes hunger and food intake.

(More at link)

https://news.cuanschutz.edu/news-stories/what-drives-obesity-diets-high-in-fat-carbohydrates-actually-its-everything-and-fructose-is-at-the-center