Fructose metabolism by the brain increases food intake and obesity

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=191095&mesg_id=191095
(Cross-posting)

Public release date: 25-Mar-2009

Contact: Adriaan Klinkenberg
[e-mail]
31-204-852-456
Elsevier

Fructose metabolism by the brain increases food intake and obesity

Increase in consumption of high fructose sweeteners raises concerns

Amsterdam, 25 March 2009 - The journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ybbrc) (BBRC), published by Elsevier, will publish an important review this week online, by M. Daniel Lane and colleagues at Johns Hopkins, building on the suggested link between the consumption of fructose and increased food intake, which may contribute to a high incidence of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Over the past four decades life-styles have gravitated toward the excessive consumption of 'high energy' foods and sedentary behavior that has resulted in a high incidence of obesity and its pathological consequences. This scenario has led to the increased occurrence of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. At present, approximately thirty percent of adult Americans can be classified as obese. Moreover, these changes now extend into the younger age group.

M. Daniel Lane and co-workers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore have now pulled together work, largely in their laboratory (many papers beginning in 2000), dealing with the role of malonyl-CoA in the signaling system in the brain (specifically the hypothalamus) that has inputs into the higher brain centers that determine feeding behavior, most notably appetite. Two papers in the journal PNAS in 2007 and 2008 showed that glucose and fructose act quite differently in the brain (hypothalamus) - glucose decreasing food intake and fructose increasing food intake. Both of these sugars signal in the brain through the malonyl-CoA signaling pathway and have inverse effects on food intake.

Lane commented: "We feel that these findings may have particular relevance to the massive increase in the use of high fructose sweeteners (both high fructose corn syrup and table sugar) in virtually all sweetened foods, most notably soft drinks. The per capita consumption of these sweeteners in the USA is about 145 lbs/year and is probably much higher in teenagers/youth that have a high level of consumption of soft drinks. There is a large literature now that correlates, but does not prove that a culprit in the rise of teenage obesity may be fructose."

…

[Scout]

1. that's what my body told me ... i had to give up pop and diet pop

entirely. Too much HFCS in the real pop, and the diet pop just made me want MORE pop.

Trying to eliminate HFCS from your diet is extremely difficult ... you have to make all your food and beverages from scratch.

[tridim]

2. It's hard to eliminate it, but not so hard to cut down significantly.

The obvious first step is to eliminate all beverages with HFCS. I used to drink a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper every week. Now I have soda only as a rare treat, maybe once a month.

[Lorien]

9. It's actually easy to eliminate it if you don't eat a lot of processed stuff

I have hypoglycemia so I was forced to completely eliminate it from my diet. I feel a lot healthier now, and I save a lot of money by buying whole foods instead of heavily processed foods. It really doesn't take much more time to cook it either; George Foreman grills, the Rocket grill, microwaving brown rice in a glass container-there are all sorts of ways to eat healthy foods fast these days. I think we're all just conditioned to believe that the stuff with layers and layers of packaging is somehow the "best", but it's not. I lost at least 15 pounds by getting off HFCS.

[hedgehog]

13. Give me details on how you cook your brown rice - I'm having trouble

cooking mine.

[Lorien]

36. Here's a good primer:

http://happyburp.blogspot.com/2006/05/cooking-rice-in-microwave-oven.html

I also like to steam veggies in a little covered bowl filled with about 1/2 inch of water.Just zap until the veggies look steamed through, then toss with the rice. Fast food with none of the bad stuff!

On edit: I do microwave my rice covered in one of these: http://www.foodnetworkstore.com/p-143702-0%20232-Anchor-Hocking_Anchor-Hocking-Glass-Refrigerator-Storage-Container.aspx seems to cook it evenly all the way through.

[Overseas]

52. In a pressure cooker

My brown rice doesn't come out perfect every time, but it freezes well and can be used to augment lots of other dishes, from soups to salads to stir fries. I think it is useful to make a large batch and then use it in different dishes throughout the week.

I sautee some onions in the pan, or add some already-diced onions to the pan.

Then use vegetable or chicken stock as the water in which to cook the rice. That adds lots of flavor. Many rice packages advise me to use enough water to cover the rice by a half-inch, so I usually do that. But I've often used more than that, to about one-inch of stock above the rice.

I sometimes slice a clove or two of garlic into the mixture.

I think I set the pressure cooker to go for 20 minutes. Then I look at it and see what I need to do next.

If I have used too much water, then the rice seems a little slushy, but the brown rice shell keeps it from becoming a blob of glue. Just need to cook off the excess liquid after stirring the rice a bit. Or sometimes just to stir it and let the bit of extra moisture evaporate off.

If I have used too little water, the bottom of the rice gets browned and tastes a bit like a rice cracker and takes more elbow grease to clean the pan later.

The rice freezes well, so some can be saved for later dishes. Otherwise, the rice can be used in different recipes throughout the week. I loved tossing brown rice into my non-sweet cabbage salads.

Long ago I used to cook up big pressure pots of beans & rice together. I think I followed instructions for pressure-cooking the beans as my primary guide. Used basic spicing like lots of garlic and some cumin for some beans, like kidney or black beans. Could have used Italian spicing when using the white beans. I think I tossed some of the leftovers of the beans and rice into my salads too.

A cafe in Tokyo had a "dry curry" recipe that was great. They sprinkled curry powder onto a fried brown rice dish. Brown rice and diced leftovers stir fried with whatever oil you like, sprinkling curry powder during the stir-fry process. (If you don't have a bunch of leftovers, diced frozen veg could be tossed in with some tofu. The curry powder adds a lot of flavor.)

[Blackhatjack]

4. I switched to 'flavored' seltzer water and noticed immediate benefits .....

Having consumed huge amounts of soft drinks most of my life, I switched to 'flavored' seltzer water and noticed immediate benefits of weight loss and lower junk food cravings.

Once off the high fructose corn syrup in soft drinks I noticed a reduction in the urge to 'snack' between meals, and got an immediate weight loss.

It is not a 'cure' which supplants the need for proper diet and exercise.

But it has provided a pathway for getting off high fructose corn syrup, which has huge negative health implications for the population.

[bdamomma]

12. flavored seltzer water, thanks for the tip.

[chatnoir]

20. I also switched to flavored seltzer

It was difficult at first - the more diet soda you drink it seems the more you want. I drank it more for the caffeine kick, to be honest, but I can't believe how long it took me to switch to the flavored mineral/seltzer water - lime, orange, lemon. It's fabulous and I swear by the stuff now.

I noticed FAR less food cravings off the diet soda and I never realized how much appetite increase they did cause me. I'm fuller for longer and don't feel the need to snack to keep the hunger pangs at bay the way I used to.

A few weeks back I grabbed a Pepsi Max on the road for the caffeine and within 10-15 mins of starting to drink it felt absolutely FAMISHED. And I was positively solidly full before.

I've avoided HFCS for yrs...

[OnyxCollie]

31. Does that "flavored" seltzer water have aspartame?

That's worse than high fructose corn syrup, IMO.

[ladywnch]

57. no sweetner at all in the stuff I drink. I can't stand the sweetened seltzer now.

[Kalyke]

60. What a beautiful dog!

Sorry - OT. :)

[OnyxCollie]

65. Thanks.

That's my dog, Dante. He's one of the four in our pack that includes his daughter, Rose, his brother Duck-Duck, and Lia (no relation).

[Blackhatjack]

72. No. The flavoring is without any sweetener at all .... and tastes great.

I get headaches with aspartame, and so far have not tried sucralose(Splenda).

I will say, that on occasion I will drink a soft drink when eating out --and the hfcs is overpowering.

Also, if I have a choice between soft drinks I would always choose those made with pure cane sugar --which are usually manufactured outside the US(ie. Mexico). When I was in the Dominican Republic they sold 20 oz 7ups (in glass bottles) made from pure cane sugar. The sugar cane based soft drinks create a totally different taste than those manufactured in the US.

[OnyxCollie]

75. I have seen glass bottles of 7Up at stores here

that, to my surprise, contained sugar.

Not that I need to drink 7Up, sugar or not.

[Sebastian Doyle]

82. Probably Mexican imports, like the Coca Cola

7 up is absolutely undrinkable with HFCS. Lemon-Lime-Corn just ain't a good combination. So if I ever see a case of real 7 up in glass bottles, I'd definitely buy it.

My cynical side says that these products aren't as authentically "Mexican" as they seem though. The import Coke is bottled in Mexicali, which is a border town. Which leads me to believe that facility was built there specifically for that purpose, producing Coca Cola for the US market. Meanwhile Coca Cola in Atlanta continues to pump out the inferior shit 24/7. Except for that brief window around this time of the year when they put out a batch of the real stuff and market it to the Jewish neighborhoods as "Kosher Coke".

Well, I'm neither Mexican or Jewish, but I believe Coke, 7 Up, and even that godawful Pepsi shit should be available with real sugar 365 days a year, on this side of the border, without having to pay twice as much for an alleged "import".

[OnyxCollie]

134. A Mexican import is likely.

I looked at the bottle today. It read, "Bottled under the authority of 7Up Bottling Co., Plano, TX."

[truedelphi]

80. i get ill from aspartame also, and Splenda doesn't cause me illness

But I have read some testimonies of people who say that Splenda affects yr personality = you become irritable if you are using it every day.

Just have it occassionally

[rucky]

88. I mix unflavored with Angostura Bitters.

or fruit juice sometimes

there's my pop

[silverojo]

111. I used to drink pop all the time

I decided one day that I wanted to have the privilege of at least chewing the calories I consumed, so I decided to quit.

I started drinking ice water, and have done so ever since. 23 years and counting, I've been soft drink free! :)

[ginnyinWI]

14. I notice a difference between aspartame and sucalose

Aspartame (Nutrasweet) tends to increase my appetite, while sucralose (Splenda) does not. In additon, I suspect aspartame in giving me occular migraines so I've been avoiding it.

There are only a few sodas that use sucralose: some I've found so far are Pepsi One, Diet Rite, and a root beer called Point.

[Marie26]

29. Diet Hansen's Soda

I live on that stuff. :) It doesn't have aspartame, either.

[shanti]

56. hansen's

comes with pure cane sugar now, instead of hfcs.

[TheMightyFavog]

30. Point Root beer!

From the town where I went to college.

That particular brewery also puts out some pretty drinkable cheap beer, as well. :beer:

[ginnyinWI]

47. oh you must mean Steven's Point, Wisconsin.

I didn't realize that it was that local.

[GoCubsGo]

33. There is a Diet Coke with Sucralose

It has a yellow stripe instead of a red one. It's not as fizzy as the original version, but it tastes better.

I heard on the radio show "The People's Pharmacy" that there some evidence that aspartame eases pain from arthritis. Interesting....

[Lorien]

37. Splenda gives me horrible body aches, like I'm coming down with

the flu. I did a Google search and found that that's a pretty common effect for people, so I won't touch the stuff anymore. Don Rumsfeld's Nutrasweet gives me horrible headaches. So no artificial stuff for me anymore!

[OwnedByFerrets]

66. It makes my feet swell.

:crazy: go figure.

[Lorien]

76. That ain't good. nt

[Overseas]

46. Diet Shasta Cola does too.. //nt

[mackdaddy]

120. Splenda causes me extreme muscle weakness...

Splenda causes me extreme muscle weakness...

Splenda and the generic form sucralose causes me to have such extreme muscle weakness that I can hardly climb stairs.

I thought I was getting some degenerative disease like MS, or MD and started out doing a web search on leg weakness, and found several sites talking about this and other reactions from Splenda. I had recently switched to Splenda in the big bag for my iced tea from saccharine. I have never had any allergies to anything before this.

Eliminated all the Splenda/sucralose from my diet, and the leg weakness went away in about two weeks. I have had a couple of re-occurrences over the past couple of years, but every time I had accident ly had something with Splenda/sucralose. Diet 7-up switched to splenda, and once a friend had some cranberry juice, and I did not realize she had one bottle of regular,and a second open bottle of "low cal" juice with splenda. Also found it in some but not all of my "Ice" brand chewing gum.

It has been such a strong cause and effect, I have zero doubts this stuff really gets me. I have started reading labels on everything, but it is amazing the products they put it into.

My parents and siblings still use the stuff, so I have to be careful at family dinners too. I tried to convince them it was bad, but they have not seen the symptoms, and my mother is addicted to Diet-Rite.

I know there are lots of people who use it with no apparent ill effects, but then only 5% of the population will die from peanuts.

"Tastes like sugar because its made from sugar" -- with a few chlorine atoms glommed on to it.

[ginnyinWI]

122. wow--that's interesting.

I guess you just never know. I try not to go nuts with any of these products. I don't eat the stuff all day--just a packet in my tea in the evening, and the occasional soda.

[Kadie]

133. Wow.

Thanks for the information. I have been feeling like I was coming down with something for the past couple of days. I just recently started drinking diet soda again. (A little caffeine boost in the afternoon.) Sounds like a good time to STOP drinking it again.

:hi:

[Cobalt-60]

54. you dont have to give up pop without HFCS

There are still some nice cane sugar sodas out there.
The biggest is Jones Soda, and there's Cott's, Fritz's (one on the table before me),
and Blue Sky.
There does appear to be a concerted effort to get this poison into every food item.
I feel like colonel Ripper talking about fluoridation, but the last straw was bread.
(Bread, Mandrake? My three dollar a loaf Bakers Inn bread?)
I've eliminated much of the poison from my diet and, in spite of drinking rather a lot of pop,
and not doing any "dieting" other than the elimination of HFCS, I find myself losing weight for the first time in years.

[Kalyke]

59. Do you have an ethnic section in your grocery store?

We get real Coke with real sugar from Mexico. Seriously.

Not that often, but when we want a Coke, I'd rather have The Real Thing.

[OKIsItJustMe]

79. FWIW: During passover, you can get "Kosher Coke" which contains sugar

I'm told corn syrup is considered "leaven."

[tabbycat31]

74. eliminate soda first

I was addicted in 2006, going through a case and a half a week. I quit cold turkey at Thanksgiving.

Now 99% of everything i drink is (tap) water.

[Avalux]

3. It's great to read valid scientific evidence linking HFCS to obesity.

I've been diligent about removing it from my family's food consumption and it's difficult; even bread contains it. :hi:

[grace0418]

6. I know, it's in everything. You either have to make everything from scratch or buy

organic. Still, it's worth it.

[Lorien]

10. Get bread from your grocery bakery

it's usually HFCS free.

[merh]

49. thank you for that tip

I was trying to figure out how to cut out the bread - I rarely drink soda, I stopped putting sugar in my coffee about 15 years ago - I try to drink unsweetened tea when I drink tea.

[tonysam]

19. What is "obesity," anyway?

This study is likely a bunch of horse manure.

[Kalyke]

61. Arnold's bread and Nature's own do not.

They're a bit more expensive, but not excessively so:

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/grocery-foods-with-no-high-fructose-corn-syrup-357295/

[Bluenorthwest]

5. HFCS will never touch my lips

and lips that touch HFCS will never touch mine! It is in many products, not just soda.
I was delighted to read Michelle Obama saying she will not let her kids eat anything with HFCS, just delighted. She's very right.

[Fireweed247]

7. per capita consumption of these sweeteners in the USA is about 145 lbs/year

you have got to be kidding me!

I buy about two 25lb bags of brown sugar per year for my family of four and make everything from scratch. Can people really be eating that much sugary crap? I think they are adding way beyond what is needed. Is it possible that they are beyond greedy and purposely poisoning us to boost the pharma industry?

WTF! Obama is Considering Monsanto Shill Michael Taylor to Head New Food Safety Working Group
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5326729

[Fireweed247]

8. People are eating 1/3 to 1/2 a pound per day?

Tell me I am misunderstanding this?

[ginnyinWI]

15. if that's true, then somebody is eating my share! n/t

[mrsadm]

26. yes, they are ...

because most people don't realize sugar or HFCS is in EVERYTHING including breads, crackers, frozen meals, soups - and ketchup is full of it! Think of what a raw tomato tastes like and compare it to ketchup. The ketchup is nauseatingly sweet.

I didn't realize this until I went on a low carb diet. I went through "sugar withdrawal" symptoms. I felt very light headed and weak for a couple of days.
Later, having been on the diet for a while, I ordered a Wendy's junior cheeseburger, and the ketchup tasted like candy to me.

The best advice I've heard is to shop the outside aisles of the grocery store for real food, vegetables, meats, fruits, dairy. Avoid anything in a box or a bottle. It's not easy to do all the time but you have to try.

[GoCubsGo]

35. Not the phamra industry...

Blame it on subsidies for corn growers and members of Congress who are responsible for them. The government pays these big agribusinesses to grow tons of the stuff at cut rates, and then they have to figure some way of getting rid of it. That's why HFCS is in everything. It's why our pet foods are full of corn meal. Cheap fillers. I refuse to feed my cats any of the brands that have corn, wheat or soy products in them. They are carnivores, not cattle. It's no wonder our pets are suffering from the same epidemic of diabetes as humans.

[myrna minx]

64. My poor kitty started exhibiting symptoms of type2 diabetes, such as drinking massive amounts of

water and urinating what seemed like gallons. I made a vet appointment, but it was for several days in the future. After researching feline diabetes and nutrition, I was horrified to discover the dry prescription diet I was feeding him was horrible for him. It was all carbs and sugar. I immediately changed his diet to wellness wet, a food with little carbs, and his symptoms totally went away. I had the vet do a full panel as well as a urine test and he was fine. He had no signs of renal failure or diabetes, so I was able to correct, with diet, what could have been a long journey, dealing with feline diabetes.

Here I thought I was doing everything right for my kitty, yet I was slowly poisoning him with corn syrup and carbs.

[Marie26]

11. HFCS is no worse than sugar, though, right? nt

[progressoid]

17. Yeah - they have those commercials on TV that say so.

And they wouldn't lie would they? :eyes:

[lukasahero]

22. Yeah, and you gotta love the 'disclaimer' "when eaten in moderation"

Like the vast majority of people understands how pervasive it is.

[Marie26]

27. Do you actually have a response beyond

sarcasm? Ignorant sarcasm, yet? As far as I know, HFCS has the same amount of fructose/glucose as regular sugar does. So it's no worse than sugar, but no better either. The problem is that it's cheaper, so manufacturers started adding it to *everything*.

[progressoid]

34. Right.

My complaint is with the ads themselves.

We see a young, healthy couple state (accurately) that there isn't much difference between sugar and HFCS. However, the ad clouds the fact that they are BOTH a problem. We are a nation drowning in fat and diabetes. They aren't going to show that couple in 15 years as overweight, lethargic and diabetic. Just keep eating it!!

It's like we have a choice of two ball-peen hammers. One made in North Dakota, the other in South Dakota. Would it matter which one we use to bash our heads in? :shrug:



http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/November05/Findings/USFoodConsumption.htm

http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/press_releases/2008/bleich_sugar_sweetened_beverages.html

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/84/2/274

[Marie26]

44. Don't disagree

I agree that HFCS is a problem, just like sugar. But it seems like people have actually gone to the other extreme & think sugar is "healthier" than HFCS, when it isn't at all. There was a recent newspaper article about how companies are now advertising products w/"real sugar! no HFCS!" as if that somehow makes it better for you. The article above seems misleading because it implies that only "fructose" is the problem (like in high-fructose corn syrup), which might make people think that normal sugar is better. When sugar actually has just as much fructose as HFCS.

[lukasahero]

68. "the use of high fructose sweeteners (both high fructose corn syrup and table sugar)"

The article in the OP is discussing the differences between how glucose and fructose are metabolized by the brain - it does not suggest sugar is better than hfcs because it clearly identifies fructose as both.

[Marie26]

69. Right

I'm saying that people seem to get the impression that sugar itself is better than HFCS & that isn't supported by the study.

[canucksawbones]

85. table sugar

is sucrose, which is formed from a bonded glucose and fructose, so it contains half the fructose of HFCS. Dextrose is pure D-glucose and is very sweet, usually requires about 40% by weight for the same sweetness as sucrose or fructose.

I make my own hams, bacon, pastrami, etc and I use dextrose as part of the curing process, it is much better for that than sucrose.

G

[Marie26]

89. But HFCS isn't pure fructose

This is a silly argument, I guess. But anyway, I agree that sucrose is bonded glucose & fructose. But I think that HFCS is a bonded glucose & fructose as well. So sugar actually has just as much fructose as HFCS does.


"High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) – called isoglucose<1> in Europe and glucose-fructose in Canada – comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to increase its fructose content, and then been mixed with pure corn syrup (100% glucose). HFCS is ubiquitous in processed foods and beverages, including soft drinks, yogurt, cookies, salad dressing and tomato soup.<2>

The most common types of high-fructose corn syrup are: HFCS 90 (mostly for making HFCS 55), approximately 90% fructose and 10% glucose; HFCS 55 (mostly used in soft drinks), approximately 55% fructose and 45% glucose; and HFCS 42 (used in most foods and baked goods), approximately 42% fructose and 58% glucose.<3> Per relative sweetness, HFCS 55 is comparable to table sugar (sucrose), a disaccharide of fructose and glucose.<5> That makes it useful to food manufacturers as a substitute for sucrose in soft drinks and processed foods. HFCS 90 is sweeter than sucrose; HFCS 42 is less sweet than sucrose."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup


So actually, the HFCS used in most foods actually has *less* fructose than table sugar does.

[cascadiance]

45. Researchers point out that HFCS is digested differently than natural sugars...

And that is the problem that leads to the greater potential problems with diabetes, etc.

That doesn't mean ingesting a lot of regular sugar isn't also a problem too. But HFCS makes it worse. If you're going to have products with sugar in it, avoid HFCS products.

[Marie26]

48. That's what I'm disputing.

I used to think that HFCS had different components than sugar, but actually both are disaccharides of 50% sucrose, 50% fructose. So how could it be digested differently? I'd be interested to see some of the studies you mentioned.

[cascadiance]

51. Do you have articles to back up that assertion?

Here's some articles that would contend with your view...

http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2008/02/06/hfcs-a-ban-worth-getting-excited-over/

From wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup

...
Critics of HFCS point out a correlation between increased usage of HFCS in foods and obesity rates in the United States over three decades. Some allege that HFCS is in itself more detrimental to health than table sugar (sucrose); others claim that the low cost of HFCS encourages overconsumption of sugars. The Corn Refiners Association has launched an aggressive advertising campaign to counter these criticisms, claiming that high fructose corn syrup "is natural" and "has the same natural sweeteners as table sugar".<25> Both sides point to studies in peer reviewed journals that allegedly support their point of view.

In his recent book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, journalist Michael Pollan claims that the way that the body processes HFCS is different from the way it processes the glucose and fructose found in other sugars. Digesting sucrose requires the production of an enzyme called sucrase, which breaks the bond between the glucose molecule and the fructose molecule. Because the body regulates its production of sucrase, it can only digest sucrose at a certain rate. Because digesting HFCS does not require sucrase, the rate at which it is digested is not similarly regulated by the body.

Elliot et al.,<26> implicate increased consumption of fructose (due primarily to the increased consumption of sugars but also partly due to the slightly higher fructose content of HFCS as compared to sucrose) in obesity and insulin resistance. Chi-Tang Ho et al. found that soft drinks sweetened with HFCS are up to 10 times richer in harmful carbonyl compounds, such as methylglyoxal, than a diet soft drink control.<27> Carbonyl compounds are elevated in people with diabetes and are blamed for causing diabetic complications such as foot ulcers and eye and nerve damage;<28><29>

A study in mice suggests that fructose increases obesity.<30> Large quantities of fructose stimulate the liver to produce triglycerides, promotes glycation of proteins and induces insulin resistance.<31> According to one study, the average American consumes nearly 70 pounds of HFCS a year, marking HFCS as a major contributor to the rising rates of obesity in the last generation. <32>

In a 2007 study, rats were fed a diet high in fat and HFCS and kept them relatively sedentary for 16 weeks in an attempt to emulate the diet and lifestyle of many Americans.<33> The rats were not forced to eat, but were able to eat as much as they wanted; they consumed a large amount of food, suggesting that fructose suppresses the sensation of fullness. Within four weeks, the rats showed early signs of fatty liver disease and type II diabetes. Shapiro et al. fed rats a high-fructose diet for six months and compared them to rats that had been fed a fructose-free diet. Although the rats that had consumed high levels of fructose showed no change in weight, when compared to the rats that had consumed a fructose-free diet, levels of leptin in the blood of rats fed a high-fructose diet indicated the development of leptin resistance. When the rats were switched to a high-fat diet, the leptin-resistant rats, those fed a high-fructose diet, gained more weight than those who had not developed the resistance and had been fed a fructose-free diet.<34>

...

[Marie26]

90. What assertion?

That both HFCS & sugar have about the same amount of fructose/glucose? See my post above. It's hardly controversial. But thanks for the link, that helps me understand why they might be processed differently. So basically, it's the same composition, but breaking down sucrose into fructose/glucose requires an additional enzyme (sacrase), which slows down the digestion process. Still, Wikipedia is hardly a great source for anyone. Time has an article on the whole HFCS controvery & it basically says that HFCS is no more dangerous than sugar, but that it is overused in processed foods:

Is High-Fructose Corn Syrup Really Good for You?

"So, which side is correct: Is it the devil's candy or a perfectly natural wonder?

The answer is somewhere in between, but high-fructose corn syrup is finding defenders from unusual corners. The American Medical Association recently announced at its annual policy-making meeting in Chicago that high-fructose corn syrup does not contribute more to obesity than sugar or other caloric sweeteners. Even Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has to agree. He criticized early versions of the CRA's ad campaign for its claims that high-fructose corn syrup is a "natural" product. "High-fructose corn syrup starts out as cornstarch, which is chemically or enzymatically degraded to glucose and some short polymers of glucose. Another enzyme is then used to convert varying fractions of glucose into fructose," says Jacobson. "High-fructose corn syrup just doesn't exist in nature." But he admits that the sweetener gets a bum rap. "The special harmfulness of high-fructose corn syrup has become one of those urban myths that sounds right, but is basically wrong. Nutritionally, high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose may be identical." ...

Nutritionist, author and food-policy doyenne Marion Nestle has blogged and written extensively about the issue and says in response to the commercials, "Lots of people think high-fructose corn syrup is the new trans fat. It isn't. ... Biochemically, it is about the same as table sugar (both have about the same amount of fructose and calories) but it is in everything and Americans eat a lot of it — nearly 60 lbs. per capita in 2006, just a bit less than pounds of table sugar. High-fructose corn syrup is not a poison, but eating less of any kind of sugar is a good idea these days and anything that promotes eating more is not."

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1841910,00.html

[obiwan]

137. HFCS and sugar are probably DIGESTED the same.

But the body METABOLIZES them differently.

[OKIsItJustMe]

81. Re: it's no worse than sugar, but no better either

I guess you didn't read very carefully…

… Two papers in the journal PNAS in 2007 and 2008 showed that glucose and fructose act quite differently in the brain (hypothalamus) - glucose decreasing food intake and fructose increasing food intake. Both of these sugars signal in the brain through the malonyl-CoA signaling pathway and have inverse effects on food intake. …

[Marie26]

87. I guesss *you* didn't.

You made the same mistake I'm talking about. Both sugar and HFCS have the *same* ratio of glucose/fructose (about 50% of each). So sucrose (sugar) breaks down to glucose & fructose, just like HFCS does. HFCS was created to have the same composition as sugar, so that it could be used wherever sugar was. So just based on your quote alone, both sugar & HFCS would have the same effect - w/the fructose raising hunger & the glucose lowering hunger. And since it's 50% of each, I guess the end result of sugar/HFCS consumption would be... no change in food intake at all?

[OKIsItJustMe]

92. It depends on the sorts of "sugar" and HFCS you're talking about…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup

…

The most common types of high-fructose corn syrup are: HFCS 90 (mostly for making HFCS 55), approximately 90% fructose and 10% glucose; HFCS 55 (mostly used in soft drinks), approximately 55% fructose and 45% glucose; and HFCS 42 (used in many foods and baked goods), approximately 42% fructose and 58% glucose.

…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup#Cane_and_beet_sugar

Cane sugar and beet sugar are both relatively pure sucrose. …

According to this, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Commercial_sweeteners_.28carbohydrate_content.29
"Sucrose" is 50% Fructose, 50% Glucose
"HFCS-55" is 55% Fructose, 41% Glucose and 4% "other sugars."

That's quite significantly different.

[Marie26]

93. Right

So some HFCS has slightly more fructose, some slightly less - but HFCS has about the same fructose/glucose proportions as sugar (sucrose). The 90% fructose is just used to make the diluted forms. But I think you're still confusing sucrose & glucose. Cane sugar & beet sugar are pure *sucrose*, but pure sucrose is still half glucose/half fructose. So cane sugar, beet sugar, & normal table sugar are all sucrose - and all break down to glucose & fructose, just like HFCS does.

[OKIsItJustMe]

94. HFCS 55 is 55% Fructose, 41% Glucose, 4% other sugars

(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Commercial_sweeteners_.28carbohydrate_content.29 )

So, while Sucrose has a 1/1 ratio of Fructose to Glucose, HFCS 55 has a 1.34/1 ratio. That's quite a significant difference.

Even if it was a 55/45 split, that's a 1.22/1 ratio.

[Marie26]

95. And HFCS 42 is 42% fructose, 53% glucose

While table sugar is 50% fructose, 50% glucose. So, HFCS 42 has a .79/1 ratio as compared to sugar. If you believe the first difference is significant, the second must be as well. And since HFCS 42 is the one that's often put in processed food, you actually might be better off buying a cake made w/HFCS 42 rather than one made with "pure cane sugar."

[OKIsItJustMe]

96. True enough

I'm most concerned about it in "soda"/"soft drinks."

The difference is significant enough for me to be able to clearly taste it. That being the case…

(I also wonder about those "other sugars"…)

[Marie26]

97. I guess the answer is just avoiding sugars at all

Which is basically what I try to do. I'm being argumentative because it seems like this anti-HFCS thing could be a new fad, w/Americans choosing "healthier" table sugar over just not using sugar at all.

[OKIsItJustMe]

98. I don't think we have to avoid sugar completely

However, moderation is important.

[Marie26]

99. Yes

And look, we agree with those silly HFCS ads! LOL.

[OKIsItJustMe]

100. Well… I wouldn't go that far…

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081016074701.htm

Fructose Sets Table For Weight Gain Without Warning

ScienceDaily (Oct. 19, 2008) — Eating too much fructose can induce leptin resistance, a condition that can easily lead to becoming overweight when combined with a high-fat, high-calorie diet, according to a new study with rats.

Although previous studies have shown that being leptin resistant can lead to rapid weight gain on a high-fat, high-calorie diet, this is the first study to show that leptin resistance can develop as a result of high fructose consumption. The study also showed for the first time that leptin resistance can develop silently, that is, with little indication that it is happening.

The study, “Fructose-induced leptin resistance exacerbates weight gain in response to subsequent high-fat feeding,” was carried out by Alexandra Shapiro, Wei Mu, Carlos Roncal, Kit-Yan Cheng, Richard J. Johnson and Philip J. Scarpace, all at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville. The study appears in the American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, published by The American Physiological Society.

Leptin as regulator

Leptin is a hormone that plays a role in helping the body to balance food intake with energy expenditure. When leptin isn’t working -- that is, when the body no longer responds to the leptin it produces -- it’s called leptin resistance. Leptin resistance is associated with weight gain and obesity in the face of a high-fat, high-calorie diet.

…

http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/00195.2008v1

[Marie26]

102. I mean agree that moderation is a good thing.

In either sugar or HFCS - high consumption of both can & will cause the "leptin resistance" effect.

[OKIsItJustMe]

104. "Moderation in all things"

That's what my momma done told me…

[OKIsItJustMe]

105. Fructose-sweetened Drinks Increase Nonfasting Triglycerides In Obese Adults

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090212161819.htm

Fructose-sweetened Drinks Increase Nonfasting Triglycerides In Obese Adults

ScienceDaily (Feb. 23, 2009) — Obese people who drink fructose-sweetened beverages with their meals have an increased rise of triglycerides following the meal, according to new research from the Monell Center.

"Increased triglycerides after a meal are known predictors of cardiovascular disease," says Monell Member and study lead author Karen L. Teff, PhD, a metabolic physiologist. "Our findings show that fructose-sweetened beverages raise triglyceride levels in obese people, who already are at risk for metabolic disorders such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes."

Triglycerides are manufactured by the body from dietary fat and are the most common form of fat transported in blood. Although normal levels of triglycerides are essential for good health, high levels are associated with increased risk for atherosclerosis and other predictors of cardiovascular disease.

In the study, published online by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Teff and her collaborators studied 17 obese men and women. Each was admitted two times to the Clinical and Translational Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania. On each admission, the subjects were given identical meals and blood was collected from an intravenous catheter over a 24-hour period. The only difference was the sweetener used in the beverages that accompanied the meals; beverages were sweetened with glucose during one admission and with fructose during the other.

Blood triglyceride levels were higher when subjects drank fructose-sweetened beverages with their meals compared to when they drank glucose-sweetened beverages. The total amount of triglycerides over a 24-hour period was almost 200 percent higher when the subjects drank fructose-sweetened beverages.

…

[Marie26]

106. Why still posting these?

I thought it was established that "fructose-sweetened drinks" include both sugar & HFCS?

[OKIsItJustMe]

108. Consider…

If substituting glucose with fructose makes a 200% difference in triglycerides (!) what would going from 50/50 to 55/41 do? (Clearly, not as dramatic, but…)

[Marie26]

109. shrug

I guess it depends which type of HFCS it is - one's slightly higher, one's slightly lower. What surprised me is that regular corn syrup is 100% pure glucose! Making it the "healthiest" of the bunch.

[OKIsItJustMe]

110. Well, as I said, it's the "soft drinks" which conern me most

And in that case, the ratio is the worst.

And fructose may not be the only culprit…

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070823094819.htm

Soda Warning? High-fructose Corn Syrup Linked To Diabetes, New Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (Aug. 23, 2007) — Researchers have found new evidence that soft drinks sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may contribute to the development of diabetes, particularly in children. In a laboratory study of commonly consumed carbonated beverages, the scientists found that drinks containing the syrup had high levels of reactive compounds that have been shown by others to have the potential to trigger cell and tissue damage that could cause the disease, which is at epidemic levels.

HFCS is a sweetener found in many foods and beverages, including non-diet soda pop, baked goods, and condiments. It is has become the sweetener of choice for many food manufacturers because it is considered more economical, sweeter and more easy to blend into beverages than table sugar. Some researchers have suggested that high-fructose corn syrup may contribute to an increased risk of diabetes as well as obesity, a claim which the food industry disputes. Until now, little laboratory evidence has been available on the topic.

In the current study, Chi-Tang Ho, Ph.D., conducted chemical tests among 11 different carbonated soft drinks containing HFCS. He found 'astonishingly high' levels of reactive carbonyls in those beverages. These undesirable and highly-reactive compounds associated with "unbound" fructose and glucose molecules are believed to cause tissue damage, says Ho, a professor of food science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. By contrast, reactive carbonyls are not present in table sugar, whose fructose and glucose components are "bound" and chemically stable, the researcher notes.

Reactive carbonyls also are elevated in the blood of individuals with diabetes and linked to the complications of that disease. Based on the study data, Ho estimates that a single can of soda contains about five times the concentration of reactive carbonyls than the concentration found in the blood of an adult person with diabetes.

…

[Hannah Bell]

116. overconsumption of any sugar raises triglycerides. i'd be interested

in seeing the number of subjects in the study.

a lot of nutrition research, especially metabolic lab studies, is done with a surprisingly small number of subjects. like, e.g. seven. some of the research on which the rdas for vitamins were set were based on studies of less than e.g. 35 people.

i'd also be interested in seeing the form in which the sugars were fed (did the subjects take pure fructose/glucose, not in foods?) - taking one nutrient in isolation will affect the way it;s metabolized too. & the amounts & timing on the TG rises. also quantities fed.

you can't take nutrition studies at face value. esp. since the metabolism of fructose isn't even completely worked out.

i saw one food consumption study done in grad school where controls on the food items were really bad (doctored, actually), but it got published. the findings here are counter-intuitive to me, as is the sudden surge of fructose research.

[OKIsItJustMe]

117. Re: I'd be interested in seeing the number of subjects in the study.

From the OP:

… Teff and her collaborators studied 17 obese men and women …

… The only difference was the sweetener used in the beverages that accompanied the meals; beverages were sweetened with glucose during one admission and with fructose during the other. …

From the abstract:
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/jc.2008-2192v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&author1=Teff&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&fdate=1/1/2009&resourcetype=HWCIT

…

Participants: 17 obese men (n=9) and women (n=8), BMI >30 kg/m2.

Interventions: Subjects were studied under two conditions involving ingestion of mixed nutrient meals with either glucose-sweetened beverages or fructose-sweetened beverages. The beverages provided 30% of total kilocalories. Blood samples were collected over 24-h.

Main Outcome Measures: Area under the curve (24 h AUC) for glucose, lactate, insulin, leptin, ghrelin, uric acid, triglycerides (TGs), and free fatty acids.

Results: Compared with glucose-sweetened beverages, fructose consumption was associated with lower AUCs for insulin (1052.6 ± 135.1 vs 549.2 ± 79.7 µU/ml. 23 h, p<0.001), leptin (151.9 ± 22.7 vs. 107.0 ± 15.0 ng/ml. 24 h, p<0.03) and increased AUC for TG (242.3 ± 96.8 vs 704.3 ± 124.4 mg/dl. 24 h, p< 0.0001). Insulin resistant subjects exhibited larger 24 h TG profiles (p<0.03).

Conclusions: In obese subjects, consumption of fructose-sweetened beverages with meals was associated with less insulin secretion, blunted diurnal leptin profiles and increased postprandial TG concentrations compared with glucose consumption. Increases of TG were augmented in obese subjects with insulin resistance, suggesting that fructose consumption may exacerbate an already adverse metabolic profile present in many obese subjects.

…

[Hannah Bell]

124. obese subjects, 9m, 7f, sugar drink = 1/3 of total (unknown) calories,

Leptin findings not strongly significant (p = .03).

"'suggesting' that fructose consumption may exacerbate an already adverse metabolic profile present in 'many' obese subjects"

"lower AUCs for insulin" (expected if you compare a 30% fructose meal to a 30% glucose meal, fructose not insulin trigger)

Strongest finding = longer elevated blood TGs, which I'd bet r/t different insulin metabolism w/ hi %fructose meal & meaningless unless one's constantly eating hi % fructose meals - which isn't the case.

Language in the abstract doesn't make it clear whether the rises were seen in *all* subjects or just an insulin-resistant subset: "Insulin resistant subjects exhibited larger 24 h TG profiles"


One study of 16 obese people under 1 set of conditions doesn't allow definitive statements about the effects of fructose.

[OKIsItJustMe]

107. Missing link between fructose, insulin resistance found

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/cp-mlb022409.php

Public release date: 3-Mar-2009

Contact: Cathleen Genova
[e-mail]
617-397-2802
Cell Press

Missing link between fructose, insulin resistance found

A new study in mice sheds light on the insulin resistance that can come from diets loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener found in most sodas and many other processed foods. The report in the March issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, also suggests a way to prevent those ill effects.

The researchers showed that mice on a high-fructose diet were protected from insulin resistance when a gene known as transcriptional coactivator PPARg coactivator-1b (PGC-1b) was "knocked down" in the animals' liver and fat tissue. PGC-1b coactivates a number of transcription factors that control the activity of other genes, including one responsible for building fat in the liver.

"There has been a remarkable increase in consumption of high-fructose corn syrup," said Gerald Shulman of Yale University School of Medicine. "Fructose is much more readily metabolized to fat in the liver than glucose is and in the process can lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease," he continued. NAFLD in turn leads to hepatic insulin resistance and type II diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes have both reached epidemic proportions worldwide with the global adoption of the westernized diet along with increased consumption of fructose, stemming from the wide and increasing use of high-fructose corn syrup sweeteners, the researchers noted.

…

The new study has "revealed the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1b as a missing link between fructose intake and metabolic disorders," wrote Carlos Hernandez and Jiandie Lin of the University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor in an accompanying commentary. "The findings …support the emerging role of gene/environment interaction in modulating the metabolic phenotype and disease pathogenesis. Thus, perturbations of the same regulatory motif may produce vastly different metabolic responses, depending on the specific combinations of dietary nutrients," they continued.

[OKIsItJustMe]

121. Limiting fructose may boost weight loss, researcher reports

http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/cda/dept353744/files/476605.html

Limiting fructose may boost weight loss, researcher reports

DALLAS — July 24, 2008 — One of the reasons people on low-carbohydrate diets may lose weight is that they reduce their intake of fructose, a type of sugar that can be made into body fat quickly, according to a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Elizabeth Parks, associate professor of clinical nutrition and lead author of a study appearing in a current issue of the Journal of Nutrition, said her team’s findings suggest that the right type of carbohydrates a person eats may be just as important in weight control as the number of calories a person eats.

Current health guidelines suggest that limiting processed carbohydrates, many of which contain high-fructose corn syrup, may help prevent weight gain, and the new data on fructose clearly support this recommendation.

“Our study shows for the first time the surprising speed with which humans make body fat from fructose,” Dr. Parks said. Fructose, glucose and sucrose, which is a mixture of fructose and glucose, are all forms of sugar but are metabolized differently.

“All three can be made into triglycerides, a form of body fat; however, once you start the process of fat synthesis from fructose, it’s hard to slow it down,” she said.

…

For the study, six healthy individuals performed three different tests in which they had to consume a fruit drink formulation. In one test, the breakfast drink was 100 percent glucose, similar to the liquid doctors give patients to test for diabetes — the oral glucose tolerance test. In the second test, they drank half glucose and half fructose, and in the third, they drank 25 percent glucose and 75 percent fructose. The tests were random and blinded, and the subjects ate a regular lunch about four hours later.

The researchers found that lipogenesis, the process by which sugars are turned into body fat, increased significantly when as little as half the glucose was replaced with fructose. Fructose given at breakfast also changed the way the body handled the food eaten at lunch. After fructose consumption, the liver increased the storage of lunch fats that might have been used for other purposes.

“The message from this study is powerful because body fat synthesis was measured immediately after the sweet drinks were consumed,” Dr. Parks said. “The carbohydrates came into the body as sugars, the liver took the molecules apart like tinker toys, and put them back together to build fats. All this happened within four hours after the fructose drink. As a result, when the next meal was eaten, the lunch fat was more likely to be stored than burned.

“This is an underestimate of the effect of fructose because these individuals consumed the drinks while fasting and because the subjects were healthy, lean and could presumably process the fructose pretty quickly. Fat synthesis from sugars may be worse in people who are overweight or obese because this process may be already revved up.”

Dr. Parks said that people trying to lose weight shouldn’t eliminate fruit from their diets but that limiting processed foods containing the sugar may help.

“There are lots of people out there who want to demonize fructose as the cause of the obesity epidemic,” she said. “I think it may be a contributor, but it’s not the only problem. Americans are eating too many calories for their activity level. We’re overeating fat, we’re overeating protein; and we’re overeating all sugars.”

…

[Hannah Bell]

115. maybe to get people to pay a premium for e.g. "healthier" pop with sugar instead of hfcs for example

i see there's a new "retro" pepsi with sugar out for a limited time.

sometimes the limited time offer is test market for intro of new product line.

[Marie26]

123. NY Times: "Sugar Is Back on Food Labels, This Time as a Selling Point"

Exactly. I also wonder about this flurry of anti-HFCS stuff, at the same time that the sugar industry is making a marketing push to sell sugar as a "healthier" alternative. I feel like a lot of this is marketing & manipulation of consumers. It's like the low-fat craze - instead of buying low-fat vegetables, Americans bought low-fat cookies (Snackwells) instead. Instead of buying HFCG junk food, Americans will be persuaded to buy sugar junk food & will believe it's a healthier thing to do.

Sugar Is Back on Food Labels, This Time as a Selling Point

By KIM SEVERSON
Published: March 20, 2009

Sugar, the nutritional pariah that dentists and dietitians have long reviled, is enjoying a second act, dressed up as a natural, healthful ingredient.

From the tomato sauce on a Pizza Hut pie called “The Natural,” to the just-released soda Pepsi Natural, some of the biggest players in the American food business have started, in the last few months, replacing high-fructose corn syrup with old-fashioned sugar. ...

Blamed for hyperactivity in children and studied as an addictive substance, sugar has had its share of image problems. But the widespread criticism of high-fructose corn syrup — the first lady, Michelle Obama, has said she will not give her children products made with it — has made sugar look good by comparison.

Most scientists do not share the perception. Though research is still under way, many nutrition and obesity experts say sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are equally bad in excess. But, as is often the case with competing food claims, the battle is as much about marketing as it is about science. ...

Although researchers are looking into the effects of fructose on liver function, insulin production and other possible contributors to excess weight gain, no major studies have made a definitive link between high-fructose corn syrup and poor health. The American Medical Association says that when it comes to obesity, there is no difference between the syrup and sugar. And, Ms. Erickson added, the Food and Drug Administration considers both sweeteners natural.

Dr. Robert H. Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco Children’s Hospital, said: “The argument about which is better for you, sucrose or HFCS, is garbage. Both are equally bad for your health.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/dining/21sugar.html?_r=1&em

[cascadiance]

131. I saw that.. I think they're also getting "retro" no HFCS Mountain Dew too soon...

I heard sometime in April this year.

Though they might test market it at a higher price to see if there's a demand for it (they probably can already talk to Costco on how much they sell of Mexican Coke perhaps, unless Coca Cola's contract doesn't allow them to do so). However, long term, the poor will still be made more unhealthy if one has to pay extra to get healthy food, and ultimately the country suffers when a whole segment of our population is unhealthy as a result.

I wonder if also the soft drink companies are anticipating that not long from now that the corn subsidies are going to go bye-bye too with the Obama administration and the newer congress. It seems to me that just a matter of time before the public starts to demand this with the economy we have now, and also understanding how these corn subsidies also affect the economies of our other countries, and by so doing affect how much we outsource our manufacturing, and also how much illegal immigration comes here too when we destabilize their farm economies with "dumped" subsidized corn products that the WTO appears to be more inclined to ignore in these cases to help our companies "free trade" better than others.

[Hannah Bell]

114. and hfcs 42 is 42% fructose, & 53% or so glucose. & apples are 57% fructose, 14.2% glucose, 28.5%

sucrose, so i guess they make you fat too.

you're avoiding her point, which is a reasonable one.

question nutrition info fads; if you live long enough, you'll live long enough to see most of them do a 180 a couple of times: margarine worse than butter, better than butter, worse than butter...eggs good, bad, good...

[OKIsItJustMe]

118. I do question fads, which is why I always try to find the actual science and read it for myself

Check out the stuff I've posted, it's not coming from Jane's pretty good all natural health diet guide.

[Hannah Bell]

125. I understand that, but what a lot of folks don't understand is that nutrition research

*has to* be taken with large doses of salt, *especially* on individual nutrients, & how intertwined with corporate food interests it is - & the "opposition" as well.

It was legitimate research telling us margarine/eggs/fat are good/bad/good for example.

I went into dietetics naive on this score, after being in the field I believe half of it is garbage.

Here's some research which has more to do with rises in obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance than hfcs:

'Based on U.S. food-supply statistics, Bowman says added sugars have increased in the U.S. diet 28 percent since 1982. "About one-third of our added sugars come from nondiet soft drinks," she says, based on her analysis of the CSFII data. "Next are bakery products--cakes, cookies, pies, and other pastries--which contribute about 13 percent."'

"Children are more likely to have high intakes of added sugars, whereas adults over age 40 are likely to have lower intakes. Bowman notes that about one-third of children 2 to 5 years old and one-half of those 6 to 11 fall in the group with the highest intakes."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3741/is_6_48/ai_63129015


Calorie Consumption on the Rise in United States, Particularly Among Women

For Immediate Release: February 5, 2004

Contact: NCHS/CDC Public Affairs, [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
CDC Media Relations, [phone]

Trends in Intake of Energy and Macronutrients, United States, 1971-2000, Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report. Volume 53(04), February 6, 2004.

Americans are consuming more calories than they did 30 years ago, and the rate of increase is three times greater in women than men, according to the latest analysis of the diet of the U.S. population published in the February 6 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/PRESSROOM/04news/calorie.htm



Fructose is widely found in nature, normally consumed with other sugars & carbs, & there's nothing uniquely harmful about it. If science is trying to tell us there is, they're trying to sell us a "cure," that's my opinion based on MS Nutrition RD.

[OKIsItJustMe]

132. Re: Here's some research which has more to do with (other things) than hfcs

And what if HFCS contributes to these trends?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup

… The industrial production process was refined by Dr. Y. Takasaki at Agency of Industrial Science and Technology of Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan in 1965–1970. HFCS was rapidly introduced to many processed foods and soft drinks in the U.S. from about 1975 to 1985. …

So… the rapid expansion of the use of HFCS was 24-34 years ago. Have there been any changes since that time that might be of interest?

For example,

"Children are more likely to have high intakes of added sugars, whereas adults over age 40 are likely to have lower intakes. Bowman notes that about one-third of children 2 to 5 years old and one-half of those 6 to 11 fall in the group with the highest intakes."

When today's "adults over age 40" were children, HFCS had not yet gone through its expansion. On the other hand today's "children 2 to 5 years old" and "6 to 11" never knew a childhood without HFCS.

Americans are consuming more calories than they did 30 years ago, and the rate of increase is three times greater in women than men, according to the latest analysis of the diet of the U.S. population published in the February 6 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

HFCS was about midway in its growth spurt 30 years ago. What if it encourages caloric intake?


In my day, I drank plenty of Coca-Cola. I stopped when New™ Coke was released. When Classic™ Coke was introduced, I never liked it as much as "Real Coke," because (as I later found out) the "Classic" formula used HFCS instead of cane sugar.

I ate plenty of sugary foods, as a child, and yet, I am not obese!


(If you ask me, a "Rum and Coke™" just isn't anywhere as good with HFCS.)

[Hannah Bell]

135. Fact is, consumption of total calories rose from the 80s to the present.

That, by itself, explains rising obesity, diabetes, etc.

Mexico, Europe, Australia & Japan don't use anything like the volume of hfcs we do; they show similar rises in obesity, etc. Mexico is now by some measures the "fattest country in the world".


"I ate plenty of sugary foods, as a child, and yet, I am not obese!"

And I eat lots of foods with hfcs, yet I am thin. So what? The trendlines apply to populations.

[OKIsItJustMe]

138. The question is, what has changed that consumption has increased?

Something has stimulated people to consume too much.

Have we simply become too prosperous? I don't think that's it.

Have we simply become too poor? I don't think that's it either.

We have become less active (is that it?)

[Hannah Bell]

143. boredom, depression, anxiety, imo. secondary to socio-economic shifts.

[obiwan]

136. Bullshit. HFCS may have the same caloric value as sugar...

... but the body metabolizes HFCS in a very different way.

I am a type II diabetic, and I was drinking Sunny D, which has HFCS, because I am on a fixed income and I can't afford regular orange juice.

After drinking small amounts of Sunny D daily, I started feeling poorly. When I checked my blood sugar, it was over 500 (normal blood sugar is 70-110).

I have had this reaction to other foods containing HFCS. Small amounts of real sugar do not have near as dramatic an effect on me.

All I can say, if you are a diabetic, stay away from HFCS. It's a killer!

[Marie26]

139. Sunny D doesn't have HFCS

It's sweetened w/Splenda & something called "neotame" and "acesulfame potassium". (??) Which sounds even more chemical & processed. (http://www.sunnyd.com/faq.shtml) I'm not disputing your experience, though, & can see that diff. sweeteners could cause different reactions in different people.

Disclaimer: And I'm not saying diabetics should drink Sunny D!

[lukasahero]

140. Yes it does - 2nd ingredient listed...

http://www.sunnyd.com/products/original_tangy.shtml
http://www.sunnyd.com/products/original_smooth.shtml
http://www.sunnyd.com/products/original_mango.shtml
http://www.sunnyd.com/products/original_reduced.shtml
http://www.sunnyd.com/products/original_calcium.shtml

[Marie26]

141. You're totally right

I'm totally wrong. Wow, that's a nice sleight of hand by Sunny D. Borderline deceptive. On the FAQ, it just says that Sunny-D uses Splenda & ace-K. I guess they justify that by saying that HFCS isn't an "artificial" sweetener? The marketing, it's everywhere.

FAQ:

What is SunnyD?
We're glad you asked! SunnyD, or Sunny Delight®, is a refreshing fruit-flavored beverage that contains Vitamins B1 and C. It's a great drink for summertime fun all year long!

Which artificial sweeteners are used in Sunny D?
We are using either sucralose or a blend of neotame and acesulfame potassium (ace K). These sweeteners are used to reduce the amount of sugar and calories without compromising the great taste our consumers love and want from Sunny D.

Why does SunnyD use either sucralose or a combination of neotame and ace-K in its ingredients?
The decision on which sweetener(s) to use was based largely on which one(s) worked best to match the same sweetness and taste as the original versions of Sunny D or worked best with a particular flavor system. In addition, all three sweeteners have been thoroughly tested and approved by the FDA as safe.

Should I be concerned about consuming either of these sweeteners?
If these sweeteners couldn't be safely consumed we wouldn't use them. All three sweeteners have been thoroughly tested and approved by the FDA. Ace K has been safely used for the past 25 years in a wide variety of food and beverage products. Sucralose was approved by the FDA over 10 years ago in April, 1998. Neotame has been used since its approval in 2002.

http://www.sunnyd.com/faq.shtml

[lukasahero]

142. Sorry - didn't mean to be snarky - I have just become obsessive about reading labels

I looked at the link you provided for a long time trying to understand what they were saying and I think you're right - it's a sleight of hand but I don't know how they can get away with it.

[Last Stand]

16. Try Agave. Twice as sweet and breaks down sloooowly in the blood. nt

[tonysam]

18. It Sounds Like More Crap

from the food cop brigade. Screw 'em.

[KittyWampus]

25. are you trying to get your post count up there buddy?

[Lorien]

39. Lol! That wins the inane post of the day award. nt

[supernova]

41. Actually, it's true

I've used agave syrup for the past three years when I want sweet. It doesn't crash me 90 minutes later.

Good stuff. :thumbsup:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

28. I didn't realize agave was used as a sweetener.

It does make some sweet tequila however!

[Lorien]

38. Yeah, it's one of the only sweeteners that doesn't level me with a

hypoglycemic fit! :thumbsup:

[Kip Humphrey]

84. Being pre-diabetic myself, I can verify that agave nectar does not f**k up my blood sugar.

Good stuff.

[Marie26]

91. What do you think about stevia? nt

[Lorien]

119. I don't know if I've tried it yet

though I know several people who swear by it.

[Hanse]

127. Agave nectar is almost entirely fructose.

It has much more fructose than HFCS.

[lilyreally]

21. Two years ago

I cut out sugar and processed foods and white bread. I lost sixty pounds and have kept it off.

I eat all fruits and vegetables and all meat, poultry and seafood. Eggs and cheese as well. There is so much to choose from as long as I restrict my shopping to the outer part of the grocery store. The stuff on the interior shelves doesn't exist for me anymore.

Best part? NO hunger. Well, that, and being able to wear really cool jeans. :)

[Laelth]

23. That's very interesting. Thanks. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[KittyWampus]

24. We are humans and humans like SWEET! Any quickly absorbed sugar sucks. That includes glucose

They screw with our bodies insulin and leptin.

Oh, and that also includes a lot of carbohydrates. Look at regular bread and potatoes like they are lumps of sugar.

If you want a low-impact sugar that gets broken down in the gut try alcohol sugars like erythritol and xylitol. They are safe for diabetics.

[canucksawbones]

86. except for the diarrhea

you have to be very careful with alcohol sugars as they are not well absorbed, in amounts other than in a couple of hard candies they produce a reaction similar to lactose intolerance....AKA the squirts.

GK

[Xenotime]

32. It might be time to tax or at the very least regulate this.

When universal healthcare kicks in I don't want a whole bunch of obese people in line. It should be for people how really need healthcare not people who can't control their soda intake.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

42. Actually, we pay billions in subsidies to the corn industry

HFCS is the predominate sweetener in the US due to our glut of corn production. Which is due in large part to the tens of billions in subsidies paid to the corn growers over the past decade.

Perhaps the solution is as simple as cutting back on some of the subsidies currently allocated to the corn industry?

[Missy Vixen]

62. I don't think I want bigots in line, either

>It should be for people how really need healthcare not people who can't control their soda intake.

I'd like to exclude anyone from that universal health care "line" who can't seem to control their uneducated opinions and their bigotry towards anyone else who isn't exactly like them. How's that?

[cascadiance]

40. If you want to drink Coke, go to Costco and get Mexican Coke!

It uses cane sugar as they used to before they switched to HFCS here in the states.

Look for the following boxes:





As others will note, still keep your overall sugar intake down, but if you want to have coke at times, get this instead! And it tastes better too!

And as noted here, HFCS *laced* food/drinks are addictive too.

[shanti]

55. or Hansen's natural soda

it now has CANE SUGAR as a sweetener, woohoo! someone has been listening!

[bicentennial_baby]

63. You can also get the kosher version right now for Passover

2-liters have yellow caps. :D

[moriah]

43. Which goes against the general wisdom of "fruit" being a healthy dessert.

Fruit certainly have a lot of vitamins and minerals, especially in comparison to other sources of fructose -- soft drinks in particular. Maybe the vitamins balance out the eeeeevil fructose.

Better still would be a snack of fresh green vegetables like uncooked broccoli.

[lukasahero]

70. If you ate as much fruit as you do hfcs, that might be a valid concern

But since hfcs is in just about every processed food on the market, that's not an accurate comparison.

[PVnRT]

50. The brain doesn't metabolize fructose

Yeah, I get the point, but headline fail nonetheless.

[shanti]

53. thank you for posting this story!

to all the naysayers out there who think hfcs is "just" sugar!

[Kalyke]

58. So should those people in the stupid "HFCS is good for you" commercials

say this when their idiotic counterparts ask "what's wrong with HFCS?"

http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/09/pro-new-hfcs-commercials-high-fructose-corn-syrup.html

[lebkuchen]

67. If you like genetic modifications in your food...

fructose is the way to go.

Matter of fact, try finding any food in the U.S. that doesn't contain it, to include apples (the wax).

[Evoman]

71. Three points:

1)Science reporters, in general, are ignorant ass-tards. They have a tendency to make claims that go way beyond the science. I'll wait for the actual study. I'm not saying this one is, but I still don't buy it.

2) Second of all, fructose is not "metabolized" in the brain as far as I know. Usually, it's converted to glucose in the liver before it even goes near the brain. How they actually measured the effects of fructose in the brain is what I want to know.

3) There have been several studies showing no difference in hunger levels or increased food intake when different sugars are introduced into diet. It would take more than one paper that hasn't even been published that to make the case. Again, I want to see the actual paper. My guess is that the authors of the paper are not saying what the headline is saying.

[Blackhatjack]

73. I can only report from my experience that HFCS soft drinks increase the junk food urge for me...

If there is a study out there that proves or disproves that, I don't know.

[cascadiance]

77. It is the enzyme sucrase that regulates how sucrose (table sugar) is metabolized...

Your body only produces a certain amount of that enzyme and therefore it only can absorb a certain amount of that sugar.

Your body doesn't use sucrase to process HFCS and therefore doesn't have the same limits in place as to how much of that fructose, etc. is absorbed. Read post 51 here for the reference to this.

That's why even though both HFCS and regular sugar have glucose and fructose, they are bound together differently, that affects how the body digests these components. In regular sugars there are more natural limits, and with HFCS there aren't. Just because they both contain the same elements doesn't make them "equal".

[Hanse]

129. uh no.

Sucrase doesn't regulate sucrose and sucrose isn't metabolized. Sucrose is digested and hydrolyzed by sucrase. Effectively forming glucose and fructose. Except in cases of illnesses, all sucrose is hydrolyzed, and once it is, it is exactly the same fructose as what's in HFCS, and the body digests them the same.

[cascadiance]

130. Sucrase doesn't *itself* regulate sucrose digestion...

But from articles I read (read post 51), it itself is an enzyme that is manufactured only to a certain extent by the body and that it is NEEDED to digest regular sugar (break down fructose and glucose). This would imply that the body in effect is "regulating" sucrose digestion by the amount of sucrase it produces to break down regular sugars, and that what sucrase doesn't process is not absorbed by the body, whereas sucrase doesn't have an effect on digesting HFCS, and one would interpret that the body can and will digest more of the fructose and glucose from what people ingest in terms of HFCS which leads to greater obesity, etc.

[JackRiddler]

78. The answer is so simple: Stop adding HFCS and/or sugar to anything...

unless you're doing it with a spoon in the kitchen yourself.

But people want to keep buying "food" out of a box, right?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

83. Eyeball carefully the labels on your juice.

So much of the juice out there (refrigerated and bottled and frozen) is full of HFCS.

I make sure I read labels, and I do NOT buy it unless it says "100% juice".

Otherwise you're buying a bit of juice and a bunch of expensive water and Karo.


Oh, and Splenda has CHLORINE in it. I don't touch it.

The only sweetener that tastes like sugar to me is Equal. I make my own iced tea from scratch and put sugar in it. I still like sugar but figure that is better than drinking sodas.

[Maru Kitteh]

101. Chlorine? OMG!

So does table salt.

[moriah]

113. Equal = Nutrasweet = Aspartame = Methanol/Formaldehyde.

I prefer Splenda if I'm going to use an artificial sweetener, but I'm already a fatass and I usually don't mind using natural sweeteners. I still like my Pumpkin Maple Pie that's sweetened with Turbinado brown sugar and maple syrup.

[Hanse]

128. chloride

not chlorine

[Mind_your_head]

103. I bought one of those concentrated cans of pink lemonade recently.....

the FIRST ingredient listed was HFCS. It was G-d-awful waaaaaaaaaaaay too sweet.

My kids thought the same thing too before I offered any of my 'opinion'.

I threw it out. I certainly won't buy it again.

It was just gross.

[1]

112. pfffttt... sugar is sugar... and hfcs is everywhere. you are consuming it right now...

and the next time anything is "metabolized by the brain" will be the first time.

:rofl:

but keep it up. "terra, terra, terra!"

ha!

[Scout]

126. did you read anything other than the headline of the article?

:rofl: