This falls into the redundant research category, but with the corn syrup producers actually showing up at natural foods trade shows with banners claiming their product is healthy - and running TV ads - I guess we still need to be reminded.
The bottom-line issue is that fructose - the sugar in most fruits - makes us fat and unhealthy in the presence of excess calories in the diet. Here is an open access article (the link above) talking about this issue. This is from the Abstract.
An important but not well-appreciated dietary change has been the substantial increase in the amount of dietary fructose consumption from high intake of sucrose and high fructose corn syrup, a common sweetener used in the food industry. A high flux of fructose to the liver, the main organ capable of metabolizing this simple carbohydrate, perturbs glucose metabolism and glucose uptake pathways, and leads to a significantly enhanced rate of de novo lipogenesis and triglyceride (TG) synthesis, driven by the high flux of glycerol and acyl portions of TG molecules from fructose catabolism. These metabolic disturbances appear to underlie the induction of insulin resistance commonly observed with high fructose feeding in both humans and animal models. Fructose-induced insulin resistant states are commonly characterized by a profound metabolic dyslipidemia, which appears to result from hepatic and intestinal overproduction of atherogenic lipoprotein particles. Thus, emerging evidence from recent epidemiological and biochemical studies clearly suggests that the high dietary intake of fructose has rapidly become an important causative factor in the development of the metabolic syndrome. There is an urgent need for increased public awareness of the risks associated with high fructose consumption and greater efforts should be made to curb the supplementation of packaged foods with high fructose additives. The present review will discuss the trends in fructose consumption, the metabolic consequences of increased fructose intake, and the molecular mechanisms leading to fructose-induced lipogenesis, insulin resistance and metabolic dyslipidemia.It is crucial to note that the real issue is not with whole fruit, but with fruit juices and concentrated fructose used as a sweetener. Whole fruit contains vital nutrients and fiber that mitigate the poor digestion of fructose sugar.
Anyway, here is the article from AlterNet.
High Fructose Corn Syrup Proven to Cause Human Obesity
A new study indicates that high fructose corn syrup may be the cause of the huge upswing in childhood obesity and diabetes.You've heard it before: a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. If people are fat, it's their own fault for eating too much.
These words are usually spouted by PR hacks for the corn refiner's association – or the dietitians paid by them. They may not, as it turns out, be true.
We finally have the smoking corn cob, as it were: the study processed-food foes have been waiting for, indicating that high fructose corn syrup may be the cause of the huge upswing in childhood obesity and diabetes.
American consumption of all sugars is much higher than it should be for our health, but high fructose corn syrup has become a larger share of our sugar consumption due to the fact that much of our ingestion of this super cheap, highly processed sugar is involuntary. That's because it's not just used as a sweetener in cookies and sodas but as a food additive in things like bread, ketchup and other condiments, pasta sauce and coatings for frozen fried foods.
Why is it used so liberally? It increases shelf life and has other characteristics that food processors like. The reason it's really cheap is because the government subsidizes corn so heavily (and if you've read your Michael Pollan you already know this so I'll shut up now).
The rise in childhood diabetes and obesity roughly corresponds to the period of time in which food processors started using high fructose corn syrup with such prevalence. That's why so many scientists have been trying to determine if there's a link between the two.
Depending on whom you ask, Americans consume anywhere from 45 to 60 pounds of the syrup a year. Scientists and food activists have long thought that the body metabolizes the high fructose corn syrup differently than regular sugar and that it is therefore a big problem for our health.
But the corn refiner industry has been spending a lot of money debunking this hypothesis. Over the past few years, ads have flooded the web, print and TV. Consumers were encouraged to get “the truth” at Sweetsurprise.com.
The ads make assertions that directly address the many criticisms of high fructose corn syrup:
"Many dietitians agree that high fructose corn syrup, like any sugar, can be part of a balanced diet. Doctors have concluded that high fructose corn syrup doesn't appear to contribute to obesity any more than other sweeteners."
But this new finding is the first involving humans, and its results point to a different truth: high fructose corn syrup can actually damage human metabolism.
In a study conducted by University of California researchers, 16 volunteers were given a strictly controlled diet including very high levels of fructose. Another group was given the same diet but with high levels of glucose (regular sugar) replacing the fructose. Over 10 weeks, the volunteers that were given fructose produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. The control group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems.
People in both groups did put on a similar amount of weight, but researchers thought the levels of weight gain among the fructose consumers would be greater over the long term.
Here's what happens: Fructose seems to bypass the digestive process that breaks down other forms of sugar. It arrives intact in the liver where it causes a variety of reactions. One of the results is a metabolic change that keeps the body from burning fat normally.
This was a small study and it was the first one done on humans, but 10 weeks? That's some pretty fast acting syrup, if you ask me.
I look forward to seeing how this plays out, but in the meantime, I'll leave you with this rather gruesome video done by New York City's anti-soda campaign.
When I lived in the states for a bit I was like, "what the hell is this sugary shit in everything"!
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