Posted on 08/03/2005 6:38:34 AM PDT by truthandlife
A sweetener commonly used in soft drinks and other foods may lead to more body fat than drinks sweetened with plain sugar.
A new study suggests that fructose may alter the body's metabolism in a way that prompts it to store body fat.
Researchers say the findings may help explain the recently established link between rising soft drink popularity and obesity rates in the U.S. and other parts of the world.
"Our study shows how fat mass increases as a direct consequence of soft drink consumption," says researcher Matthias Tschöp, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati, in a news release.
Fructose is a sweetener found naturally in fruits and honey and is widely used as a sweetener in soft drinks, fruit juices, and cereal. In soft drinks, fructose is usually found in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, which contains 55% fructose.
Fructose: Stealth Fat Builder? In the study, researchers compared the effects of feeding mice fructose-sweetened water, a soft drink sweetened with sucrose (table sugar), a diet soft drink, or water. The mice were allowed to drink as much as they wanted of their designated beverage.
The mice that drank the fructose-sweetened water gained significantly more body fat than the others, even though they decreased the amount of calories they ate from solid food.
"We were surprised to see that mice actually ate less when exposed to fructose-sweetened beverages, and therefore didn't consume more overall calories," says Tschöp. "Nevertheless, they gained significantly more body fat within a few weeks."
More Weight, More Body Fat All of the mice weighed about 39 grams at the start of the study. Those that drank the fructose-sweetened water gained an average of 8 grams during the course of the study compared with average weight gains of less than 5 grams among the others.
The fructose-drinking mice also gained more body fat. Body fat increased by nearly 11% in the fructose group of mice -- significantly more than the 5% increase in the water group. Body fat increased by 7% to 8% in the soft drink and diet soft drink groups.
Researchers say the results suggest that the body metabolizes fructose differently than other sweeteners or carbohydrates and in a way that favors fat storage.
Their findings appear in the current issue of Obesity Research.
A 2004 report showed that Americans eat 132 calories each day of high-fructose corn syrup and that the figure is closer to 300 calories for the top 20% of Americans.
WebMD spoke to study researcher George A. Bray when that study was released. Bray said between 1970 and 1990, high-fructose corn syrup consumption increased by more than 1,000%, largely because the nation's soft drink manufacturers switched from sucrose to high-fructose corn syrup.
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SOURCES: Jurgens, H. Obesity Research, July 2005; vol 13: 1146-1156. News release, University of Cincinnati
Carolyn
In other words, it's all conjecture.
I wondered when they would get around to "tobacconizing" Big Coke and Big Pepsi - some really deep pockets here. Look for more stories about how these eeeeeevil corporations conspired to ruin the lives of little children everywhere.
They are not talking about diet drinks are they?
Fructose is from fruit.
Fruit grows and ripens in summer to fall.
Humans eat in summer to store fat for the winter.
Fructose triggers the "fat Storage" genes.
Refined sugars don't.
Makes sense to me..........
would explain all those fat babies drinking fruit juices instead of milk........
No, diet drinks usually have aspartame or saccharin......
Thank the federal government for the sugar price supports that have made it uneconomical to use real sugar.
Diet drinks are a whole nother problem.
So if I move to Florida, I'll never have to eat? Too bad, they have such nice fruit there.
With CAFTA, maybe we will get cheap sugar, like Mexico and Canada, and get rid of a lot of HFCS used in soft drinks.
The old, Coke with sugar was much better than the current with corn syrup. Lots of people go down to Mexico to buy it.
So they say. I'm a huge skeptic of all these 'scientific' studies. We're all going to die of something someday. If you didn't consume something based on a study, what would be left?
High fructose corn syrup is evil. I avoid it like the plague. It's in nearly every thing that is processed. I have lost over 100 pounds basically by eliminating hfcs and partially hydrogenated oils. I also use portion control but it's easier because the cravings that hfcs triggers in me is no longer a problem.
All I know that in MY case it was true. I quit using "foods" containing high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils and have lost over 100 pounds. I also don't have the cravings to eat junk either.
The study may waffle on it, but I'm betting that further studies will prove the obvious: fructose and high fructose corn syrup is in everything, and the rise of obesity will be able to be tied to the food manufacturers switching over to using it, instead of natural sweeteners.
I lo carb, and I read labels on everything. Fructose, and high fructose corn syrup is in EVERYTHING, and in large quantities. See, the food companies know exactly what they're doing. They've spent billions finding out what you like to eat, and how to make you buy more. The easiest way - make it sweet. The American pallete right now is sugary and salty - go for either taste group, you'll sell more. Thus, everything is loaded with salt, or sugar/fructose. Sour/peppery foods don't sell well. Plus, fructose is cheaper.
I work for a food manufacturing company. While our products are healthier than most, we add fructose. Why? People will buy more. Simple.
Well, with actual real fruit, you get fiber and fill up. You don't with soft drinks. You just keep consuming and peeing. The caffeine makes you more thirsty and so begins the circle again. Eat more fruit (wash it first)...........
No this isn't "tobacconizing" anyone who has a child diagnosed with ADHD and has had to watch what their child eats knows about corn syrup or fructose. This especially effects children . I have had to read all the labels for the last 6 years and corn syrup is in almost everything sweet because it really gives it a super sweet taste. I had buy soda at Whole Foods because they had soda made with sugar, no corn syrup. I have been annoyed with this for a while. I hope something changes, I think the fructose and some of the overly processed foods are the culprits in the obesity problem. They don't have to do away with it let people have a choice though, corn syrup or no corn syrup. I think people have a right to be fat if they want to.
I just have to say "DUH". Fructose is refined sugar. Corn syrup is refined sugar. It's cheaper to produce than real sugar and spikes your blood levels much faster.
We have worked hard to remove as much of it as possible from ours and our kids diet. But it is in everything. Bread, pop, jelly, even frozen dinners. If it comes in a box, it most likely has fructose or corn syrup in it.
One of these days, someone is going to have guts enough to expose the link between refined sugar and flour and the explosion in Type II diabetes.
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