[holymoly]

A sweetener commonly used in soft drinks and other foods may...

A new study suggests...

In other words, it's all conjecture.

[CajunConservative]

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.

[ByDesign]

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.

[Little Pig]

No researcher will come out and declare an absolute, especially on a study like this. They might use stronger language in a journal-published paper summarizing a large collection of studies, but rarely will you get any scientist to refer to their results as "this shows definitively...". The media _is_ guilty of using waffle terms to sensationalize stories, but in science it merely shows the potential uncertainty of a finding.

[Little Pig]

Forgot to add that, since the study only showed definite results for mice, but the mice were exhibiting behavior and subsequent results similar to that of humans (the consumption of fructose and getting fat), they use the "may" and "suggest" to indicate that they think they might have found a link to what we are seeing in humans. Scientifically, it will take quite a few more studies before they feel comfortable using stronger language, but this is not the same as (as noted in my previous post) when the media uses waffle terms to sensationalize something.

I should add that part of this "obesity epidemic" is a result of the government constantly lowering the bar on what constitutes "obese". The current standard is based largely on the BMI, which is so imprecise it is virtually useless. As an example, Jay Cutler is considered "obese" in the below picture, and according to the CDC BMI calculator and categories, he is only 1.5 points below "morbidly obese".

[rwfromkansas]

Well, the study has some strong evidence for it, but in an article, the writer will still write it as if it has not been proven.

It doesn't mean it is just conjecture.