Coke Didn't Make America Fat

The Wall Street Journal ^ | 10-07-09 | MUHTAR KENT

[GOP_Lady]

Americans need more exercise, not another tax.

Obesity is a complex issue, and addressing it is important for all Americans. We at the Coca-Cola company are committed to working with government and health organizations to implement effective solutions to address this problem.

But a number of public-health advocates have already come up with what they think is the solution: heavy taxes on some routine foods and beverages that they have decided are high in calories. The taxes, the advocates acknowledge, are intended to limit consumption of targeted foods and help you to accept the diet that they have determined is best.

[discostu]

Weight is a lot like height. Genetics give you a disposition to overeat or not, a fast metabolism or slow, the possibility or impossibility of being tall. But just like a poor diet growing up will leave you at the low end of your genetic height, a poor diet and lack of exercise will leave you on the fat end of your genetic width.

[Jeff Chandler]

calories consumed vs. calories burned

Yep. Oh, there might be the occasional freak, but for everybody else, it's calories consumed vs. calories burned.

People don't like to be faced with that fact.

A lot of fat people are lazy or lack self-discipline. It takes a sustained effort to resist the urges which have served man through thousands of years of genetic programming tailored to surviving regular periods of famine. But without that sustained effort, we end up getting in touch with our Inner Porky.

[norraad]

HFCS interferes with the hormones that make you feel full and the ones that make you feel hungry.

The introduction of this synthetic government subsidized molecule into our food tracks perfectly on a chart with the rise in obesity.

[NEMDF]

I agree. Discussing with husband last night how one of the contributing factors with apathy and violence in teenagers is that it is no longer politically correct to moralize.

[NEMDF]

I have a relative (very obese) who confessed to drinking up to a dozen regular cokes each day. He said he just could not get used to the taste of diet soda.

[Mase]

Nonsense.

From an article in Nutrition Today: "A recent study by Martine Perrigue, et al at the University of Washington was presented at the April 2006 meeting of Experimental Biology. ("Hunger and satiety profiles and energy intakes following the ingestion of soft drinks sweetened with sucrose or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)" Program Abstract # LB433) They concluded:

• "In this study, Perrigue compared subjects' level of fullness (satiety) after consuming high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)-, sucrose- and aspartame-sweetened beverages with milk and a no-beverage control. The study found that all four caloric beverages "suppressed hunger ratings and increased satiety ratings relative to the no beverage control. However, there were no significant differences in satiety profiles among the sucrose- and HFCS-sweetened beverages, diet cola, and 1% milk."

It's from a pay site so I cannot link you. You can find it in Nutrition Today: Volume 40(6) November/December 2005 pp 253-256 by: Gayle L. Hein, BS, and Maureen L. Storey, PhD, Center for Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture Policy, University of Maryland-College Park, College Park, MD.

According to Nutrition Today: Volume 40(6) November/December 2005 pp 253-256 by: Gayle L. Hein, BS, and Maureen L. Storey, PhD, Center for Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture Policy, University of Maryland-College Park, College Park, MD:

• At this time, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that humans utilize either HFCS-42 or HFCS-55 any differently than sucrose, invert sugar, or honey. All disaccharides are completely hydrolyzed in the gastrointestinal tract into their simple sugar (monosaccharide) components prior to absorption. Consequently, the rate of absorption for the monosaccharide components of sucrose and HFCS is likely to be equal in both speed and completeness.

  Fructose and glucose are absorbed and metabolized differently by the human body.10,11 However, fructose is fructose and glucose is glucose regardless of the source-HFCS, sucrose, invert sugar, or honey. In other words, after hydrolysis in the gut, the monosaccharides derived from these sweeteners are physiologically indistinguishable to the human body.

4/07/2006-New research indicates that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is similar to sugar in the production of leptin, insulin and ghrelin, and regulation of the body's calorie control mechanisms. The research was presented in San Francisco at the Experimental Biology conference on April 1-5, 2006.

• Kathleen J Melanson and others at Rhode Island University reviewed the effects of HFCS and sucrose on circulating levels of glucose, leptin, insulin and ghrelin in a study group of lean women. All four tested substances have been hypothesized to play a role in metabolism and obesity. The study found "no differences in the metabolic effects" of HFCS and sucrose in this short-term study, and called for further similar studies of obese individuals and males. ("Similar effects of high fructose corn syrup and sucrose consumption on circulating levels of glucose, leptin, insulin and ghrelin," Program Abstract # 391.2, www.eb2006-online.com/pdfs/002507.PDF?PHPSESSID=f07543fef8761587d860af5e0239a3bf

[Admin Moderator]

Let’s tone down the personal stuff. Stick to the subject and stop abusing one another.

[Dysart]

I would agree to a point but in my experience genetics is the overriding factor. BTW, I don't really weigh 450lbs. That was a joke. Not necessarily a funny one, though!

[norraad]

Too bad their paychecks wouldn’t allow then to find the links.

[discostu]

Having gone from super skinny to pretty fat and then back to normal width I know for a fact that THE overriding factor is diet and exercise. I was too poor to eat when I was super skinny, got a good job and good money and good food and got fat, then took control of what I was eating and started getting plenty of exercise to get normal.

[RipSawyer]

I would love to drop forty pounds but it is no longer easy for me, what IS easy is to gain either muscle or fat depending on what I do, if I gain one I can lose the other.

Dropping actual pounds is very difficult for me now. I am trying to increase my daily activities now that he weather is cooling down. Maybe if I stay on my feet enough hours a day I can actually drop some poundage. I really would like to be long and lean again instead of piling on more muscle mass just so I can lose some fat.

If I can just get back into bicycle riding that might do the trick but I don’t have a really good place to ride, I have to hit the public roads and that can be dangerous.

[cartan]

He has my sympathies. I just hate the taste of sweeteners. A dozen? Ouch!

[brytlea]

Then you would know that metabolisms differ (apparently) and perhaps absorption differs from individual to individual. That may account for the differences, I don’t know, since of course I don’t have a PhD. Where did you get your PhD? When I was doing my course work we didn’t have enough classes for a minor in nutrition which disappointed me greatly.

[brytlea]

First, whenever someone starts a post with “trust me” I immediately get skeptical of anything they say after that.
Second, I never said I didn’t burn calories.
Third, I don’t need an education in how it works, I understand it already.
Additionally, I don’t run, and find treadmills etc boring, and since you are so well versed in all of this, you will know that people don’t tend to stay with exercises if they find them boring and/or otherwise unpleasant.
And, lastly, do you have something that you can point me to, because I would be really interested in a good study that indicates exercising on an empty stomach increases the amount of calories you burn.

[CholeraJoe]

I bought an elliptical machine. It sits in my home office in front of the TV. It’s extremely low impact, no worries about traffic and the weather isn’t a factor. It is a low-end model and cost about the same as a year’s gym membership. It has 6 different programs with intervals, cardio and hill climbing. I can watch Fox News, the Hitler Channel or music DVDs while I work out.

[RipSawyer]

I may do that myself, I use one at the gym for fifteen minutes after I finish my weight lifting routine. I like it a lot more than a treadmill or stationary bike.

[aruanan]

Then you would know that metabolisms differ (apparently) and perhaps absorption differs from individual to individual. That may account for the differences

Unless someone has small bowel disease of some sort or is an alcoholic and is starving that way, absorption is almost 100% in everyone (unless you're swallowing whole kernels of corn or grains of cereal). The body is really REALLY good at absorption. If it weren't, a whole lot more of us would be dead. The two most basic facts of nutrition are 1. if it's available, it's always easier to take in energy than it is to burn it off through basal metabolism (the biggest single chunk of energy expenditure) and voluntary physical activity and 2. no society has ever had more nutritious, cheaper food in an environment that requires so little voluntary physical activity in the course of a day.

I don’t know, since of course I don’t have a PhD. Where did you get your PhD? When I was doing my course work we didn’t have enough classes for a minor in nutrition which disappointed me greatly.

The University of Chicago and, no, I never saw Obama in the flesh or Michelle, either.

[brytlea]

I think you’re mostly right, I think the difference in people may be that some more calories doing the same thing, which of course would be their metabolisms. I recall a study done years ago that gave the amount of calories burned (I think they measured it by how much O2 was used—but it’s been a long time) by people who simply fidget a lot. It was amazing how many calories they fidgeted away. I tried to start fidgeting, but I guess it’s not in me, because it didn’t work! LOL
I think when someone states it’s only calories in vs calories out, they are giving a very simplistic answer to a very complex issue.
On the other hand, I KNOW I eat more than I should. So, Obama should make all food taste gross and most of us would lose weight!

[Mase]

You could easily check the veracity of the research using Google. The problem is that you're afraid that what's written may interfere with your preconceived notions based on junk science, or a lack of scientific understanding altogether. It is a fact that once HFCS is hydrolized in the gut it is no different from sucrose and your body cannot distinguish between them. That being a fact, how can one affect hormone levels while the other does not?

They don't. The link between obesity and HFCS doesn't exist except in the imagination of those who don't grasp basic nutrition and chemistry.

[brytlea]

I thought an eliptical machine looked promising, but I don’t have the room for one. :(