Fructose Means More Fat?
A study presented in Obesity Research has been picked up by many newspapers. The study links fat gain with consumption of drinks sweetened with Fructose-based sweeteners (via HealthDay / CBS News).
The mice that drank the fructose-sweetened water and soft drinks gained weight, even though they took in fewer calories from solid food.By the end of the study, the mice that consumed fructose-sweetened beverages had 90 percent more body fat than the mice that consumed water only.
Fructose is a sweetener found naturally in fruit and honey - and is often used is sodas, fruit juices and cereals. It is typically found in the form of High-Fructose Corn Syrup.
However what is not clear here is the chemical modification that goes on. It's easy to vilify foods based on a single study that is actually looking at a component of the food in isolation.
Would you stop eating fruit because of such a study? I think not - don't confuse good nutrition with weight loss potential. I think HFCS is the enemy here - and such studies indicate the "great unknown" that exists with these ultra-modified ingredients.
Study: Jurgens, H. Obesity Research, July 2005; vol 13: 1146-1156. News release, University of Cincinnati.
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I agree Jim, it's that ultra-modified, refined HFCS that is probably the culprit. If you look at the ingredient list of most (non-diet) sodas, the second ingredient is HFCS.
Yes, fruit also contains fructose, but this is frucctose in an unrefined, natural state. There is also water and fiber in fruit. Likewise, honey is also less refined than HFCS. You are much more likely to gain weight drinking a Coke or pepsi than eating an apple or some green tea sweetened with a little honey.
ReplyI don't see how this is any big revelation. We all talk about empty calories - sodas being the main purveyors of them. I think this is more of a testament to the lack of truly profound topics available for research any more.
Let's see, which will make you more fat, holding calorie intake constant:
Water and x amount of food
or
Soda and y% of x amount of food.
So, once again, cut out the darned sugar-water, drink more water, and think about the contents of the food you're putting in your mouth.
-D
ReplyI bought a blender to make smoothies from fresh fruit and had one every day for lunch in the summer and nothing else. I gained weight--but only in my stomach and was surprised and shocked. I am genetically thin but developed this pot belly from those smoothies. I only used fresh fruit,strawberries,banana,blueberries, orange juice and yoghurt. So, I stopped drinking them and lost the pot belly. I wasn't trying to gain or loose weight-just make my own smoothies for the summer.
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