If fructose were a new drug would it be certified as safe for use by humans? It's a thought that occurred to me more than once as I dug into the history of fructose studies (usually involving rodents).
Intentionally feeding people fructose to see if it kills them may be detrimental to the wealth of researchers, which is why very few human trials have been successfully concluded. In Sweet Poison I mention one study which had to be abandoned after several of the recipients developed dangerous heart conditions. After that little adventure, researchers have preferred to stick to subjects who don't have lawyers (such as mice and cats).
But a wave of courage has engulfed some brave scientists this year and a couple of new human trials are seeing the light of day. The June edition of the Journal of Nutrition reported on a study conducted by researchers at the University of Texas this year which revealed "the surprising speed with which humans make body fat from fructose." Admittedly the study only involved six (brave) volunteers but the results clearly support the very many rodent studies that ended in the same place.
And just this week, a comprehensive study has surfaced in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The UC Davis team had more luck on the volunteer front. They persuaded 33 overweight and obese people to try a 10 week diet which was either 25% fructose or 25% glucose. The poor souls on the fructose diet ended up with increased (1.5kg) tummy fat, higher fatty triglycerides (which leads to heart disease) and 20% higher insulin resistance (which leads to to Type II Diabetes). None of this happened to the group on glucose.
Interestingly, Dr Havel's study was paid for by PepsiCo who declared (after receiving the results) ... "This is a very interesting and important study, but it does not reflect a real-world situation nor is it applicable to PepsiCo since pure fructose is not an ingredient in any of our food and beverage products." hmmm ... well I guess strictly that's true ... but splitting hairs a bit don't you think?
How about don't eat any sugar? Seems much simpler to me! :)
It's amazing how many people don't think that your body can turn sugars directly and efficiently into fat.
I do find it surprising and almost unbelievable that the glucose group didn't have any insulin spikes, considering how it's quickly absorbed through the stomach walls into the bloodstream.
ReplyYour body can turn anything you eat into fat. Don't eat excess calories, and enjoy sugar in moderation. Please stop with the extremist dietary zealotry.
ReplyIf you are not eating excess calories, your body will not and can not make fat from fructose, or anything else.
ReplyI'm pretty sure that's not true. Have you read Rethinking Thin?
ReplyIf electricity were invented today, we'd be prohibited from using it. It's too dangerous. All those electrocutions. Plus, it harms the environment. Transmitting it kills trees for utility poles. Those wires don't meet our standards for aesthetics either. No. Electricity should not be allowed to spread.
Your attitude says a lot more about how our society has developed a collective mental illness than about fructose.
There are no magic foods, good or bad. Fat people eat more calories than they burn. For weight loss, any other factor is comparatively insignificant.
Losing weight solves all the problems caused by "fructose" in that study.
ReplyThis is good to know. I use sugar, and I'm not giving it up regardless of what anti-carbies think. I used to buy fructose because it has fewer calories per sweetness factor, but now I'll just stick to regular sugar, which I seem to remember from o-chem is 50% each.
ReplyI've lost 125 ponds and I never gave up sugar. I've had quite a bit today in fact, in my coffee, in a glaze on my scallops and in a small beverage.
MODERATION. For 99% of all people, the key is moderation.
ReplyWhile in a deficit, fructose does NOT have any special obesegenic properties. Any study that has shown HFCS to be detrimental have either been in a) amounts that don't reflect reasonable human consumption or b)have been in a caloric surplus.
In a deficit, fructose, glucose or any other sugar does not cause fat storage.
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