Worse Than Meat - More Dangerous Than Coffee

[Dr. Shane]

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Fructose has been linked to copper dificiencies - unlike its sweet brother glucose. "Lysl oxidase is a copper-dependent enzyme that participates in the formation of collagen and elastin. Fructose seems to interfere with copper metabolism to such an extent that collagen and elastin cannot form in growing animals—hence the hypertrophy of the heart and liver in young males."

" In 1980 the average person ate 39 pounds of fructose and 84 pounds of sucrose. In 1994 the average person ate 66 pounds of sucrose and 83 pounds of fructose, providing 19 percent of total caloric energy. Today approximately 25 percent of our average caloric intake comes from sugars, with the larger fraction as fructose."

"In humans, fructose feeding leads to mineral losses, especially higher fecal excretions of iron and magnesium, than did subjects fed sucrose. Iron, magnesium, calcium, and zinc balances tended to be more negative during the fructose-feeding period as compared to balances during the sucrose-feeding period."

"Fructose converts to fat more than any other sugar. This may be one of the reasons Americans continue to get fatter."

The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup

[David Koot]

What????????? Isn't fructose fruit sugar? As in apples, grapes, oranges, etc.? Is that true? Is it fruit sugar as in fruit, or the processed high-frucstose corn syrup, that is the problem?

[gina i]

Specifically corn syrup. So sugar coming from corn.

Not sure about all the other fruit sugars..

[Dr. Shane]

From the article...

Quote:

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(With regards to fruit, the ratio is usually 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose, but most commercial fruit juices have HFCS added. Fruit contains fiber which slows down the metabolism of fructose and other sugars, but the fructose in HFCS is absorbed very quickly.)

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Hope that answers the question.

[Planey]

As a diabetic I find this thread interesting (and a bit alarming.)

However I must admit then when I first spotted the thread title and saw it was from Shane, my first thought was "Republicans again, eh?" lol

Graeme

[David Koot]

I am a vegan, and I don't buy juices or products that are sweetened with corn syrup (or, for that matter, with fructose typically.) However, I do enjoy unsweetened fruit juices, such as unfiltered apple, squeezed OJ, etc. As for desserts, I prefer fruit-juice sweetened, or honey occasionally. But, honey has fructose, as I recall.

[Bravus]

The main reason this is important is for pop, soft drink, soda, whatever you call it. Those drinks have huge amounts of the stuff, and a recent study suggested that they are the single greatest cause of the obesity epidemic.

Fructose is fruit sugar, and is a good thing in itself, but in fruit it's associated with a whole lot of water and a whole lot of fibre. It's the processing and the huge quantities we consume that are the problem, rather than the thing in itself (i.e. fructose is not nicotine).

I did a little calculation:

In a can of Coke there are 39g of sugars in total. Of that, 55% is fructose, so about 21.5 g of fructose.

An average apple contains 5.9 g of fructose, so to get the same amount as in a can of coke you'd have to eat about 3 and a half apples, with all the associated fibre... and you likely wouldn't be able to eat that at a sitting if you were only eating apples, let alone if you were also eating a burger and fries!

(I've ignored sucrose in this analysis, but the other 45% of the sugar in Coke is mostly sucrose, so another 17.55 g of sugar. An apple has about another 40% sugar too, composed of sucrose and glucose, so another 4.5 g.)

And of course, a can of Coke is a tiny serving in North America... 20 ounce cups are pretty standard in a lot of places, and there are bigger serving sizes.

I've kind of focused on Coke, so the Adventists might feel comfortable, but of course Sprite is just as bad, and any other non-caffienated soft drink likewise.

Drinking drinks with high-fructose corn syrup (which incidentally is manufactured, not found in nature) actually increases appetite and suppresses the feeling of fullness, so not only are there thousands of calories in the drinks, but you're likely to eat more too.

I'm off to refill my water bottle. <img src="/ubbtreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Bravus]

A little tidbit I found for Graeme in my researches:

"Fructose is often recommended for, and consumed by, people with diabetes mellitus or hypoglycemia, because it has a very low Glycemic Index (GI 23) relative to cane sugar (sucrose). However, this benefit is tempered by concern that fructose may have an adverse effect on plasma lipids. The low GI is due to the unique and lengthy metabolic pathway of fructose, which involves phosphorylation and a multi-step enzymatic process in the liver"

[Bravus]

And the useful article from Wikipedia for everyone:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup

It seems pretty knowledgeable and even-handed about the issue, but of course Wikipedia is still Wikipedia.

From that article:

"Fructose produces lower levels of the hormones leptin and insulin than glucose. Raising leptin and insulin levels trigger the feeling of "fullness" while eating. The level of the hormone ghrelin remains higher with consumption of fructose than it does with glucose. Ghrelin appears to control the feeling of "hunger". This double change in normal production of these hormones results in a slower decrease in appetite and a tendency to consume more than if glucose were to be used. Thus more is consumed to get the same "full" and "satiated" feeling and the total caloric intake is greater. Additionally, the level of blood triglycerides shows a rapid and prolonged elevation after consuming fructose as opposed to glucose. JCEM 2/24/2004

The delayed decrease of the hormone ghrelin has been shown in obese subjects but not in normal weight subjects. This means that chronic consuption of fructose may actually be preconditioning the metabolism of a normal weight individual to behave like an obese individual's metabolism. JCEM 11/2/2004" (there are links in the original if you want to follow up further)

[Dr. Shane]

Soft drinks are a big problem but so are other sweets. HFCS is cheaper than sugar and thus it is found in many fruit drinks and pastries that have virtually no fiber.

[Amelia]

This is one of my favorite beverages. No HFCS!

[]http://www.talkingrain.com/images/img_products/bottles/sparkling_ice_a_sm.gif[/] []http://www.talkingrain.com/images/img_products/bottles/sparkling_ice_b_sm.gif[/] []http://www.talkingrain.com/images/img_products/bottles/sparkling_ice_c_sm.gif[/] []http://www.talkingrain.com/images/img_products/bottles/sparkling_ice_d_sm.gif[/]

Sparkling ICE™ These lightly carbonated, three-calorie per serving beverages, are a blend of spring water with real fruit juice and sweetened with Splenda to deliver great tasting refreshment. Each 16-ounce bottle of Sparking ICE provides 100% of the RDA for Vitamins C and E.

Talking Rain