Why Diets High In High-fructose Corn Syrup (found In Soda And Processed Foods) Can Lead To Insulin R

[Richard D]

Why Diets High In High-fructose Corn Syrup (found In Soda And Processed Foods) Can Lead To Insulin Resistance

ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2009) — A new study in mice sheds light on the insulin resistance that can come from diets loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener found in most sodas and many other processed foods. The report in the March issue of Cell Metabolism also suggests a way to prevent those ill effects.

The researchers showed that mice on a high-fructose diet were protected from insulin resistance when a gene known as transcriptional coactivator PPARg coactivator-1b (PGC-1b) was "knocked down" in the animals' liver and fat tissue. PGC-1b coactivates a number of transcription factors that control the activity of other genes, including one responsible for building fat in the liver.

"There has been a remarkable increase in consumption of high-fructose corn syrup," said Gerald Shulman of Yale University School of Medicine. "Fructose is much more readily metabolized to fat in the liver than glucose is and in the process can lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease," he continued. NAFLD in turn leads to hepatic insulin resistance and type II diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes have both reached epidemic proportions worldwide with the global adoption of the westernized diet along with increased consumption of fructose, stemming from the wide and increasing use of high-fructose corn syrup sweeteners, the researchers noted.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090303123802.htm

[derby378]

1. The solution...

Mexican Coca-Cola (still made only with sucrose)
Dublin Dr. Pepper (same here)
Heinz Organic Ketchup (ditto)

Also, if you're able to eat at Jason's Deli, they are in the process of eliminating HFCS from their menu.

[paulsby]

5. while

cane sugar etc is better than HFCS in general, concentrated refined sugars are to be generally avoided anyway.

and with the plethora of good tasting natural sweeteners these days, it's not hard to do. (please spare me the rants of the few crazies on the internet who claim aspartame causes brain damage).

ALL sugars, especially when quick digesting (iow not mixed with a fair amount of fiber and.or protein etc. to slow gastric emptying, will cause massive insulin dumpage, which in the long run leads to diabetes.

your body is not designed to be constantly assaulted with high loads of simple sugars.

[derby378]

6. Here's the thing...

I understand that both sucrose and HFCS are made from the same two sugars: fructose and glucose. No problem there. But while sucrose is a disaccharide of fructose and glucose that came about naturally as a result of some 3-4 billion years of plant evolution on Earth, the only way to obtain HFCS is to manufacture it in a laboratory. With various bacterial and fungal treatments, no less.

I'm trying to be good about sugars in general. And yes, I drink diet sodas that contain aspartame, and I've heard the health claims, but I also understand that the liver can handle the methanol byproducts if you don't go crazy with the Nutrasweet. Hell, our body manufactures all sorts of nasties including hydrochloric acid (in the stomach) and E. coli (in the intestines) all the time, and yet our species manages to endure all the same.

With my own growing awareness of rBGH, genetically-modified crops, and other forms of "Frankenfood," I'm trying to put more and more organic fare in our cupboard. And that means more sugar, too - although I'll do my best not to go overboard. Another hallmark of diabetes is that the body produces acetone that is excreted in the urine. Mine does not, which means I do not have diabetes, and I intend to keep it that way.

[paulsby]

7. yes, essentially...

if you are going to have simple sugars - REAL sugar is preferable.

but you should have not very much simple sugars in your diet IN GENERAL.

the best time for simple sugars (and when i frequently take it purposefully) is immediately post workout. i do about 20-40 gms of protein, and at least that many grams of simple sugars right after workout. your body is starved for simple carbs and protein at that point.

[trotsky]

11. I think you've got it right.

It's not so much HFCS at fault but just the general overuse of refined sweeteners of any kind. But the mindset today seems to focus on blaming anything external to oneself.

[Richard D]

8. During Passover . . .

. . . most companies have replacement products that have cane sugar rather than HFCS, which isn't kosher for Passover.

[derby378]

9. I know - we live on the border of a large Jewish community

When Passover rolls around, I know exactly where to go for a 2-liter bottle of kosher, organic Coke.

[cascadiance]

10. you can also get Mexican coke any time at Costco...

Look for the boxes of old style glass coke bottles with the white labels on the sides.



And it tastes better than HFCS coke as well!

Everything in moderation, but if you're going to injest stuff that's sweet, drink or eat what's been more natural for many years, than this HFCS crap!

[dana_b]

2. so don't believe those stupid commercials that

have the kid telling his brother "it's okay! It's made from corn!"

When I worked on an acute care adult unit, every third person had diabetes. I'm not kidding.

[paulsby]

3. v ery true

fwiw, ANY concentrated sweetener can lead to insulin R, although i think corn syrup is arguably especially insidious.

nature designed sugar to be sparingly present in fruits, etc. and almost always with a fair amount of fiber and other nutrients.

the more highly processed crap we eat, the more we take our body away from the foods we are intended/evolved to eat.

i disagree with a lot of PETA vegetarian types as to the alleged unhealthiness of meat, for instance.

factory farmed meat (where the animals aren't eating their natural diet) is not very good. free range and wild game is EXCELLENT and there is nothing wrong with meat - both flesh (ie steaks) and organ meats.

eat closer to the source - fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, etc. that is not highly processed and avoid fried foods, transfats, etc.

[AllieB]

12. Good post.

I am healthier eating low-glycemic and free-range, organic, etc. Did you know that the countries with the lowest rate of heart disease consume the most saturated fat (France, for example)? The nutritonal 'powers that be' will have you believe differently because they're in cahoots with the drug makers.

[uppityperson]

13. Very good post, thank you. eom

[myrna minx]

4. K&R n/t

[Hannah Bell]

14. I think this is mostly bullshit. It may be they found the genetic effect they say, but it's

irrelevant to the global claim - that hfcs is the main cause of modern-day increases in weight & diabetes.

1. The same increases are seen in Europe, Japan, Mexico, where the use of hfcs is less prevalent. Indeed, increases were seen before the 70s in the US, when hfcs was just a blip, & e.g. in specific populations when they changed from high-fiber or high-protein diets to high refined carbs.

2. The most widely used type of hfcs has a sugar profile very similar to honey: "Honey typically has a fructose/glucose ratio similar to HFCS 55, as well as containing some sucrose and other sugars. Like HFCS, honey contains water and has approximately 3 kcal per gram. Because of its similar sugar profile and its lower price, HFCS has been used illegally to "stretch" honey. As a result, checks for adulteration no longer test for sugar but instead test for minute quantities of proteins that can be used to differentiate between HFCS and honey."

3. There was no control in the study: they put the rats on a high-fructose diet & found metabolic aberrations. Had they put them on a similarly high-sucrose or glucose diet, I'm willing to bet they'd find similar aberrations.

4. They're essentially saying that eating too much fructose causes harm; yet mankind evolved eating fruit & honey.

5. The article notes, but skips over, the following: "Overall, dietary intake of fructose, which is also a component of table sugar, has increased by an estimated 20 to 40 percent in the last thirty years."

So the increase in fructose consumption they bemoan includes the bonded fructose in sucrose, which supposedly (according to their paper) is metabolized differently than free fructose in hfcs.

Gee. consumption of 1 kind of sugar has gone up 20-40%, if part of that's table sugar, it means consumption of sugars generally has risen a lot too.

Wow, do you think increased consumption of refined sugars, carbs, increased calories generally, & reduced exercise could have anything to do with increased weight, diabetes, fatty liver, insulin resistance?

Oh, no, it must be hfcs.

I hold no stock in archer daniels midland, despise them & the subsidies they get for their unnecessary product, but this research is all about coming up with some new technological, profit-making, possibly genetic engineered "solution" to the wrong problem.


& for the person who writes that manufacturing hfcs is some very high tech process, not so: it was invented in 1927, the process is similar to fermentation.