Fructose As Culprit In the Obesity Epidemic

drewtheman writes "According to an interview with Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology from the University of California, San Francisco, fructose, once touted as diabetic-friendly because it doesn't raise insulin levels directly, could be a major culprit for the obesity epidemic, high blood pressure, and elevated blood levels of LDL in Americans and others worldwide as they adopt American-style diets. Fructose comprises 50% of table sugar and up to 90% of high-fructose corn syrup, both ingredients found in copious quantity in most American prepared foods."

Comments

Re:from the "no shit" dept.

[Optikschmoptik]

How long have nutritionists been telling us this?

At least as long as Fat Land has been out, but probably a bit longer than that. The story of American obesity is the story of American corn subsidies, which is therefore the story of high-fructose corn syrup and omnipresent, cheaper-than-water soda; and the story of vending machines and fast-food restaurants, 'family-style' Applebee's-like chains that exist solely to help burn off the excess corn stock by selling almost nothing but corn and its byproducts.

Don't tell the presidential candidates though, they have to win in Iowa!

Well maybe...

[gowen]

But the smart money is still on "Burgers".

/ and no concept of portion control.

um no

[eneville]

I hate articles like this. The reader should not be blaming a single food as a CAUSE for obesity. The cause is that the consumer should not be eating large quantities of anything. Personally if anything is to blame then its the consumer for not getting off their ass and actually preparing food, going for a bike ride, or doing some running. Simple exercise like washing up has now been replaced with a dish washer, we mow lawns with electric/petrol mowers, and we don't even write letters by hand either, soon voice recognition will replace keyboard work. When will the world learn that as physical creatures we depend on a good, fresh diet and plenty of exercise.

Re:from the "no shit" dept.

[superdude72]

The Japanese meal you describe sounds somewhat healthier than the American fast food diet of:

Two beef patties slathered with carbohydrate-rich condiments sandwiched between carbohydrate-rich bread, served with a side of carbohydrate-rich french fries and a 32 oz. cup of high fructose corn syrup. All super-sized because the marginal cost of the ingredients is so low, it is profitable for the restaurants to offer extra portions for a premium.

The innocuous-seeming bun, even, is so loaded with refined carbohydrates that you might as well be eating your hamburger in the middle of a donut sliced in half.

Re:Thank ADM, Cargill and their lobbyists.

[TubeSteak]

But the GP is right too. You don't HAVE to buy pre-processed foods. 95% of the crap sold in grocery stores just isn't good for you. You can buy the ingredients and make it yourself like your mother may have done.

For poor people, even the ingredients that they can afford tend to be shit. High in fats, sugars and/or salt. Low quality meat and pre-processed canned/boxed foods are also much cheaper than fresh ingredients.

Not to mention that some people's mothers are busy working two or more jobs and don't have time for anything besides a McDonalds quality dinner.

http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/
Voluntarily eating at/below the poverty level will change your perspective.

Re:Nasty aftertaste

[Eli Gottlieb]

Most people who smugly criticize America from abroad are European. If they angrily criticize America for what it did to their country, they're from South America or the Middle East. If they laugh at how much money they make off stupid Americans, they're from Asia.

The one exception is that Britons seem to have some understanding that their food is scarcely better than ours.