Mer om fructos, inte fruktsocker eller socker
http://www.science20.com/michael_goran/issue_fructose_period-90840
New evidence shows that large amounts of fructose are harmful because of the way fructose is metabolized. Fructose is taken up almost exclusively by the liver where it can be re-packaged as fat and produces harmful by-products in the process. Excess fructose consumption has therefore been linked to gout, hypertension, dyslipidemia, fatty liver disease, diabetes, and obesity.
This high level of fructose consumption may be devastating for infants and children. Studies show a strong link between high sugar consumption and obesity beginning in infancy.
Why? Because from an evolutionary perspective babies are not programmed to handle fructose, which is not present in breast milk. Lactose, the principal sugar in mother's milk, is made from glucose and galactose. The metabolic process required to handle fructose only emerges later in development.
Fructose is often called "fruit sugar" and perceived as healthy because it naturally occurs in most fruit. But fructose from fruit is encased in fiber-rich flesh that slows and reduces its absorption in the body and its metabolism in the liver, serving as a sort of antidote to the negative effects of fructose metabolism. The raw fructose in HFCS (High fructose corn syrup) and normal table sugar is not encased in a friendly fiber flesh, making it more likely to wreak havoc on your metabolism.
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At the bare minimum we must have food labels that differentiate sugars in the same way as they differentiate fats, with a clear indication of the fructose content.
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The FDA turned down a request from the Corn Industry to re-name high fructose corn syrup as "corn sugar". And then there is that huge advertising campaign that denies that sweetened beverages are driving the obesity epidemic.
Are all sugars and sweeteners really the same and do they have the same effects on the body? The corn industry propounds that sugar and high fructose corn syrup are the same but when our lab at USC took up the question, we found a far murkier and distressing picture.
Our study showed that certain popular sodas and other beverages contain a fructose content approaching 65% of sugars. This works out to be 30% more fructose than if the sodas were made with natural sugar. HFCS can be made to have any proportion of fructose, as high as 90%, and added to foods without the need to disclose the specific fructose content.
In short: Sometimes we get a double dose of fructose without knowing so--something that no FDA advisory committee would approve if it came to labeling, say, a new prescription drug.
Related Articles on Science 2.0
- Dispelled - High Fructose Corn Syrup Causal Link To Obesity
- High-Fructose Corn Syrup Worse Than Table Sugar - Study
- Does Corn Sugar Make You Fatter Than Sucrose?
- Not All Sugary Ingredients Are Created Equal
- Cut Fructose, Lose Weight
