Showing posts with label fructose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fructose. Show all posts
Fructose is Behind the Diabesity Epidemic
Sunday, May 11, 2014
(Article first published as Why You Can’t Lose Weight: Study Finds Fructose Behind the Diabesity Epidemic on Technorati.)
Fructose is fast becoming a new type of four-letter word among people trying to lose weight and those health conscious individuals concerned about excess dietary sugar and increased risk of metabolic diseases including diabetes. The medical profession has coined the phrase ‘diabesity’, as diabetes and obesity frequently coexist. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was introduced into our food supply in the early 70’s and obesity rates have steadily increased in tandem with fructose consumption since that time.
Researchers have demonstrated that calories from drinks and foods containing fructose are metabolized differently than the same calories from table sugar. While both sugars contain empty calories, fructose is converted to fat in the liver and doesn’t register as an available energy source that the body can use to power metabolic activities. This means that the proper hormonal signals aren’t transmitted to the brain telling you to stop eating, as is the case with traditional sugar sources. The tendency is to overeat and fat is quickly stored from fructose metabolism.
Most people known that fructose is a form of sugar derived from fruit. While some people may need to limit fruit due to existing metabolic problems, this form of fructose is not the cause of the obesity and diabetic dilemma. Fructose from fruit is tightly bound with fiber and releases slowly. Refined fructose, especially in the form of HFCS has been processed to optimize sweetness.
Diabetes cases have similarly grown over the past 40 years and it is now expected that more than half of the US population will be prediabetic or diabetic by 2020. There’s no mistake making the connection between increased dietary fructose from sweetened beverages and processed foods to the explosion of overweight, obese and diabetic Americans.
Fructose Rapidly Breaks Down and Becomes Belly Fat
Study Links Fructose to Obesity and Diabetes
Due to government subsidies, inexpensive HFCS has found its way into virtually every processed food source. It’s nearly impossible to avoid the sweetener unless you eat a raw, natural diet, as HFCS is added into everything from baked goods and breads to hot dogs and condiments The results of a study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology makes the link between fructose consumption and the dramatic rise in obesity rates over the past 40 years. The study also cited a connection with hypertension and renal disease.
Controlling Weight by Understanding the Impact of Fructose
Once you get a taste for fructose, even table sugar doesn’t seem as sweet. The important point is that fructose has the same number of calories as any sugar source, but it doesn’t register properly with our brain and leads to overeating and excess fat production and storage.
Nutritional researchers continue to make the connection between fructose, obesity and increased risk of diabetes. The best way to avoid fructose is move away from processed foods and drink, favoring foods in their natural form. Read all nutritional labels diligently, as manufacturers are allowed to use a variety of different terms to indicate the presence of the sweetener. Cut your dependence on fructose and its derivatives to hit your target weight goal and prevent metabolic disease.
Cut High Fructose Corn Syrup to Lose Weight
Monday, May 5, 2014
(Article first published as Is High Fructose Corn Syrup Linked to Diabetes and Abdominal Fat? on Technorati.)
As Americans continue to fight a losing battle in the war against abdominal fat, newly emerging information from the Endocrine Society implicates high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) with the metabolic disorder which leads to diabetes and storage of fat around the waist. HFCS is found in virtually every processed food and drink available on grocery store shelves because it’s inexpensive to produce, and readily available due to government subsidies.
Extensive research reveals that HFCS is metabolized much differently than regular sugar by the body. Although HFCS contains about the same amount of calories as sugar, the calories don’t register as being consumed by the brain, causing you to eat more before you feel full. Additionally, HFCS consumed from an early age affects the immature fat cells, forcing higher numbers to become mature abdominal fat cells in adult life.
HFCS promotes belly fat from early childhood, a problem with significant health implications considering the massive amounts of sweetened, processed foods and soft drinks consumed by children and teens. This research underlines the critical importance of eliminating HFCS from our diet at an early age, allowing our metabolism to release stored fat and lose weight naturally. Follow these steps to flush HFCS from your diet.
Step 1: Eliminate Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices
Americans consume nearly 45 pounds of HFCS every year, and one of the primary sources is sweetened beverages. Soft drinks and fruit juices contain between 150 and 200 calories per serving, and those calories don’t register as part of the total caloric intake for the day. This means that calories from HFCS sweetened drinks are much more likely to be stored directly as abdominal fat, making it very difficult to lose weight. Substitute water and tea which can be sweetened with the natural sweetener stevia, if necessary.
Step 2: Avoid Fast Foods and Processed Foods
Fast food is notorious for providing little nutritional value, and it’s loaded with HFCS in items you may not even suspect. In an effort to make their offerings more appealing to the taste buds, fast food makers pump high fructose corn syrup into shakes, salad dressings, chocolate milk, condiments, hamburger buns and even certain meats have been injected with the sweetener.
Virtually all processed and ined foods are laced with high amounts of the obesity sweetener. Read nutritional labels on all processed food items with a special eye on ketchup, pancake and cake mixes, luncheon meats and hot dogs. Substitute foods in their natural form which haven’t been created in a food manufacturing lab. Choose not to be a test subject in this very dangerous experiment.
Step 3: Choose 100% Organic Foods
Choose foods that remain in their most natural form which are typically found in the outer aisles in most food markets. When reading labels, look for ‘100% organic’, as this is your only guarantee no HFCS or other chemical contaminants have been added. Fill up on plenty of raw, leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds and unprocessed meats to avoid the temptation from HFCS laced foods. Be caul to limit fruit consumption, as fructose is fruit sugar, and in excess can cause many of the same problems as its processed twin.
High fructose corn syrup is a metabolically active, unnatural sweetener which has been shown to alter the normal distribution of fat in the body. Humans didn’t evolve to process calories from HFCS, as it has only been in the food supply for the last 40 years. Help children and your family develop a healthy diet which is free of HFCS by reading all food labels and avoiding fast and processed foods, sugary drinks and fruit juices. Weight loss will be a welcome side effect as belly fat is naturally released and health is rapidly restored.
Extensive research reveals that HFCS is metabolized much differently than regular sugar by the body. Although HFCS contains about the same amount of calories as sugar, the calories don’t register as being consumed by the brain, causing you to eat more before you feel full. Additionally, HFCS consumed from an early age affects the immature fat cells, forcing higher numbers to become mature abdominal fat cells in adult life.
HFCS promotes belly fat from early childhood, a problem with significant health implications considering the massive amounts of sweetened, processed foods and soft drinks consumed by children and teens. This research underlines the critical importance of eliminating HFCS from our diet at an early age, allowing our metabolism to release stored fat and lose weight naturally. Follow these steps to flush HFCS from your diet.
Step 1: Eliminate Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices
Step 2: Avoid Fast Foods and Processed Foods
Fast food is notorious for providing little nutritional value, and it’s loaded with HFCS in items you may not even suspect. In an effort to make their offerings more appealing to the taste buds, fast food makers pump high fructose corn syrup into shakes, salad dressings, chocolate milk, condiments, hamburger buns and even certain meats have been injected with the sweetener.
Virtually all processed and ined foods are laced with high amounts of the obesity sweetener. Read nutritional labels on all processed food items with a special eye on ketchup, pancake and cake mixes, luncheon meats and hot dogs. Substitute foods in their natural form which haven’t been created in a food manufacturing lab. Choose not to be a test subject in this very dangerous experiment.
Step 3: Choose 100% Organic Foods
Choose foods that remain in their most natural form which are typically found in the outer aisles in most food markets. When reading labels, look for ‘100% organic’, as this is your only guarantee no HFCS or other chemical contaminants have been added. Fill up on plenty of raw, leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds and unprocessed meats to avoid the temptation from HFCS laced foods. Be caul to limit fruit consumption, as fructose is fruit sugar, and in excess can cause many of the same problems as its processed twin.
High fructose corn syrup is a metabolically active, unnatural sweetener which has been shown to alter the normal distribution of fat in the body. Humans didn’t evolve to process calories from HFCS, as it has only been in the food supply for the last 40 years. Help children and your family develop a healthy diet which is free of HFCS by reading all food labels and avoiding fast and processed foods, sugary drinks and fruit juices. Weight loss will be a welcome side effect as belly fat is naturally released and health is rapidly restored.
Fructose Increases Cardiovascular and Diabetes Risk in Children
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University have published evidence that cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk is present in the blood fractions of adolescents who consume a lot of fructose, a scenario that worsens in the face of excess belly fat. Publishingin the Journal of Nutrition, scientists determined that high dietary fructose consumption results in lower levels of cardiovascular protectors such as HDL cholesterol and adiponectin, due in part to how the body metabolizes the fruit-based mega-sweetener at the cellular level.
Excess body fat accumulated around the mid-section, a rapidly growing problem in adolescents, compounds the problem when compared to those with less visceral fat deposits. A wealth of scientifically validated research studies now highlight the importance of eliminating fructose in all its forms from the diet of both adults and children alike to dramatically reduce risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Fructose Metabolism Increases Risk from Metabolic and Fatty Liver Disease
The study detailed an analysis of 559 adolescents, aged 14 to 18 and detailed cardiovascular risk factors including high blood pressure, fasting glucose, insulin resistance and blood inflammatory factors. Excess fat around the midsection was found to exacerbate the identified risk factors, as compared to those with generalized fat right beneath the skin known as subcutaneous fat, where an association was not evident.
Consumption of fructoseis higher in children and adolescents, placing them at increased risk for heart disease and metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Fructose or simple fruit sugar is naturally found in fruits and vegetables where it is closely bound with fiber and is slowly released into the blood stream. Many processed food and drink manufacturers use liberal quantities of pure high fructose corn syrup extract that is metabolized through a different pathway as compared to glucose or table sugar.
Fructose is Metabolized in the Liver Where it Causes Metabolic Dysfunction in Excess
One of the study authors, Dr. Norman Pollock noted “Fructose itself is metabolized differently than other sugars and has some byproducts that are believed to be bad for us… theres something in the syrup processing that plays a role in the bad byproducts of metabolism.” The Corn Refiners Association, through a never ending barrage of advertisements, wants you to believe that there is no difference between high fructose corn syrup and regular sugar. Medical research has documented that fructose is processed primarily in the liver where it wreaks havoc, leading to fatty liver disease and even cirrhosis after excessive and repeated exposure.
Parents and caregivers to children will want to dramatically curb or eliminate fructose in the diet by removing processed foods and sugary beverages. Limit fruit consumption and natural fruit juices that can lead to excess consumption of the fruit sugar. It is especially important to read nutritional labels as fructose and high fructose corn syrup appear in many unsuspecting food sources. Nutrition experts recommend limiting natural fructose consumption to no more than 25 grams per day at an early age to minimize the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in later life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
