Scientists Prove Fructose-Diabetes Link

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Dec 16, 2009 at 20:38:22 PM PST

Over 10 weeks, 16 volunteers on a strictly controlled diet, including high levels of fructose, produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. Another group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems.

People in both groups put on a similar amount of weight. However, researchers at the University of California who conducted the trial, said the levels of weight gain among the fructose consumers would be greater over the long term.

Fructose bypasses the digestive process that breaks down other forms of sugar. It arrives intact in the liver where it causes a variety of abnormal reactions, including the disruption of mechanisms that instruct the body whether to burn or store fat.

"This is the first evidence we have that fructose increases diabetes and heart disease independently from causing simple weight gain," said Kimber Stanhope, a molecular biologist who led the study. "We didn't see any of these changes in the people eating glucose."

So I guess I have to quit making fun of people who proudly drink 100% cane sugar soda and act like it's a health food. Just an FYI - fruits are 5%-10% fructose by weight. I'm guessing there's more of it in fruit juice, which is why it's better to eat fruit than to chug lots of fruit juice.

Here's an article about this same topic by Fooducate. Their #1 recommendation is to skip the soda aisle at the store.

Danger: Sugar Substitutes

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 14:39:23 PM PDT

Everyone loves sweets, may it be in the form of snack bars or downing sugary sodas by the gallon and since sugar tends to go to our hips, many of us choose sugar substitutes instead. Wrong!

Progressive food policies

by: Ca-48 Steve Young

Mon Jul 28, 2008 at 10:11:34 AM PDT

A fundamental responsibility of our government is to protect the common good.  We take for granted, clean drinking water, protection of our national parks, and drug safety.  While the government falls short in all these areas, Americans have real expectations of their government.

Why don't our expectations extend to food?  I don't mean food safety (such as preventing the conditions described in "The Jungle" that prompted creation of the FDA), I am talking about government support of bad food.  An example -- government subsidies for "commodity corn."  Commodity Corn is inedible but is the raw material in processed foods.  The corn is turned into a variety of products like High-fructose corn syrup, or fed to livestock in manufacturing line slaughterhouses.  

Add the negative impacts of agribusiness -- pesticide runoff in our water systems, the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and other food sourced diseases, fertilizer contamination of our air, water and food, and the problems come into sharp focus.

I advocate a "Healthy Food Initiative" that will change the paradigm in America.  Imagine creating an infrastructure for a healthy, affordable food system by shifting massive subsidies from the pockets of Agribusiness to a system that rewards America's farmers, ranchers, fisherman, and others who feed us, for growing healthy food while protecting our environment.  We can do this with tax credits for farmers who reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides.  We can promote family farm ownership.  We can invest in community garden areas in urban areas.  These are some possibilities to change our food future.

Imagine a food future where food contributes to America's greatness, rather than just our GNP.  Imagine a food future that promotes healthy life styles and a clean environment.  Imagine a food future where environmental footprints is more important than shelf space foot prints for packaged food.  Imagine a food future where children learn to select foods for their value, not their sugary cartoon images.  It is time to stop imagining.  It is time to make this imagination of a food future a present reality.  It is time to be the change we want to be.  I feel that food is our future -- healthy food is our birthright.  Won't you join me in supporting my "Healthy Food Initiative"?  It is time for a fresh start.  It is time for healthy food.

Steve Young, Democrat for Congress, [Ca-48]
"For a fresh start"

Contribute to the Healthy Food Initiative.