Chew on This: It's that ol' High Fructose Corn Syrup again
Spare a thought for the poor rat. Their 'moderate' consumption over 10 weeks of fructose-containing sweeteners may produce 'modest but significant changes' which could contribute the the development of Metabolic Syndrome, according to a University of Washington study.
It's that High Fructose Corn Syrup again - you know, the stuff the HFCS people have been campaigning to promote as your friendly sweetener unfairly accused of being responsible for causing obesity and ill health. They just can't shake off those pesky scientists who found with this research that while the rats didn't gain weight, there were changes in their liver and lipid metabolism that may lead to the onset of Metabolic Syndrome. Also known as Syndrome X, it's a condition characterised by central obesity, hypertension, and disturbed glucose and insulin metabolism that's been linked to increased risks of both type 2 diabetes and cardio vascular disease.
The sweeteners compared were agave syrup, which is 90 percent fructose, fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup, HFCS plus the appetite suppressor Hoodia - Stevia, the non-calorific sweetener. The rats slurped either water or one of drinks sweetened at 12.5 percent as their only source of liquid at night for three nights a week (to mimic moderate human drinking levels of sweetened drinks) for 10 weeks. At the end of the period, cholesterol levels were higher in the rats on fructose and HFCS - although they did fall inside the normal range. Triglyceride levels had significant increases in rats on agave, HFCS and HFCS plus Hoodia as against the rats on plain water.
“We demonstrated," wrote the researchers, "that moderate consumption of sweeteners in drinking water leads to marked changes of drinking behaviour and that fructose consumption leads to modest but significant changes in markers of liver and lipid metabolism...the lipid and liver metabolism changes indicate that even moderate fructose consumption might contribute to the onset or development of the Metabolic Syndrome, which might be exacerbated by consumption of a Westernized high-fat diet.”
32 percent of adult Americans are estimated to be affected by Metabolic Syndrome. Obesity has been established as the main risk factor for the syndrome.
It's that High Fructose Corn Syrup again - you know, the stuff the HFCS people have been campaigning to promote as your friendly sweetener unfairly accused of being responsible for causing obesity and ill health. They just can't shake off those pesky scientists who found with this research that while the rats didn't gain weight, there were changes in their liver and lipid metabolism that may lead to the onset of Metabolic Syndrome. Also known as Syndrome X, it's a condition characterised by central obesity, hypertension, and disturbed glucose and insulin metabolism that's been linked to increased risks of both type 2 diabetes and cardio vascular disease.
The sweeteners compared were agave syrup, which is 90 percent fructose, fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup, HFCS plus the appetite suppressor Hoodia - Stevia, the non-calorific sweetener. The rats slurped either water or one of drinks sweetened at 12.5 percent as their only source of liquid at night for three nights a week (to mimic moderate human drinking levels of sweetened drinks) for 10 weeks. At the end of the period, cholesterol levels were higher in the rats on fructose and HFCS - although they did fall inside the normal range. Triglyceride levels had significant increases in rats on agave, HFCS and HFCS plus Hoodia as against the rats on plain water.
“We demonstrated," wrote the researchers, "that moderate consumption of sweeteners in drinking water leads to marked changes of drinking behaviour and that fructose consumption leads to modest but significant changes in markers of liver and lipid metabolism...the lipid and liver metabolism changes indicate that even moderate fructose consumption might contribute to the onset or development of the Metabolic Syndrome, which might be exacerbated by consumption of a Westernized high-fat diet.”
32 percent of adult Americans are estimated to be affected by Metabolic Syndrome. Obesity has been established as the main risk factor for the syndrome.
Posted on Wednesday 11th November 2009 in
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