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One interesting part is that they used fewer calories of HFCS than sugar in the trial, yet it still prompted more weight gain.

zackattack 17y ago
This would make more sense if I had a better understanding of biochemistry. It's only a matter of time before an awesome explanation is posted. (Yes....!)
- icey 17y ago
  It may be as simple as corn syrup causing the body to think it needs to store more fat for some reason or another.
- maxharris 17y ago
  http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16717 http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16717 For what it's worth, I'm in my second semester of biochemistry, and we've studied almost every one of the pathways he talks about in our class, in detail. Dr. Lustig is dead on about the science behind obesity.
  - aik 17y ago
    Thanks for the link. That's a great lecture. Have more on this topic? Few points he talks about: - In processed/fast food foods, fiber is often taken out to make shipping easier and cooking faster. This is the only reason fiber isn't seen as an essential nutrient in this country. Without the fiber, the appetite doesn't get quenched as quickly (as the food doesn't go through you as quickly) and so you eat more. - Stress increases appetite. - Sugar, fructose, and high fructose corn syrup do not suppress the appetite either. Also, drinking/eating soda/juice/sugary foods with a meal delays the satiety signal. This means you don't feel the fullness as quickly when sweetness is in your food/drink and so you eat more. - Adding sugar to a salty food (and vice versa) neutralizes the salty/sweetness on your tongue. Companies often make use of this fact. For example, Coke has come out with new formulas where the only change is increased sodium and increased sugar/high fructose corn syrup to counterbalance. - High Fructose Corn Syrup was created in Japan. HFCS is so widely used because it is so super super cheap compared to other sweeteners. He jokes that Japan sent it to the US as revenge.
- absconditus 17y ago
  From the article: "First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two simple sugars -- it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- but the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized." I highly recommend watching "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" for information on the biochemistry of the metabolism of fructose and glucose. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
- riahi 17y ago
  A basic explanation is that fructose is metabolized very differently from glucose. Glucose is absorbed from the digestive tract and directly enters the blood; fructose is routed to the liver and converted into fat. Considering the difference in these mechanisms, it isn't surprising that HFCS leads to higher weight gain, because it directly leads to increased synthesis of adipose tissue.
  - tcskeptic 17y ago
    But sucrose is 50% fructose as well, the 5% difference in Fructose content between Sucrose and HFCS does not appear to be sufficient to explain the difference in weight gain, especially since overall HFCS calories consumed were lower. There is something weird going on here beyond just the fructose content of HFCS.
    - electromagnetic 17y ago
      Glucose enters the bloodstream directly where it is likely measured by our body (like everything is from blood salinity to oxygen and CO2 concentrations), a 5% reduction in glucose in a concentration of sucrose (IE natural sugar) would likely be misread by the body. If you get 50 calories of glucose in a set quantity of sucrose, your body expects there to be 50 calories of fructose. If you're getting 47.5 calories of glucose, your body expects you to be getting 47.5 calories of fructose not 52.5, this would mean your body interprets you eating an equal amount of calories as eating less calories. There's another reason I've read as to why we're naturally susceptible to high-fructose, which is that our direct ancestors are predominantly fruit-eaters. Humans, and many of our ancestors, are unable to produce Vitamin C directly because our food sources were high enough sources that our bodies didn't have to waste energy synthesising it. This means we have the instinct to pig out when we find high-fructose concentrations, our bodies cheaped out on a solution to ensure high Vitamin C intake. It only happens that we've recently began screwing around with our foods to a large enough degree that we're directly suffering from this short cut evolution took.

zackattack 17y ago

This would make more sense if I had a better understanding of biochemistry. It's only a matter of time before an awesome explanation is posted. (Yes....!)

icey 17y ago
It may be as simple as corn syrup causing the body to think it needs to store more fat for some reason or another.
maxharris 17y ago
http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16717 http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16717 For what it's worth, I'm in my second semester of biochemistry, and we've studied almost every one of the pathways he talks about in our class, in detail. Dr. Lustig is dead on about the science behind obesity.
- aik 17y ago
  Thanks for the link. That's a great lecture. Have more on this topic? Few points he talks about: - In processed/fast food foods, fiber is often taken out to make shipping easier and cooking faster. This is the only reason fiber isn't seen as an essential nutrient in this country. Without the fiber, the appetite doesn't get quenched as quickly (as the food doesn't go through you as quickly) and so you eat more. - Stress increases appetite. - Sugar, fructose, and high fructose corn syrup do not suppress the appetite either. Also, drinking/eating soda/juice/sugary foods with a meal delays the satiety signal. This means you don't feel the fullness as quickly when sweetness is in your food/drink and so you eat more. - Adding sugar to a salty food (and vice versa) neutralizes the salty/sweetness on your tongue. Companies often make use of this fact. For example, Coke has come out with new formulas where the only change is increased sodium and increased sugar/high fructose corn syrup to counterbalance. - High Fructose Corn Syrup was created in Japan. HFCS is so widely used because it is so super super cheap compared to other sweeteners. He jokes that Japan sent it to the US as revenge.
absconditus 17y ago
From the article: "First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two simple sugars -- it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- but the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized." I highly recommend watching "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" for information on the biochemistry of the metabolism of fructose and glucose. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
riahi 17y ago
A basic explanation is that fructose is metabolized very differently from glucose. Glucose is absorbed from the digestive tract and directly enters the blood; fructose is routed to the liver and converted into fat. Considering the difference in these mechanisms, it isn't surprising that HFCS leads to higher weight gain, because it directly leads to increased synthesis of adipose tissue.
- tcskeptic 17y ago
  But sucrose is 50% fructose as well, the 5% difference in Fructose content between Sucrose and HFCS does not appear to be sufficient to explain the difference in weight gain, especially since overall HFCS calories consumed were lower. There is something weird going on here beyond just the fructose content of HFCS.
  - electromagnetic 17y ago
    Glucose enters the bloodstream directly where it is likely measured by our body (like everything is from blood salinity to oxygen and CO2 concentrations), a 5% reduction in glucose in a concentration of sucrose (IE natural sugar) would likely be misread by the body. If you get 50 calories of glucose in a set quantity of sucrose, your body expects there to be 50 calories of fructose. If you're getting 47.5 calories of glucose, your body expects you to be getting 47.5 calories of fructose not 52.5, this would mean your body interprets you eating an equal amount of calories as eating less calories. There's another reason I've read as to why we're naturally susceptible to high-fructose, which is that our direct ancestors are predominantly fruit-eaters. Humans, and many of our ancestors, are unable to produce Vitamin C directly because our food sources were high enough sources that our bodies didn't have to waste energy synthesising it. This means we have the instinct to pig out when we find high-fructose concentrations, our bodies cheaped out on a solution to ensure high Vitamin C intake. It only happens that we've recently began screwing around with our foods to a large enough degree that we're directly suffering from this short cut evolution took.