Voice-over:
Americans trying to trim their waistlines often blame frequent snack attacks for many of those
extra pounds. Now new research finds when it comes to satisfying cravings for confections, not
only is moderation vital, certain sugars actually bite back.
Voice-over:
A University of Florida study suggests fructose, a key component of table sugar, and high fructose corn syrup, the super sweetener found in many processed foods, may trigger metabolic syndrome, a main precursor to type-2 diabetes characterized by obesity, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels. Americans are feasting on more fructose than ever. Consumption is up thirty percent since the early 1970s. It’s in soft drinks, jellies, pastries… even ketchup.
The number of people with metabolic syndrome, meanwhile, has more than doubled worldwide, to more than fifty-five million in the United States alone.
Dr. Richard Johnson / UF kidney disease expert:
“The common concept is that the reason a person gets fat is that because they eat too many calories and they don’t do enough exercise. What our data suggests is that certain foods, and in particular fructose, may actually speed the process for a person to become obese.”
Voice-over:
U-F researchers fed lab rats high-fructose diets and found fructose caused a rapid rise in uric acid levels in their blood. That blocked the action of insulin, which regulates how cells use and store sugar and other nutrients for energy, and caused the animals to become obese. Doctors say the same chemical reaction, if confirmed in people, might be fueling the nation’s obesity epidemic. But it could be reversible. When U-F scientists lowered levels of uric acid in the rats’ blood, the animals gained less weight, their blood pressure dropped and blood levels of bad fats diminished. The research also indicates other forms of sugar don’t engage the same biochemical pathway as fructose, so they may be a better choice for some consumers.
Dr. Richard Johnson / UF kidney disease expert:
“It may well be we don’t need to cut out all carbohydrates but just cut out certain types of carbohydrates. So this may be an alternative to the Atkins type of approach, which cuts out all carbohydrates or cuts them out nondiscriminately.”
Voice-over:
At the University of Florida Health Science Center, I’m Mike Garrison
