What Sugar Actually Does to Your Brain and Body

Fructose-heavy soda is remarkably problematic because... you can keep drinking it while your body isn't recognizing your sugar intake—so your body remains hungry.

http://lifehacker.com/5809331/what-sugar-actually-does-to-your-brain-and-body

Princeton researchers find that High Fructose Corn Syrup makes you fat

A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain

A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

Study Links Diabetes and High Fructose Corn Syrup Found in Soda

A new study released Thursday suggests sodas sweetened with high fructose corn syrup may contribute to the development of diabetes. The study from researchers at Rutgers University, shows sodas sweetened with high fructose corn syrup contain high levels of compounds that previous research suggests may play a role in the development of diabetes. Especially when consumed in large amounts.




http://www.wtlv.com/news/health/news-article.aspx?storyid=89755
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Note that this article, like many others, includes comments from the The Corn Refiners Association and the American Beverage Association. Both are obviously open-minded to scientific studies that show fault with corn syrup. Also, like others, this article tries to downplay the effects of corn syrup and implies that eating fewer calories and exercising should be the main focus of any obesity study.

Cigarette companies could make similar arguments - studies should focus on unhealthy lifestyles and not cigarettes as a cause of problems.

Sugary drinks are piling on the pounds

An extra can of soda a day can pile on 15 pounds (7 kilograms) in a single year, and the evidence strongly suggests that this sort of increased consumption is a key reason that more people have gained weight, the researchers say.


Full Article Here

Soft drink trends have marched lock-step with the growing obesity epidemic, but industry groups have long fought efforts to say one directly caused the other. Not all studies conclude that beverages are at fault, and the new analysis ignored some that would have discounted such a link, the American Beverage Association said in a statement issued in response to the study.


"When it comes to beverage trends and obesity, "it's like documenting the force of gravity," he said. "There's an overwhelmingly strong case to be made for a causal relationship."
--Dr. David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital in Boston

High Fructose Creates Obesity

"If we talk about dangerous things - and trans fats have certainly been something that people have been looking at—but high-fructose corn syrup has probably done more to create obesity in this country than any single item.”

-Dr. Terry Mason, Chicago’s Commissioner of Public Health

The Wilmington Journal

More than 12 million adults to be obese within four years

By 2010, more than 12 million adults and more than 1 million children will be classified as obese unless preventive measures are taken, according to a Department of Health report, Forecast for Obesity to 2010.

Full Article here

Foods That Have High Fructose Corn Syrup

It is difficult to avoid products containing High Fructose Corn Syrup, which is why the average American is consuming over 40 pounds of it every year. In most cases, an alternative product can be found but it is usually more expensive (organic, for example).

Check the ingredients on many products. Corn syrup is showing up everywhere:

• Jelly: Smucker's, Welch's, other
  
• Syrup: Aunt Jemima Original Syrup, Log Cabin, Mrs. Butterworth's, other fake syrups
  
• Soda: Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7Up, Dr. Pepper, etc. - nearly all
• Power Drinks: Gatorade, Powerade
  
• Juice:
• Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
• Capri Sun Drinks- almost all High Fructose Corn Syrup with a little pear juice
• Minute Maid Products
• Most "fruit drinks"
  
• Barbeque Sauces
• Bread (nearly all high-volume brands)
  
• Flavored Mustard
• Ketchup
• Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
• Salad Dressing
• Ice Cream (any cheap store brand)
• Pickles
• Frozen and refrigerated products aimed at kids:
• popsicles
• ice cream treats
• juice boxes
• Candy
• M&Ms
• Caramels
• Twizzlers
• Lollipops
• Hard candies
• Gummy Bears
• GumBalls
• Jelly Beans
  

For a more complete list, click HERE

Note: Brands are trademarked and owned by the brand owners

Opinion on the NY Times Article Saying HFCS is Not Bad

This guy makes some interesting counterpoints about the NY Times Article-

Opinion Article That Rips on the NY Times Article


About the NY Times Article:

"If that doesn't get your corporate shill radar detector going I don't know what will."

High Fructose Makes Ninth-Grader Fat

Story About an Overweight Teenager

Ninth-grader DeAndre Patrick of Oxford has an admitted sweet tooth, and at 265 pounds and 6 feet tall, it shows.

"Sprite, Power-Ade, Vault, Fanta, Pepsi and Coke. I've been drinking them all my life, since I was 2," DeAndre said.

Comments-
In addition to being morbidly obese this kid had two abscessed teeth, one of which had to be pulled. His mom, who used to put soda in his baby bottle, is a moron.

Again, this article argues that too many of any calories make you fat which is a true statement. But it is not a relevant point as to whether HFCS is a problem or not.

UK Paper Summarizes Problems with HFCS

From a UK paper-

UK Paper - Times Online

Richard Faulks, ofthe Institute of Food Research in Norwich says:

“The problem with it is that it is too easy to consume too much,” Faulks says. “It is everywhere. You don’t always realise where it crops up because you don’t look for it, so you can take in large quantities of HFCS and think you are eating healthily.”

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Juan Zapata, a Republican in the Florida House of Representatives, calls HFCS the “crack of sweeteners” and wants it banned.

Counterpoint: Arguments Suggesting HFCS Does Not Make You Fat

Several Articles about why HFCS does not make you fat, sample articles here:

Denver Post

New York Times


Main arguments from these articles and a COUNTERPOINT

1. Mexico, Europe and Australia do not use HFCS and they are getting fat. COUNTERPOINT: THAT IS LIKE SAYING COAL DUST CAUSES CANCER, THEREFORE CIGARETTES ARE NOT THE CAUSE. INCREASED CALORIE CONSUMPTION CAUSES OBESITY. HFCS IS ONE (DOMINANT) FACTOR, NOT THE ONLY FACTOR. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE CAUSE OF OBESITY, HFCS JUST HAPPENS TO BE A BIG ONE.
   
2. University of Washington gave diet cola, milk, and cola to 37 people and found no difference in satiety levels: COUNTERPOINT: ONE WOULD NOT EXPECT A NOTICABLE DIFFERENCE ON ONE DRINK. MEASURE THIS GROUP OVER A YEAR, ONE PART USING HFCS AND THE OTHERS WITHOUT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
3. University of North Carolina nutrition professor Barry M. Popkin organized a panel to discuss HFCS and concluded that it is no different than sugar: COUNTERPOINT: A BUNCH OF PEOPLE IN A ROOM IS NOT A SCIENTIFIC STUDY.
4. High Fructose Corn Syrup is not bad by itself, just eating too many of any calories is bad (Dr. Walter Willet, Harvard): COUNTERPOINT: TRUE, EATING TOO MANY CALORIES OF ANYTHING IS BAD. HOWEVER, HFCS HAS BEEN SCIENTIFICALLY SHOWN TO CAUSE PEOPLE TO EAT MORE CALORIES THAN IF THEY CONSUMED SUGAR.
5. We need more studies, we do not have proof: COUNTERPOINT: THE SAME ARGUMENT WAS MADE BY CIGARETTE COMPANIES IN THE 1970s