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A new study from the University of Florida indicates that fructose syrup may play a role in changing body chemistry to create obesity.

Fructose is a sugar found in fruit. Fructose syrup is a common ingredient in table sugar, corn syrup, and many foods and beverages.

The Florida team fed two groups of mice the same diet, except that one group also consumed fructose syrup. After six months, members of the fructose group had higher levels of triglycerides in their blood. Next, the scientists injected all the rats with leptin, a substance that ordinarily would decrease appetite and lower food intake. However, the fructose group members did not decrease their food intake as the other group did.

Dr. Philip Scarpace, one of the authors of the study, believes that elevated triglycerides somehow prevent leptin from entering the brain. Leptin, Scarpace said, signals the brain to "stop eating".

The study appeared in the journal Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

Labels: brain_activity, causes of childhood obesity, sugars

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Consumer Reports ranked children's breakfast cereals and found that eleven had more sugar than a glazed donut from Dunkin' Donuts. Most of the cereals marketed to children did not contain much fiber and were high in sodium. The top cereals for sugar content were Kellogg's Honey Smacks and Post Golden Crisps.

Labels: diet, sugars

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A new study from the University of Florida has found that cutting fructose may do more for weight-management and weight-loss than cutting carbs. The findings were recently published in the European Journal of Nutrition.

"Many diets - including the low-carb variety - are based on the glycemic index, which measures how foods affect blood glucose levels. Because starches convert to glucose in the body, these diets tend to limit foods such as rice and potatoes. While table sugar is composed of both glucose and fructose, fructose seems to be the more dangerous part of the equation, UF researchers say. Eating too much fructose causes uric acid levels to spike, which can block the ability of insulin to regulate how the body cells use and store sugar and other nutrients for energy, leading to obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes..."

Though fructose isn't the only culprit in the current obesity epidemic, it may play a more important role that previously believed. Researchers warn, however, that junk food, high-fat food and a sedentary lifestyle are important factors as well.

Labels: nutrition, healthy_eating, sugars

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