Well, looky here! We're getting more and more proof that fructose, especially high fructose corn syrup, plays a major role in the obesity epidemic.
Suspicions were high, of course.
Between 1970 and 2005, the same period when our weight problems went berserk, so did the use of HFCS-which went up by 10,763%.
I mean, that "coincidence" should get anybody's attention.
In fact, it got the attention of researchers.
Now science backs up our suspicions.
First, some background.
In 1994, scientists discovered leptin, an endocrine hormone created by-get this-our body fat.
Leptin works as a fat tracker.
It tells your brain when enough is enough, and we get the message to stop eating.
Or at least that's the way God intended for things to go.
When it works, nobody gets fat.
When it doesn't work, the brain never gets the message, and people get fatter than ever.
What gums up the works? Man-made fructose, which comes without the enzymes, fiber and other natural attributes seen in nature does.
Synthetic products not found in nature usually do, and that includes high fructose corn syrup-which is what I'm talking about.
Fructose blows the whole leptin thing out of the water.
Our bodies have no idea what to do with fructose.
Every cell we own can metabolize sucrose-sugar-but not fructose.
And since our cells can't handle fructose, it gets dumped into the liver because that's where all the bad stuff goes.
Well, the liver doesn't know what to do with fructose either.
Adding to the problem, the liver can process-not metabolize, but process-about nine grams of fructose a day, while the average can of high fructose corn syrup laden soda has more than five times that amount-48 grams.
And since fructose is everywhere, in almost everything, the overload doesn't stop there.
So, the liver's drowning in fructose.
Eventually, cometh the fatty liver, similar to an alcoholic, with all the problems that entails.
Immediately, however, the liver's struggles cause two things: A raise in blood pressure and a jump in our triglyceride level.
Doctors noticed long since a relationship between high blood pressure and obesity.
And now we know how leptin gets involved.
High triglycerides throw a blockade in front of the brain so leptin can't get in to deliver its enough-is-enough message.
That's leptin resistance, the quick path to obesity.
But fructose doesn't stop there.
Fructose messes with insulin, too.
While sucrose gets the attention of insulin, fructose never does.
Insulin, another endocrine hormone, makes sure sugar gets handled, but, again, it doesn't know what to do with fructose.
Long story short, fructose leads to insulin resistance which leads to Type 2 diabetes.
So there you have it.
High fructose corn syrup creates chaos in your body and does a number on your health.
The more you take in, the greater the mess.
Artificial sweeteners are at least as bad.
As I said, the body doesn't deal well with synthetics.
While sugar wins no prizes as a health food, it beats fructose and artificial sweeteners hands down because our bodies know what in the world to do with it.
So, fructose messes with two endocrine hormones-that much we know so far.
What about the rest of them-thyroid, adrenal, etc.
? Especially since they're all connected with each other.
Stay tuned.