Monthly Archives: December 2009

December 7, 2009 · 2:00 AM

Are Fructose and High Fructose Corn Syrup Bad for Us?

Table sugar (sucrose) is a combination of glucose and fructose

Darya Pino earlier this month posted at her Summer Tomato blog a video regarding high fructose corn syrup.  The speaker in the video is pediatric endocrinologist Robert Lustig, M.D., of the University of California—San Francisco.
In the U.S. between 1970 and 1990, consumption of high fructose corn syrup increased over 1000%.  During those two decades, the incidence of overweight and obesity nearly doubled.  Many wonder if this is more than just coincidental. Most of this fructose is in soft drinks.  Soft drink consumption per person in 1942 was two servings per week.  In 2000, consumption was two servings per day.  Of course, these drinks typically have few nutrients other than sugars.
I wrote about fructose possibly being “the new trans fat” almost two years ago.

Dr. Lustig is convinced that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a chronic toxin, at least in the amounts many of us eat, and the cause of our current epidemic of childhood and adult obesity and overweight.  Even if this idea is not new to you, you may be interested to hear the biochemistry and physiology behind his position.  If you didn’t enjoy college lectures or are not a food science geek, you probably won’t be able to sit through this 1.5-hour video. 

I enjoyed the heck out of it!  Made me feel like I was back in college again.  Few of my professors were as good as Dr. Lustig at lecturing. 

Here are a few of his other major points:

  • HFCS was invented in Japan in the 1960s, then introduced to U.S. markets in 1975
  • sucrose and fructose are both poisons
  • in the U.S. we eat 63 pounds (28.6 kg) of HFCS and 141 pounds (64.1 kg) of sugar per year [he didn’t define “sugar” in this context]
  • he praises Yudkins book, Pure, White, and Deadly [I’ve written about the Cleave-Yudkin carbohydrate theory of chronic disease]
  • the triglyceride/HDL ratio predicts heart disease much better than does LDL cholesterol
  • chronic high fructose intake causes the metabolic syndrome [does he think it’s the only cause?]
  • only the liver can metabolize fructose, in contrast to every other tissue and organ that can use glucose as an energy supply
  • high fructose consumption increases the risk of gout and high blood pressure
  • fructose interferes with production of our body’s production of nitrous oxide—a natural circulatory dilator—leading to higher blood pressures
  • fructose increases de novo lipogenesis—in other words, it creates body fat
  • fructose interferes with natural chemical messengers that tell your brain you’ve had enough food and it’s time to stop eating
  • high fructose intake reduces LDL particle size, potentially increasing the future risk of cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks [small, dense LDL cholesterol is more damaging to your arteries that large, fluffy LDL]

So What? 

You don’t need polititians to reduce your consumption of sugary soft drinks and high fructose corn syrup—do it yourself starting today.  Read food labels—HFCS is everywhere.  I’ve found it in sausage! 

The food industry greatly reduced use of trans fats in response to consumer concerns, before the polititians ever dabbled in it.  HFCS can go the same route.  Consumption of soft drinks, sports drinks, and other sugary beverages—the major sources of HFCS—is up to you.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: The Advanced Mediterranean Diet and Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet are naturally low in fructose.

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December 3, 2009 · 8:07 PM

Is Olive Oil Less Healthy When Used for Cooking?

Cooking doesn’t destroy much of olive oil’s healthy properties, according to registered dietitian Karen Collins in a recent guest post at CalorieLab.

I’ve been wondering about this since olive oil plays such a prominent role in the Advanced Mediterranean and Ketogenic Mediterranean Diets.  I use room-temperature olive oil on my salads and vegetables, but also use it  to sauté vegetables, eggs, and meat. 

Olive oil is the major fat in the traditional Mediterranean diet.  It has heart-healthy and perhaps anti-cancer action related to monounsaturated fat and phenolic compounds that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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December 1, 2009 · 2:00 AM

Quote of the Day

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet our heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? 

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

                                                                 Matthew 6: 25-27  (New International Version)

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December 1, 2009 · 2:00 AM

Book Review: Atkins Diabetes Revolution

I must give credit to Dr. Robert C. Atkins for popularizing an approach – carbohydrate restriction – that helps people with diabetes control their disease, and likely helps prevent type 2 diabetes in others.  Mary C. Vernon and Jacqueline Eberstein do a great job explaining his program in their 2004 book, Atkins Diabetes Revolution: The Groundbreaking Approach to Preventing and Controlling Type 2 Diabetes. 

On the Amazon.com five-star rating scale, I give this book four stars.

I can best summarize this book by noting that it is the standard Atkins diet with a few modifications: 1) special supplements  2) you add additional carbs to your diet more slowly  3) the warning that diabetics may well end up with a lower acceptable lifetime carbohydrate intake level.

By way of review, the Atkins diet is a very low-carb diet, particularly in the two-week induction phase.  “Very low-carb” means lots of meat, chicken, fish, eggs, limited cheese, and 2-3 cups daily of salad greens and low-carb veggies like onions, tomatoes, broccoli, and snow peas.  After induction phase, you slowly add back carbs on a weekly basis until weight loss stalls, then you cut back on carbs.

As an adult medicine specialist, I have no expertise in pediatrics.  I didn’t read the two chapters related to children.

The authors present “complimentary medicine”in a favorable light.  Unsuspecting readers need to know that much of complementary medicine is based on hearsay and anecdote, not science-based evidence.  In that same vein, the two chapters on supplements for diabetes and heart disease recommend a cocktail of supplements that I’m not convinced are needed.  I don’t know a single endocrinologist or cardiologist prescribing these concoctions.  Then again, I could be wrong.   

Vernon and Eberstein provide two excellent chapters on exercise.

A month of meal plans and recipes are provided for 20, 40, and 60-gram carbohydrate levels.  [The average American is eating 250-300 g of carbs daily.]  The recipes look quick and easy, but I didn’t prepare or taste any of them.

The 5-hour glucose and insulin tolerance test (GTT, paged 61) that Dr. Atkins reportedly ran on all patients who came to him is rarely done in other medical clinics.  This doesn’t mean it’s wrong, but certainly out of the mainstream.  The authors admit that at least a few people will have to count calories – specifically, limit total calories – if the basic program doesn’t control diabetes, prediabetes, and the metabolic syndrome.  Limiting portion size will speed weight loss, they write.

What we don’t know with certainty is, will long-term Atkins aficionados miss out on the health benefits of higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains?  Much of the scientific literature suggests, “Yes.”

What if we compare the long-term outlooks of a diabetic Atkins follower with a poorly controlled diabetic who’s 80 pounds overweight and eating a standard American diet?  The Atkins follower is quite likely to be healthier  and live longer.

Steve Parker, M.D.

 

 

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