--US public consumes a lot
--3 main sources: sucrose (common table sugar), high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and fruit
--in fruit, fructose signals sweetness and good nutrition: our ancestors detected that flavor as goodness
--fructose intake was much smaller pre-sugar and HFCS
--fructose intake has been increasing for a long time but good data is hard to find
--Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994): mean daily consumption was 54.7 g/d (range: 38.4-72.8 g/d) and was 10.2% of total daily caloric intake. Consumption was highest among adolescents (12-18)(72.8 g/d, or 12% of total calories, 1/4 of these got 15%+ of calories from fructose, largest sources was sweetened drinks 30%, grains 22%, fruit/fruit juice 19%)
--sugar beverages (soda pop) have no nutritional value other than calories
--50% of sugar is fructose and 55% of HFCS is fructose
--calories in calorically sweetened beverages are not perceived by the body in the same way as those in solid food -->"add-on" calories to the other foods in the diet rather than suppressing intake of other foods
--obesity epidemic could be explained by the consumption of an extra 20-ounce soft drink each day
--sugar = "pure, white and deadly," --Professor Yudkin in 1986
--Yudkin said 25 years ago "I suppose it is natural for the vast and powerful sugar interests to seek to protect themselves, since in the wealthier countries sugar makes a greater contribution to our diets, measured in calories, than does meat or bread or any other single commodity."
--Swiss study: dietary fructose predicts increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in children
--fructose (unlike other sugars) increases serum uric acid levels perhaps due to liver metabolism of fructose
--ATP used by phosphofructokinase to phosphorylate fructose-->fructose-1-phosphate
--ADP formed-->AMP-->inosine 5'-phosphate-->uric acid
--high levels of uric acid may -->cardiovascular disease by reducing the availability of nitric oxide
--NO maintains normal BP and blood vessel wall fx
--nature preferred glucose over fructose as a substrate for metabolism during the evolutionary process
--soft drink consumption linked to development of cardiometabolic risk factors and the metabolic syndrome (Framingham Study)
--individuals consuming at least 1 soft drink/d had more metabolic syndrome
--fructose intake is directly related to risk for gout in men.
--public schools are selling this junk to kids!!!!
SOURCE:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/575891?src=mp&spon=34&uac=89474MT
From The Medscape Journal of Medicine
Clinical Nutrition and Obesity - Editorial
Fructose -- How Worried Should We Be?
Posted 07/09/2008
George A. Bray, MD