Be sweet to your kids and cut back on the fructose

Expert says processed sugar found in many foods is a 'toxin' to our children


STEPHANIE             BERTHOLDO/Acorn Newspapers    SWEET 'N' SOUR--Dr. Robert Lustig, right, shares information about the health risks associated with fructose at a recent Oak Park Unified School District meeting. With him, from left, Anthony Knight, OPUSD superintendent, and Cindi Gortner and Nicole Johnson, members of the OPUSD Wellness Committee.

STEPHANIE BERTHOLDO/Acorn Newspapers SWEET ‘N’ SOUR–Dr. Robert Lustig, right, shares information about the health risks associated with fructose at a recent Oak Park Unified School District meeting. With him, from left, Anthony Knight, OPUSD superintendent, and Cindi Gortner and Nicole Johnson, members of the OPUSD Wellness Committee.


By Stephanie Bertholdo  bertholdo@theacorn.com

High fructose corn syrup, a processed sweetener found in everything from soda and sports drinks to pretzels, hamburger buns and ketchup, is a main culprit in the explosion of childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes, a leading pediatrician told members of the community April 4.

Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco, presented a program called “The Trouble with Fructose” during an ongoing lecture series sponsored by the Oak Park Unified School District Wellness Committee.

Lustig outlined why the inexpensive, ultrasweet substance created by altering the sugar in cornstarch is harmful to children.

While Lustig admits that obesity and diabetes can be blamed on the lack of exercise and too much natural sugar consumed by children through sweetened cereal and fruit juices stripped of fiber, he said studies show fructose to be the real culprit.

Since fructose is a very inexpensive additive and sweeter than natural sugar, it masks the taste of salt in food and drinks, he said.

Sodium and caffeine produce a diuretic effect, causing increased urination and thirst.

Caffeinated soda laced with fructose increases the desire for more soda, Lustig said.

A 12-ounce can of soda contains 55 milligrams of sodium, Lustig said. “It’s like drinking a pizza,” he said. Fructose masks the salty taste, so people are unaware of the string of chemical reactions that trigger more thirst and hunger.

Food companies figured out that the addition of fructose boosts profit margins, Lustig said. “We buy more, eat more,” he said.

“Fructose is a toxin,” Lustig said. Chronic consumption of fructose causes metabolic syndrome, which is defined as a group of risk factors, including abdominal obesity, blood fat disorders, high blood pressure, insulin resistance or glucose intolerance and other ailments.

“Fructose is a well-known stimulator of bad cholesterol,” he said. “Glucose doesn’t do this–it is insulin-regulated.”

“Once the public understands the process, I think we’ll demand our federal agricultural and trade policies be redesigned to better promote public health and wellness by supporting the growing of foods that provide essential nutrients and fiber rather than subsidizing the overproduction of crops made into hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, substances that enrich transnational corporations at the expense of the public’s long-term health,” said Nicole Johnson, a member of Oak Park’s Wellness Committee.

“Such changes would also improve the financial viability of family farmers, who are being put out of business by our agricultural and trade policies, making us a nation increasingly dependent on foreign imports,” Johnson said.

The Corn Refiners Association disagrees with Lustig’s conclusions. “High fructose corn syrup and fructose are two important but different ingredients,” said Audrae Erickson, president of the association. She said high fructose corn syrup is made up of nearly equal parts fructose and glucose.

“Fructose, of course, is pure fructose with no glucose,” Erickson said. “While both serve an important role in sweetening our food and beverage supply in the U.S., glucose acts as a moderator to fructose.”

Erickson took aim at some of the studies targeting fructose. “One cannot compare the effects of these sweetener ingredients in isolation,” she said. “One cannot extrapolate studies based on pure fructose to high fructose corn syrup.”

Erickson said the studies on fructose were flawed because scientists worked with abnormally high levels of fructose not usually found in the human diet.

“There is nothing unique about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) compared to sugar,” Erickson said.

The Corn Refiners Association has its own arsenal of scientific studies on the website www.HFCSfacts.com to combat scientific assertions that high fructose corn syrup is unhealthy.

One section of the website, “Consumer Benefits of HFCS,” lists eight good reasons to consume HFCS. The association says “HFCS provides sweetness intensity equivalent to sugar.” Other benefits, according to the association, include flavor enhancement of beverages and bakery and dairy products, and the ability of HFCS to promote freshness by inhibiting microbial spoilage, extending the shelf life of food.

Chewy cookies and snack bars derive their soft texture from HFCS, according to the site, and as HFCS has a lower freezing point, many products are “pourable straight from the freezer and easier for consumers to mix with water.”

Lustig is not convinced. He recommends that parents cut sugary drinks from their children’s diets in favor of water and milk, and increase fiber intake and exercise.

“Fiber makes fructose okay,” Lustig said. Processed food is devoid of fiber because it cannot be frozen, he said. He recommends mixing fresh fruit with plain yogurt and using honey instead of refined sugar.

“It’s kind of intense to hear what is really going into your body when you think it’s just a simple glass of soda,” said Robin Estrin, a seventh-grade student at Medea Creek Middle School.

“This is definitely going to change how we eat and drink in our house,” said Westlake Village resident Tanya Fox.

“Dr. Lustig’s research is important because it describes
in biochemical detail just how the ‘fructosification’ of our food supply
undermines our body’s hormonal system, regulating how we eat,” Johnson said.



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