More Interesting Articles

First off, Gary Taubes has a new article on the link between sugar (either refined or high fructose corn syrup) and obesity, diabetes, and, gulp, cancer.  It is titled, "Is Sugar Toxic?"  I know his next book is on the effects of sugar in the diet and this is a taste of his upcoming work.

Second, can an active (non-sedentary) person get heart disease from eating a diet of grains, fruits, vegetables, and very little meat?  I don't know, but an article on Egyptian mummies with heart disease certainly raises the question.

In an obesity study on rats, a diet high in fat is compared with a diet similar to the high carb, junk food laden American diet.  The junk food diet leads the rats to develop metabolic syndrome, whereas the high fat diet does not.  True, these are rats, not humans, but the results are very interesting nonetheless.

A comprehensive review of "heart healthy diets" (low fat, high carb, and including psychological counseling) over the last several decades concludes that they "had little or no impact on the risk of coronary heart disease mortality or morbidity."  The research was performed by the Cochrane Collaboration, a non-profit group that independently reviews medical research in a non-biased way.  They do not accept monies from pharmaceutical companies or other entities with vested interests in the outcomes of research.  They also review and rate research conducted by other researchers, and they are big proponents of evidence based medicine.

Gorillas Losing Weight, Getting Healthy

Wow, even gorillas become more healthy and lose weight when they stop eating wheat and sugar.  They lost about 65 pounds over a year and their heart health improves.  Hat tip:  Michael R. Eades, M.D.

A New Name for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

Diabetics and label readers, beware.  After all of the bad press that HFCS has received lately, the Corn Refiner's Association has petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug administration to change the name from HFCS to "corn sugar."  Don't be fooled!  It hasn't happened yet, but if it is changed, I will let everyone know.

So what is wrong with HFCS?  In addition to being a highly processed industrial product that is nothing but empty calories that leaves you feeling hungry after you eat, there is some concern that it is a major cause of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

In his book, Why We Get Fat, Gary Taubes discusses the uniquely fattening properties of sugars, especially high fructose corn syrup.  I am discovering that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is in a lot of products: regular soda pop, bread, ketchup, Nyquil (and other cough medicines), doggie treats for my carnivore buddy, Titan (I have stopped buying these for him), Slim Jim beef sticks, not to mention pretty much anything that is sweet.  It is so ubiquitous that it is actually rather hard to avoid.  I have started reading labels very closely.  It even pops up in places I totally don't expect.  Just the other day, I was reading the label on diet Sunkist orange soda, and there it was (the "diet" Sunkist Orange Soda is actually quite caloric).  And I was quite surprised to see it in medicines and cough syrups.  If you are going to cut out carbs from your diet, HFCS should be one of the first to go.

Why is HFCS a problem?  It has been linked to obesity, it fuels the growth of cancerous cells, and it exacerbates type II diabetes by aiding fat deposition and preventing you from feeling full, among other things.