Princeton researchers find that HFCS prompts considerably more weight gain • Hacker News Board

Re: Princeton researchers find that HFCS prompts considerably more weight gain

#61

Post by paulbaumgart » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:07 PM UTC

paulbaumgart wrote: post #40

msluyter wrote: post #34

Having lost a lot of weight on a paleo-ish diet, I don't find this surprising. A related note: fruit, while generally considered good for you, also has a lot of sugar/fructose. In particular, the process of selective breeding has made fruits like bananas ever sweeter, much more so that our primitive ancestors would have encountered. Now I consider most of it (aside from berries) in the same category as candy.

UCSF's Dr. Lustig disagrees with that assessment. According to him, the fiber in fruit counteracts the negative effects of the fructose: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

A more scientific assessment of a a few different types of fruits is here: http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-ab...

Re: Princeton researchers find that HFCS prompts considerably more weight gain

#62

Post by gte910h » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 7:32 PM UTC

ars wrote: post #54

gte910h wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised we can't grow sugar beets there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet

You're right, we could. The range goes all the way up to canada.

I know brazil's biofuel process is based off cane. Wonder if beets would work too.

Re: Princeton researchers find that HFCS prompts considerably more weight gain

#63

Post by aik » Wed, Apr 07, 2010, 4:20 PM UTC

maxharris wrote: post #8

zackattack wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would make more sense if I had a better understanding of biochemistry. It's only a matter of time before an awesome explanation is posted. (Yes....!)

http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16717 For what it's worth, I'm in my second semester of biochemistry, and we've studied almost every one of the pathways he talks about in our class, in detail. Dr. Lustig is dead on about the science behind obesity.

Thanks for the link. That's a great lecture. Have more on this topic?

Few points he talks about:

- In processed/fast food foods, fiber is often taken out to make shipping easier and cooking faster. This is the only reason fiber isn't seen as an essential nutrient in this country. Without the fiber, the appetite doesn't get quenched as quickly (as the food doesn't go through you as quickly) and so you eat more.

- Stress increases appetite.

- Sugar, fructose, and high fructose corn syrup do not suppress the appetite either. Also, drinking/eating soda/juice/sugary foods with a meal delays the satiety signal. This means you don't feel the fullness as quickly when sweetness is in your food/drink and so you eat more.

- Adding sugar to a salty food (and vice versa) neutralizes the salty/sweetness on your tongue. Companies often make use of this fact. For example, Coke has come out with new formulas where the only change is increased sodium and increased sugar/high fructose corn syrup to counterbalance.

- High Fructose Corn Syrup was created in Japan. HFCS is so widely used because it is so super super cheap compared to other sweeteners. He jokes that Japan sent it to the US as revenge.