A new study out from Princeton University
lends new evidence that High Fructose Corn Syrup leads to inordinate weight gain.
A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.
In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.
"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."And, of course, what is the solution that is given to us? Here, just take these medications. Lose weight. Eat less. Exercise more.
What bothers me is that there is this meme all throughout the American culture that states that everything is personal responsibility. Further, that business interests have no responsibility to provide healthy foods -- or any other products -- that are safe for use by the ultimate consumer or user. We have been heading back -- for many years now -- to the rule that had been abandoned because of its inequities and harshness:
caveat emptor.
The rule had been abandoned long ago because it was decided that sellers were in a far better position to know the hidden dangers in their products. Eventually, the legal theory of
products liability came to be.
In the United States today, we are facing an obesity epidemic. While I try to eat only organic food, sometimes it is not available. And what about when I decide to go out to eat? Do I have the choices to eat and drink foods that don't contain this additive? It is not just in Coca-Cola and other soft drinks; it is in ketchup and candy and even "healthy" fruit drinks.
We are told that we don't exercise enough. OK, that's true enough. But what about the community's / society's responsibility to provide parks and streets which make exercise available? The point I am making here has to do with how our cities are predominantly designed for cars as opposed to walking.
Doesn't anyone recognize that the obligation to provide healthy choices is more than just a personal responsibility, but also a -- for lack of a better word -- a
corporate one?
