Wednesday, August 04, 2010

The new dangers of fructose

Yesterday, I read an article on Reuters about a study showing that some cancers (particularly pancreatic) "feed" on fructose, growing faster when given more of it. Because eating less sugar is recommended for cancer (and cancer recurrence) prevention, this was not too surprising. However, the article distinguished between fructose--problematic--and glucose--less so. Of course, high-fructose corn syrup was mentioned: because it so permeates industrial food production, could it be accelerating cancers?

Today, salon.com has a terrific piece examining the issue. My favorite part: the Marion Nestle quote comparing sugar content in various sweeteners:
[Both corn syrup and] table sugar ... are about 50% fructose and are about equal in their effects. So is honey. Agave has even more.


Again, it's all about perspective. Let's eat less sugar--we'll be healthier. But I'm seeing several media outlets jumping on the "corn syrup is evil" bandwagon, and really--not helpful, guys.

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