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March 26, 2004

Cheap Sweetener Implicated In Obesity

High fructose corn syrup may be linked to an increase in obesity in the United States according to a USA Today article.

High-fructose corn syrup, which is cheaper to produce than sugars from cane and beets, began being more widely used in the late 1980s and 1990s when Americans' weight started creeping up, says Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

"We know from animal and human clinical studies that fructose doesn't affect appetite," Popkin says. "So if you drink a soft drink, you don't get filled up like you would if you drank milk." This means that if you were hungry when you consumed the drink you would need to consume additional calories from some other food or beverage, he says.

However, critics believe the problem is that we're taking in more calories than we are burning.

Almost 65% of Americans are either overweight or obese today, compared to 47% in the 1970s. Experts believe this is due to many factors including less physical activity, larger portion sizes, high-fat fare and the availability of food everywhere.

Posted by linda at March 26, 2004 9:13 AM