SHR

Several studies have reported that physical activity prevents fructose-induced metabolic abnormalities. Young men who supplemented their regular diets with 40 ounces of soda per day, providing 75 g of fructose, showed increased triglycerides and signs of low-grade inflammation only when inactive (walking ~4200 steps per day). However, simply increasing the number of steps to about 13,000 per day protected against these changes. Another study demonstrated that performing two 30-minute cycling sessions before lunch and dinner in conjunction with a weight-maintenance diet providing 30% of kcal as fructose completely normalized blood lipids relative to consuming the same diet when sedentary. Most recently, Egli et al assessed how a single exercise session altered the metabolic fate of a pure fructose load in young healthy males with the use of isotopically-labeled fructose. The participants were studied for three 5-day periods in which they received a controlled, high-fructose (30% kcal as a beverage), weight-maintenance diet...

The health benefits of fat loss are incredible. For instance, individuals with obesity experience improvements in glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity that far outweigh the benefits of exercise. Similar results are seen in adults with type-2 diabetes, and there is also evidence to suggest that fat loss can restore pancreatic beta-cell function and reverse pre-diabetes in mice. Most recently, Oshakbayev et al investigated how a weight loss program would affect the health of adults with diagnosed atherosclerotic (AS) diseases. This includes any condition in which plaque builds up inside the arteries. They recruited 71 middle-aged men and women with various clinical manifestations of AS and randomized them into two groups: weight loss or conventional drug therapy. The weight loss intervention was novel and lasted between 2-6 months depending on the participant. They underwent “analimentarnaya detoxification” that is akin to a prolonged fasting session. For bouts lasting 10-28 days, only 6-8.5 cups...

Chronic diseases now occur in children – let that sink in for a moment.  Diseases that, by definition, take a long period of time to develop and may causes physiological changes to the body are now appearing in a population whose greatest worry should be getting hurt while playing with friends. Currently, 17% of all children and adolescents in the United States are obese, and childhood obesity is associated with insulin resistance, abnormal glucose metabolism, elevated blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and inflammation. Indeed, many of these overweight-obese children will go on to develop and be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. There are numerous reasons why a child may suffer from obesity and its comorbidities. One of the more popular explanations is the overconsumption of fructose, particularly because of its unique metabolic properties when compared to glucose. However, previous research has not well-supported this hypothesis. For instance, the largest meta-analysis to date investigating the...

The role of fructose in health and disease is a controversial one. I have previously written about a systematic review and meta-analysis of 59 experimental trials and over 1,000 participants that showed fructose-containing sugars acted no differently from other carbohydrates with regard to their effects on blood lipids. However, blood lipids are only one aspect of health. Glucose metabolism, or the body’s ability to handle changes in blood glucose levels, is another important player in chronic disease, most notably type-2 diabetes. If a significant link between fructose and insulin resistance exists, then this is reason enough to change dietary habits and recommendations. As such, researchers from the Rippe Lifestyle Institute decided to conduct a 10-week randomized, parallel-group, partially-blinded study to assess the effects of incorporation of various sugars into the diet of 158 otherwise healthy individuals. The diet This study was designed to assess the impact of incorporating modest amounts of...

Antipsychotics linked to extreme weight gain Second and third-generation antipsychotic medications (SGA) were originally approved by the FDA for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, but quickly soared in popularity among clinicians for off-label use in dementia, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD, and other conditions. Overall, they are among the biggest selling prescription drugs in the USA, with $14.6 billion in sales in 2009. This dramatic increase in SGA usage has led to greater scrutiny of their potential for adverse effects. Compared to first-generation antipsychotic medications, SGAs have a much lower risk of movement disorders, but major clinical trials of schizophrenia have linked SGA use with excessive weight gain and development of the metabolic syndrome. Less is known about the real-world effects of SGA use outside the context of these trials, spurring Arterburn et al to investigate the rate of extreme weight gain (EWG; >7% bodyweight) among all SGA...