This was a little non-rocketry experiment to see what common topic might stir the pot a bit, pun intended.
Verna, you did your homework and got it right without invoking a conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact. :wave:
Glucose, fructose and galactose are the only dietary monosaccharaides which are directly absorbed into the bloodstream during digestion. All 3 are hexoses (6 carbon sugars) each have approximately the same caloric content but different structures which cause different metabolic responses. You are correct that we have a gene that detect the amount of glucose we eat and tell us to stop eating, but there is no equivalent gene that performs the same function with fructose.
Virtually all humans like sweets. The US government has a tariff on imported sugar so the US price is 3 times higher than the world price, so this is the reason why we use High Fructose Corn Syrup as a sweetener in the US instead a sucrose. There is a common misconception about sweetening with sucrose (50% glucose/50% fructose) versus
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) which may have either more or less fructose than sucrose depending on the blend. HFCS 55 contains 55% fructose and 42% glucose and is used primarily in soft drinks, while HFCS-42 contain 42% fructose and 55% glucose is normally used in baked good, beverages, processed foods and cereals. Fructose is nominally 45% sweeter than glucose, so soda formulated with HFCS-55 actually use less sugar than would be used with sucrose to get the same sweetness, and this lowers the caloric count and saves money! Soda made from sucrose has more calories and sugar than when it's made from HFCS-55! In processed foods, there is more glucose than fructose, so the body should feel fuller and should reduce the amount that you want to eat. But....
The real problems is that in this country the food tastes really good, is inexpensive, and the body's glucose regulating gene is easily overpowered by desire and enjoyment. If we like what we eat we will almost always take seconds because we can. We supersize all portions we eat, and that's why we have an obesity problem: our food tastes good and we like to eat, and thus we overeat. It's really that simple and has little to do with added sugar. All the extra calories that we eat and do not use immediately are converted to fat which is how humans store energy. In other parts of the world, where there is a shortage of food and/or good food is expensive, people have less, eat less and are not usually obese.
For example, I really like Coke, and always have. I used to drink 10 cans a day. That's 1200 extra calories a day I didn't need, and the only significant amount of excess sugar I consumed. (I drink my daily 6+ cups of coffee black.) My doctor noticed my blood sugar was a little high and was concerned. When I explained about the Coke and was emphatic that is was the sugar in the Coke and not a diabetes issue, he was skeptical. So being a stubborn chemist, to prove my point I stopped drinking Coke and went back 2 weeks later for a blood test and my sugar level is perfectly normal. Furthermore with 1200 fewer calories in my diet, the added benefit was that after 3 months I have lost 20 pounds.
The global conclusion the paper I reference was the kind of excess sugar you consume doesn't matter, but the total amount of excess sugar added in your diet, and your daily caloric intake is what makes you gain weight and become obese.
Breads, pasta, potatoes and rice all contain starch which is nothing more than polymerized sugar. Excess amounts of these "healthy" carbohydrate's are just as bad for you as excess sucrose or HFCS because the body will hydrolyze them to glucose and store the unused excess as fat. In the US grains are the least expensive way to get calories, and not surprisingly, less affluent Americans subsisting on a grain and starchy food diet rich in carbohydrates and short on protein tend to have more of an obesity problem than more affluent folks who have a diet with more protein in the form of meat and fish than carbohydrates, however anyone who supersizes their diet will eventually become supersized themselves. And that was the ultimate conclusion of my reference......and a good topic of conversation.
Bob
