High Fructose Corn Syrup and Pancreatic Cancer link

valkyrie

Well-Known Member
A very interesting article regarding a link found between high fructose corn syrup (refined fructose) and pancreatic cancer... much to the chagrin of the soda companies.
Cancer cells slurp up fructose, U.S. study finds
WASHINGTON | Mon Aug 2, 2010 5:22pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that challenges the common wisdom that all sugars are the same.

Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways, the team at the University of California Los Angeles found.

They said their finding, published in the journal Cancer Research, may help explain other studies that have linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.

"These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation," Dr. Anthony Heaney of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and colleagues wrote.

"They have major significance for cancer patients given dietary refined fructose consumption, and indicate that efforts to reduce refined fructose intake or inhibit fructose-mediated actions may disrupt cancer growth."

Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods.

Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy.

Too much sugar of any kind not only adds pounds, but is also a key culprit in diabetes, heart disease and stroke, according to the American Heart Association.

Several states, including New York and California, have weighed a tax on sweetened soft drinks to defray the cost of treating obesity-related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The American Beverage Association, whose members include Coca-Cola and Kraft Foods have strongly, and successfully, opposed efforts to tax soda. [ID:nN12233126]

The industry has also argued that sugar is sugar.

Heaney said his team found otherwise. They grew pancreatic cancer cells in lab dishes and fed them both glucose and fructose.

Tumor cells thrive on sugar but they used the fructose to proliferate. "Importantly, fructose and glucose metabolism are quite different," Heaney's team wrote.

"I think this paper has a lot of public health implications. Hopefully, at the federal level there will be some effort to step back on the amount of high fructose corn syrup in our diets," Heaney said in a statement.

Now the team hopes to develop a drug that might stop tumor cells from making use of fructose.

U.S. consumption of high fructose corn syrup went up 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, researchers reported in 2004 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
 

2minkey

bootlicker
yep. we've known that it spikes the insulin and inhibits leptin uptake for a while... nah, america, don;t think about your food at all, just keep shovelin' it in!
 

valkyrie

Well-Known Member
Nutrition experts have been warning about HFCS for a while after the link was made to obesity and diabetes. Now this... another nail in the coffin. I'm wondering if the corn subsidies will end soon. There really isn't any need for it.
 

valkyrie

Well-Known Member
just more corporate welfare, really.
I think if those subsidies were cut we'd see an increase in prices for beef until beef producers recognized that grass fed would be the way to go. At this point, the way beef is raised it's quite unhealthy. Raised in feed lots and fed cheap corn, then slaughtered, factory style.

We'd also see an increase a lot of junk food. HFCS is in a lot of foods and beverages to increase the sweetness and keep the food cheap.
 

valkyrie

Well-Known Member
This got me wondering how many of you drink sodas and how often.

Me = none or rarely (2 per year).
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
About 2liters/month...give or take. The number goes up if I go see a movie in a cinema. Portions are horrible.

The small is good for kids, the medium is too much for a grownup and the large and XL are just stunning.
 

valkyrie

Well-Known Member
:) I have a case of the stuff in the closet next to the desk where I am typing this. Got a connection with a local Cabane a Sucre and took full advantage of it :D
You have no idea how expensive REAL maple syrup is down here. I remember visiting relatives in Canada and stopping at the supermarket for something. I remember all of the different brands of maple syrup... REAL MAPLE SYRUP. Amazing.
What a sweet surprise! :rolleyes:

Yeah, I knew that stuff is bad for you, along with aspartame.
Yep. I've eliminated HFCS from my diet and I did so even before the nutrition experts and researchers linked it to diabetes.
you sound like a liberal. all the republicans at food companies think it' just like sugar.
Really? How did this become a political thread?
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
So far, in my life, they've claimed everything from milk to coffee to water causes cancer. I think I'll ignore this one too.
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
You have no idea how expensive REAL maple syrup is down here. I remember visiting relatives in Canada and stopping at the supermarket for something. I remember all of the different brands of maple syrup... REAL MAPLE SYRUP. Amazing.

I was talking with one of my goddaughters last night...she's in the States and said "I don't like Maple syrup - tastes like bark" :evileek:

I MUST mail them some Real syrup so they know the difference between 'flavoured corn syrup' and Maple syrup :D
 

2minkey

bootlicker
Really? How did this become a political thread?

because it is a political topic. there's vast socio-technical-political structures in place supporting this kind of thing. it's not just an individual dietary choice.

think about the corporate farms, their subsidies, the massive physical infrastructure of production, the food companies and their lobbyists, et cetera.

it's the republican thing to do to trust that corporate apparatus to make decisions that are 'the best for the market' which somehow equates to a quality product... and has their less-fortunate but fully 'ideologized' supporters eating downer cattle and sucking back HFCS without a second thought (while waving minature american flags and complaining about commies and muslims.)
 

valkyrie

Well-Known Member
I was talking with one of my goddaughters last night...she's in the States and said "I don't like Maple syrup - tastes like bark" :evileek:

I MUST mail them some Real syrup so they know the difference between 'flavoured corn syrup' and Maple syrup :D
:eek: Poor little deprived thing. You need to send her some right away!

If I don't have real maple syrup I don't eat pancakes or French toast or anything else that I eat with maple syrup. This goes for restaurants also. I'll ask what they have to put on it and if it's not the real thing I order something else.
 

valkyrie

Well-Known Member
because it is a political topic. there's vast socio-technical-political structures in place supporting this kind of thing. it's not just an individual dietary choice.

think about the corporate farms, their subsidies, the massive physical infrastructure of production, the food companies and their lobbyists, et cetera.

it's the republican thing to do to trust that corporate apparatus to make decisions that are 'the best for the market' which somehow equates to a quality product... and has their less-fortunate but fully 'ideologized' supporters eating downer cattle and sucking back HFCS without a second thought (while waving minature american flags and complaining about commies and muslims.)
OK... I see where you're coming from. Corn subsidies are a politically motivated subject.
US Corn Subsidy DB
The Farm Bill (in various forms and by various names) has been renewed since the farm bill was first introduced in 1965. Other non-farm bill agricultural legislation has been ongoing since 1916. Some of these bills are good and some of them are not good. All of these bills have passed congress and been signed by every president from either side.

So... you are right that the farm bill is a very highly charged political subject with powerful lobbyists and supporters. However, it has been supported by both sides since it's inception and both sides are stained with the blame for it's continued failure of the American Farmer and the US Taxpayer.

As for the Right Wingers eating their way to an early grave... it's their choice to do so. But they should be given all the information before making that choice.
 

ResearchMonkey

Well-Known Member
Who gives a shit? we all have free unlimited health care now. Its our right to become as unhealthy as we want to and the government with take care us forever no matter how much we fuck ourselves up - IT'S ALL FREE NOW!!1
 
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