<\/span><\/p>\n By contrast, commercial fructose, the version the industry produces, occurs precisely nowhere in nature. In fact, it is a synthesized form of corn syrup that is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose, which was concocted in a lab in 1971 and was immediately seized upon by packaged food companies because it was both cheaper and fully six times sweeter than the cane sugar you spoon into your coffee. <\/p>\n And now, given the results of a study done by the University of California, we know it is more hazardous as well. The UC researchers found that persons placed on a controlled diet involving high levels of fructose wound up with newly produced fat cells around their hearts, livers and other vital organs, and with digestive abnormalities that are associated with early heart disease and diabetes. <\/p>\n As to whether fructose is any worse than alternative sugars, very simply: it is. <\/p>\n Fructose is not broken down during the digestive process the way other sugars are, and it slams into the liver like an express train, disrupting a number of metabolic processes, including those that determine whether the body burns fat or stores it. A control group in the study, fed glucose instead of fructose, was free of any negative effects. <\/p>\n Of course, we’ve known for years that fructose is a major dietary contributor to the current obesity epidemic, but now we’ve got serious evidence that it’s not just bad for your weight, but sets you on a path to possible heart disease and\/or diabetes. One study does not make scientific fact, of course, and the UC research will have to be replicated, but if future results are the same, the FDA may have to take a hard look at fructose’s extensive and often excessive use by the processed food industry. <\/p>\n At the very least, it could become the trans fat of the 2010s. Don’t be surprised if, a few years down the road, Kellogg’s and Post and General Mills cereal boxes begin displaying such headline-sized claims as, “Now with 50% less fructose!!” <\/p>\n Sweet.<\/p>\n (By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)<\/p>\n From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News<\/a> (REF3076322B7)<\/p>\nNext stop: Warning labels on yogurt and catsup?<\/h3>\n