Dietary fructose and cancer
High fructose corn syrup has been linked to fatty liver disease, high triglycerides, insulin resistance, high blood sugar, cancer and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. It is added to many foods: candy, condiments, beverages and various snack foods. A recent paper in the journal Nature highlights the mechanistic link between dietary fructose and cancer growth.
Bottom line: in zebrafish and mice, tumors grow up to twice as fast when animals are fed a fructose-rich diet. Cancer cells in culture don’t respond similarly. That’s because in whole animals, dietary fructose is metabolized by the liver into lipids that are then secreted into the bloodstream to be taken up by cancer cells.
To be clear, this paper doesn’t say that dietary fructose *causes* cancer, only that it accelerates cancer growth. But it seems prudent to limit fructose intake.
For those who know their carbohydrate biochemistry, table sugar—sucrose—is a disaccharide comprised of glucose and fructose. It seems that low levels of fructose don’t find their way to the liver. So limiting both sucrose intake and foods with high-fructose corn syrup seems like the prescription.
dietary fructose and tumor growth
Bottom line: in zebrafish and mice, tumors grow up to twice as fast when animals are fed a fructose-rich diet. Cancer cells in culture don’t respond similarly. That’s because in whole animals, dietary fructose is metabolized by the liver into lipids that are then secreted into the bloodstream to be taken up by cancer cells.
To be clear, this paper doesn’t say that dietary fructose *causes* cancer, only that it accelerates cancer growth. But it seems prudent to limit fructose intake.
For those who know their carbohydrate biochemistry, table sugar—sucrose—is a disaccharide comprised of glucose and fructose. It seems that low levels of fructose don’t find their way to the liver. So limiting both sucrose intake and foods with high-fructose corn syrup seems like the prescription.
dietary fructose and tumor growth
@Kaplan,
The “high” in HFCS refers to the amount of fructose compared to pure-glucose corn syrup.
Note that in HFCS, the fructose is free fructose, not fructose covalently bound to glucose. That’s why HFCS is used–free fructose tastes sweeter per mole than fructose as part of sucrose. When you ingest HFCS, the fructose goes directly into your blood stream and accumulates in your liver. When you ingest sucrose, it must first be metabolized before fructose can be liberated. The slower metabolism of fructose from sucrose means less ends up in the liver.
“More than two-thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight. Added sugars and high fructose corn syrup are considered primary causes of the overweighting of America. Weight gain abetted by high-calorie foods containing HFCS can also contribute to heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease and dyslipidemia, an abnormal level of cholesterol and other fats in the blood. Fructose becomes a more universal threat to your body by accumulating as visceral fat around your organs. HFCS also adds to natural bacteria in our intestines, which can produce bloating and gas. It’s not just HFCS: Any sweetener, including table sugar, can contribute to these health problems. For food manufacturers, HFCS is a much cheaper sweetener than sugar. It’s the fructose in both table sugar and HFCS — each is about half glucose, half fructose — that’s most detrimental to our health. Our bodies can tell the difference between glucose and fructose. Our bodies break down starch-derived carbohydrates, like rice, into glucose that’s a vital exercise energy source and readily distributed throughout our body. Fructose, however, must be converted by the liver to glucose, glycogen or fat before being available as an energy source. “Chronic overconsumption of high fructose corn syrup causes an increase in fat production and worsens insulin sensitivity . . .”
You obviously didn’t read my post or the link I added at the end.
If you think heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia accelerated tumor growth are not your enemy, help yourself! You can have my share.