Thursday, October 18, 2012

Sunday: FRUCTOSE

Sunday was a very busy day at the conference I went to 4 lectures as well as a Student Reception.

This is what happened at some of the sessions. Note, there was a lot of knowledge dropped on me so I'm just sharing the bits that stuck out for me...as well as memorable moments.

Understanding Dietary Fructose: Sponsored by Coca-Cola
Dr. John Sievenpiper and  Dr. Frances H. Seligson (who used to work for Hershey's and said her views are all over the place with this) presented a large portion of research studies.
Here are some memorable facts:
  • 1/2 of the U.S. population consumed added sugar from sugar sweetened beverages (SSB)
  • Most people consume an average of 41g of added sugars, only the top 10% consume 100g or more
  • Children aged 1-10 and females over 51 consume the least amount of SSB (Yay for children!)
  • A lot of fructose based studies have people or animals consume unrealistic amounts of fructose for the trials...of above the 100g mark
  • Dr. Sievenpiper suggested the health problems often associated with fructose are actually because of over-consumption in general.

This is where it gets interesting! After presenting a woman from NYC came up and said how ashamed she was of FNCE letting such a biased presentation be shown at a conference. When the presenters told her she had to ask a question she asked if they thought a majority of Americans do consume too much fructose, they were a bit reluctant to answer but just explained it's the over-consumption issue, not the fructose issue.

Later a woman from Coca-Cola thanks the presenters for doing such an awesome job and asked how much soda would have to be consumed before a person reached the amounts commonly consumed in some studies: it was more than 5 liters!

Either way...take of it what you will. I am still skeptical of too much added sugar. After all they said in the seminar it is hard to determine just how much is natural and how much is added to foods these days.

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