What makes us fat

There's been a lot of head scratching over what in our diets is the culprit for our growing waistlines and continued problem of heart disease. There may not be one smoking gun - and portion control has to be considered at the top of the list - but a new study points a finger at fructose.

Fructose is ubiquitous - it's found it just about everything that tastes sweet. It's cheap.


What the researchers found ( and mind you, this study hasn't been peer reviewed but it's interesting to note) is that drinking beverages sweetened with fructose - not glucose or sucrose ( other more expensive sweeteners) can set patients on the fast track to atherosclerosis.

Consumption of fructose-sweetened beverages increased by 135% from 1977 to 2001, the lead researcher says and speculates the increased consumption could in part explain the rise in the rate of metabolic syndrome. And when you add all that fructose sweetened stuff to a typical western diet the situation only worsened.

The research was presented at the American Diabetes Association meeting that just took place.