New research study proposes fructose as the key motorist of obesity, unifying various dietary theories. The “fructose survival hypothesis” suggests that fructose usage depletes active energy and impedes hunger control, consequently contributing to an energy imbalance that promotes weight gain. This brand-new perspective could assist more efficient weight problems avoidance and management techniques.
Current research study led by CU Anschutz scientist Richard Johnson, MD, unifies a variety of hypotheses behind the dietary cause of weight problems that as soon as seemed incompatible.
For a very long time, nutrition specialists have understood that Western consuming patterns, which are high in fats and sugars, may be a contributing element to the weight problems epidemic. Theres been continuous contention about what drives the problem most substantially– is it the usage of excess calories in basic, the overconsumption of specific macronutrients like fats or carbohydrates?
In response to this unpredictability, different factions have actually promoted for different dietary techniques, with some suggesting a cutback on sugar, others encouraging a decrease in carbohydrate consumption, and still others proposing that the primary focus ought to be on restricting the consumption of foods high in fat.
Unifying Dietary Theories of Obesity
A paper recently published in the journal Obesity recommends these theories are not incompatible with each other, which they can all be brought together in one unified pathway that centers around one true driver: fructose.
The “fructose survival hypothesis” suggests that fructose consumption diminishes active energy and impedes cravings control, thus contributing to an energy imbalance that promotes weight gain. According to Richard Johnson, MD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus scientist, and his colleagues, the primary problem in weight problems is fructose, which is present in table sugar and high fructose corn syrup. When fructose is metabolized, it reduces the active energy in the body (understood as ATP, or adenosine triphosphate) which triggers hunger and food intake.
Fruits are high-fructose foods, and fructose substantially suppresses active energy.
According to Richard Johnson, MD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus scientist, and his associates, the main issue in weight problems is fructose, which is present in table sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Fructose can likewise be made in the body from carbs (particularly glucose). When fructose is metabolized, it lowers the active energy in the body (called ATP, or adenosine triphosphate) which triggers appetite and food consumption.
The Fructose Survival Hypothesis
What Johnson calls the “fructose survival hypothesis” brings together the majority of the dietary hypotheses of obesity, including the 2 that have been most incompatible with each other– the energy balance theory, which proposes excessive food (and mostly fat) drives obesity, and the carbohydrate-insulin model, which puts carbohydrates at the center of weight gain.
” Essentially, these theories, which put a litany of dietary and metabolic motorists at the center of the weight problems epidemic, are all pieces of a puzzle unified by one last piece: fructose,” says Johnson. “Fructose is what activates our metabolic process to go into low power mode and lose our control of hunger, however fatty foods end up being the major source of calories that drive weight gain.”
To unify these theories in specific, Johnson says we can want to hibernating animals as an example. We go into survival mode when were low and hungry on active energy. Animals understand to forage for food when energy levels start to fall; why bears consume fruit to prepare for winter season. Fruits are high-fructose foods, and fructose substantially stifles active energy. Fat acts as stored energy, but consuming high-fructose foods blocks the replacement of active energy from fat storage, keeping active energy low like a bear getting ready for a long winters nap.
” This theory views obesity as a low-energy state,” says Johnson. “Identifying fructose as the channel that reroutes active energy replacement to fat storage reveals that fructose is what drives energy imbalance, which unites theories.”
While more work is needed to totally verify this unifying hypothesis, this is an enthusiastic primary step in possibly determining more targeted preventions for obesity and associated metabolic imbalance management.
Recommendation: “The fructose survival hypothesis as a system for unifying the different obesity hypotheses” by Richard J. Johnson, Laura G. Sánchez-Lozada and Miguel A. Lanaspa, 17 October 2023, Obesity.DOI: 10.1002/ oby.23920.