Fructose Continued

Continuing with information on fructose from a lecture presented by Richard Johnson, MD

Dr. Johnson suggests that fructose is more of a problem for the general public than glucose, though glucose is of significant importance for people who have diabetes.

The glycemic index which rates foods based on the way they affect a person’s blood glucose level, would, according to Dr. Johnson, be of less importance than a Fructose Index.

Checking the USDA nutrient data base the fructose in grams IS listed. For example, a medium sized apple with skin has about 4gs of fructose.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
Remember from yesterday that we should keep our intake at about 25gs.

Dr. Johnson also discussed a soda tax which has been promoted enough recently to trigger anti tax commercials from the beverage industry. You would be enlightened to know that as years have passed the price of most foods and specifically fruits and vegetables have increased, but the price of soda’s have stayed the same. Professor Kelly Brownell from Yale has spoken publicly about the benefits of a soda tax. In his writings one can make a comparison to what has been done with cigarettes. Actually from the start:

Cigarettes were very popular but bad for us
Tobacco companies said they were not bad and no one should tell us what to do
We wanted to raise prices and were aggressively challenged by Smoker’s Rights orgs
We taxed cigarettes.. years later…
Less people smoke and more people quit
Tobacco related expense and illness decreases

Dr. Brownell suspects that a one cent per ounce tax on sugary drinks, soda and juice, could bring the state of NY over a billion dollars a year.
We could then compare a state that taxes to a state that does not, over time and see if people drink less and if the drinking less equals better health outcomes. I can see nothing but win win win win win.. in this argument.

One note that Dr. Johnson made yesterday also offers an AHA moment. He said that banning soft drinks in schools and worksites for example may not have the effect that a tax could have because people might choose to drink more soda and drink it faster when at home and that is a problem with the body reaction of uric acid creation.. [I still think they should be banned. I do offer a shout out to my last employer however, WFUBMC, where food service charged LESS for water and diet soda than for the sugary beverages]

On a completely unrelated note: I saw today that Jay Leno the comedian had lost about ten pounds and reports that he has joined my favorite physical activity group - RUNNING. He runs about 4 miles a day.