Obesity

Scottsdale – High fructose corn syrup was touted once as a noble substitute for white sugars. It has now been implicated as a potential cause of diabetes, insulin resistance, high cholesterol and an increase in body fat. In particular, increases in intra-abdominal fat, a type of fat that plastic surgeons are unable to treat, can increase the risks of heart disease.

There is controversy about the actual effects of high fructose corn syrup. Use of it, by itself, does not account fort all the additional energy consumption in the United States since it was introduced. If someone wants to lose weight, however, avoiding high fructose corn syrup products is a must. Here are some common fructose containing foods:

Breakfast Cereals and Fructose.

Most prepackaged breakfast cereals have very high levels of fructose in every serving. Popular brands like Raisin Bran, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Golden Puffs, Corn Flakes, Post Grape-Nuts, Apple Jacks and Cocoa Krispies. To give you and idea of what we are talking about, note that Kellogg’s Raisin Bran has 9,584 mg of fructose per 200-calorie serving. Fruit Loops comes in relatively low at only 46 mg of fructose per 200-calorie serving.

High level of Fructose in Snack Foods.

Snack foods are notorious for having very high levels of fructose. Power Bars, granola bars and Snickers Marathon Energy Bars are all supposed to be ” healthy” alternatives. A Power Bar wallops a charge of 8,794 mg of fructose for every 200-calorie serving. Granola bars and Marathon bars do a bit better, coming in at 962 mg and 249 mg, respectively, for every 200-calorie serving. Other high-fructose snacks include tortilla chips, corn-based chips and potato chips.

Fast Foods and Shockingly high levels of Fructose.

The levels of fructose found in commercially manufactured fast food products are shocking. The average fast-food hamburger has approximately 1,453 mg per 200-calorie serving. You should also keep in perspective that the average hamburger is 400 to 800 calories, and in some cases, not much higher. A single serving of honey from McDonald’s has 21,590 mg of fructose per 200-calorie serving. Sauces, salad dressings and yogurt parfaits are all high in fructose as well.

The Fat Inside your Abdomen and Plastic Surgery.

A plastic surgeon cannot access the fat that lives inside the abdomen. The only solution to reduce this fat volume is through diet and exercise or, in some cases, bariatric surgery. High fat volume inside the abdomen increases the risks of heart disease and other metabolic problems, like diabetes. For additional information on fructose and the potential risks it poses, I refer you Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Website.