Well, Well, Well

Researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain:
A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

…"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."

…In the 40 years since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup as a cost-effective sweetener in the American diet, rates of obesity in the U.S. have skyrocketed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1970, around 15 percent of the U.S. population met the definition for obesity; today, roughly one-third of the American adults are considered obese, the CDC reported. High-fructose corn syrup is found in a wide range of foods and beverages, including fruit juice, soda, cereal, bread, yogurt, ketchup and mayonnaise. On average, Americans consume 60 pounds of the sweetener per person every year.
Insert a caveat about expanding categories to include ever more people as "obese" during that same time period. Nonetheless, leaving aside the labels in favor of nutritional health, the average American's consumption of HFCS over the same time period has increased by "an alarming 12,250%." !!!

As I've mentioned in several previous threads, having a diabetic in the household has made me keenly aware of the ubiquity of HFCS. It's in everything. And it's in everything because corn is subsidized to the tune of billions of dollars in the US every year.

The OHNOES Obesity CrisisTM, sponsored by the US Government.

Which now, hilariously, demonizes fat people as lazy layabouts, after ensuring that virtually every processed food produced in America is rich with a government-subsidized product that promotes weight gain. Awesome.

[H/T to Shaker Carol.]

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