Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Fructose Speeds Cancerous Growth

My nutritionist education at the Canadian School for Natural Nutrition was an almost unending refrain about the health risks and dangers of eating processed foods, while espousing a return to the foods we were designed to eat. As each year passes since my graduation, I see more and more mainstream articles finally switching their focus away from fatty foods and towards the evils of processed sugars.

A sea change is coming. We're going to finally see the medical establishment admit that there is little to no evidence (in the last 50 years!) that eating a naturally fat diet causes disease and obesity. And we'll see a focus shift to the mounting evidence that manufactured foods are harming our bodies.

This Globe and Mail article links the consumption of fructose to increased growth of pancreatic cancer cells. The article states "While it's widely known that cancer cells use glucose to fuel their growth, last week's findings were the first to link fructose to cancer growth."

In my studies, I came across a lot of theories positing that for example, processed sugars in the bloodstream will lower the immune response, but very little scientific proof. To-date, few researchers have set out to study that processed sugars like High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) are detrimental to one's health. Who would fund these studies? The non-existent Union of Fruit and Vegetable Growers or America? And what type of scrutiny and backlash would such a study face, from the HFCS industry, the soda companies, manufacturers like General Mills whose breakfast and convenience foods are laden with processed sugars?

We need more academics and scientists to pursue independent research without financial backing by large corporations, if we want to find out the truth about how our modern diet is affecting our health. In the meantime, do your body a favour and cut processed sugars out of your diet; substitute if you must, with a more natural sweetener, like Stevia or honey.

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