People who decide to lose weight most often choose to go on diets, reducing or stopping their intake of fatty or carbohydrate foods. But what if the main cause of weight gain was something else? This is what a study carried out by researchers at the University of Colorado concluded.
The findings were published in the scientific journal Obesity.
But why would fructose be responsible for the problem? Johnson explains that when fructose is metabolized, it decreases active energy in the body, causing hunger and leading to food intake.
“Essentially, these theories [de consumo de alimentos gordurosos e de carboidratos serem os responsáveis pelo ganho de peso] list metabolic and dietary factors at the heart of the obesity epidemic. They are all pieces of a puzzle unified by one last piece: fructose. Fructose is what causes our metabolism to go into low-energy mode and lose appetite control, but fatty foods become the main source of calories that drive weight gain.”
To explain this, the researcher states that it is enough to look at animals in hibernation.
When we are hungry and low on active energy, we go into survival mode. With little energy, animals know they must forage for food, so bears look for fruit to prepare for winter.
Therefore, the consumption of foods rich in fructose reduces active energy, and fat acts as stored energy. However, fructose would block the replenishment of active energy from fat, keeping it low — like when bears prepare for hibernation.
“This theory views obesity as a state of low energy. Seeing fructose as the reason for the redirection of active energy replacement towards fat storage shows that fructose is what drives the energy imbalance, bringing the theories together.”
