For Newspaper article and photos, please go to: Fructose, obesity and healthful alternatives for kids on Page C3 of Monday, April 29, 2013 issue of Providence Journal
Fructose, obesity and healthful alternatives for kids
Rita Watson
For those of us who were born with a sweet tooth, losing weight is a life-long struggle. The debate in this country regarding obesity ranges from what’s on the grill to what’s in our coffee. Yale researchers reported on the problem of fructose in the Journal of the American Medical Association this month. Fructose is often called the fruit sugar. Dr. Jessica Stadtmauer, certified by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners, is siding with the Yale team and believes that parents can wean children away from sugary snacks to healthier ones. However, she also believes in moderation.
The Yale team found that in MRIs of the brain of those who drank a solution of fructose and those who drank a solution of glucose, only the glucose drinkers showed increased brain activity in terms of satiety hormones. The researchers concluded that fructose did not reduce the appetite or make one feel full. And they cautioned that this might lead to overeating.
Dr. Stadtmauer, who is with Mountain View Natural Medicine in South Burlington, Vermont, pointed out: “This study sheds light on yet another drawback to fructose – namely, its failure to trigger satiety possibly leading to more cravings and increased sugar consumption.”
But she sees this as only part of the problem. She noted that foods with high fructose content such as soda, sports drinks, and even some “health” foods also place a burden on the liver and contribute to abdominal obesity.
She said, “The assumption that fructose comes from fruit and is therefore more healthy as result is completely misleading. It is added to products because of its stability, availability or lower cost — not because it’s healthy. High fructose-containing foods such as agave nectar, high fructose corn syrup and crystallized fructose are simply not healthy in large quantities. There is not a healthy reason for this sweetener to be added to foods that our children consume.”
Here are five tips that Dr. Stadtmauer suggests for parents with young children.
Avoid Frankenfoods: Offer foods that are as close to the way that they’re grown and harvested as possible. Whole fruit, nuts, seeds, edamame and other beans and oatmeal are good, healthy snacks that are minimally processed.
Offer choices: Children are more cooperative when they feel they have some control and say in their decisions. Offer apples or oranges, carrots or peppers, hummus or Greek yogurt. In this way, they’ll choose what they prefer and parents will still be happy with the choice.
Offer a well-rounded snack: Children will feel satisfied and have fewer crashes in blood sugar if their snacks contain carbohydrates along with proteins and healthy fats. Try serving apples with cheese slices, celery with almond butter, Greek yogurt with oats or granola, hummus and carrot sticks.
Make snacks interesting: We eat with our eyes as well as our mouths. Fruit and cheese on a skewer is often more appealing than in individual parts. Toddlers and young children love a variety of finger snacks. Place peas, beans and bite-sized pieces of fruits and cheese in an ice cube tray. The more colors on the plate, the better — not only for its appeal to little eaters, but also for the unique phytonutrients each of these different colored fruits or vegetables offer.
Use healthier sweeteners: No sweetener is perfect, but some options are better than others. The amount of fructose in fruit is probably not a problem. A small amount of sucrose added to a rare baked treat is often all right. Maple syrup, honey and an herb called stevia can add a punch of sweetness without damaging the liver in the process. It really seems to boil down to moderation or minimal use.
Dr. Stadtmauer’s advice for weaning children from sweets could easily work for all of us on the “Fad Diet of the Week” program.
Rita Watson, MPH, ( ritawatson.com ) is a regular contributor to the Journal and a relationship columnist for The Providence Journal’s “All About You” section.
FRONT PAGE: It’s best to break the sugar habit, no matter what type it is. / Rita Watson in Thrive.