We've all heard the concerns about fructose and weight gain (A Google search brings back tons of results.) Some experts even claim that increased fructose intake may be a major factor in the nations's obesity epidemic. But what makes fructose so special? How about the other sweeteners?
Newly published research from OHSU provides some clues. Using a technology called functional MRI, OHSU researchers were able to see how the brain reacts when study participants received fructose and glucose infusions. What they found was that certain areas of the brain were inhibited when fructose was given but activated during glucose infusion. Read OHSU's full press release.
The study doesn't answer all the questions about fructose, but it is an important piece of the puzzle.
We talked with OHSU's Dr. John Purnell. Here's what he had to say: