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August 4, 2010

Dispatch: A Bittersweet Study

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles claim that fructose can cause pancreatic tumor cells to proliferate in a study published in the Cancer Research journal.

Study researchers believe their results will “have major significance for cancer patients given dietary refined fructose consumption.” They further state that the results indicate that “efforts to reduce refined fructose intake or inhibit fructose-mediated actions may disrupt cancer growth.” 

An appalled Dr. Ross responds, “This assertion is so broad as to be unbelievable. I've never heard of a cancer specialist advising a patient to cut down on refined sugars, nor have I heard that reducing refined sugars helps to prevent or treat any cancer.” He adds, “In any event, the large majority of our dietary fructose comes from common sugar and fruit — not high fructose corn syrup.”

“The overlying problem with this study is that people will use this as an opportunity to say that high fructose corn syrup is more dangerous than regular sugar or honey, even though the research was conducted on cells in a lab and has minimal relevance to human physiology or nutrition,” notes Dr. Whelan.

“Both the authors and the press need to retract these alarmist and unsupported claims — especially the authors, since such gross over-interpretation of a lab study is inexcusable among academic scientists. They seem to be grasping for headlines and promoting some anti-fructose political agenda,” fumes Dr. Ross. 

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