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Top four new fat findings

CORN SYRUP TURNOFF – Does the corporate food industry engineer ravenous appetites? According to a new study by Kathleen A. Page of the Yale School of Medicine, ingesting fructose stimulates the desire to eat more. While glucose gives a feeling of satiety, fructose fails to turn off the hunger switch. This is a drag because high-fructose corn syrup is found in everything from pop and breads to cereals, juices, condiments and canned foods.

SKINNY MODELS SUCK – Far from inspiring dieters, thin models actually foster junk eating, says Anne-Kathrin Klesse of the Netherlands’ Tilberg U. Her recent study shows people’s self-esteem suffers from comparisons with sleek others, prompting the chucking of diet goals and the chowing down of bad snacks. Thanks, mass media.

PLUMP ADVANTAGE – How about some perspective on the body image front? Despite the calorie-counting madness, overweight (as opposed to obese) folks not only have no excess risk of cardiovascular disease or cancer, but in fact seem to have reduced mortality from every cause, according to research by Katherine M. Flegal of the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, Maryland.

SUGAR FUNK – Sweet stuff can bring you down. A recent study by Stephanie Fulton of the U of Montreal’s faculty of medicine found that feeding fatty and sugary substances to mice changed their brain chemistry, leading to more anxiety and depression than in those on a healthy diet. And unfortunately, when better eats were introduced, the mice went through withdrawal, leading to greater stress and, as Fulton says, “a vicious cycle of poor eating.”

Compiled by NOW editors.

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