If you’re a regular reader of Sip & Savor, then you know we have long advocated that when it comes to obesity, a calorie is a calorie regardless of the source.  Simply put, if you take in more calories from the foods and beverages you consume than those you burn off through physical activity, then you’ll gain weight.  It doesn’t matter if those calories come from apples, cookies, hamburgers, soft drinks or anything else.  Today, we have something new to share that further supports our position.

Last night, the journal Annals of Internal Medicine published a review which concludes that fructose -  one of the simple sugars contained in the common sweetener high fructose corn syrup or HFCS – is not linked to extra weight gain.  So what does that mean?  According to a Reuters article, “A little extra simple sugar in your diet probably won't make you pack on the pounds -- as long as you cut down on other carbs to make up for it, a new analysis of past studies suggests.”

The study’s lead author, Dr. John Sievenpiper of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, stated in the same Reuters article, “Fructose probably isn't any different than other sources of carbohydrates,” and that this finding “represents pretty reasonable evidence that fructose in and of itself doesn't contribute to weight gain …. It's not any one source of calories -- it's calories in general.”