Classic depression is characterized by a decrease in
appetite, weight loss and general despondency. But in 1994, "atypical
depression" debuted, a subtype of depression characterized by an increase in appetite and weight
gain (as well as oversensitivity
to rejection by others). Unfortunately, both types of depression are often
treated with popular
antidepressants like Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro and Paxil and antipsychotics like
Seroquel, Zyprexa and Risperdal, all of which can pack on the pounds. To keep
the weight gain from affecting Pharma sales, the pro-pill site, WebMD,
tells patients that keeping the pounds off is their responsibility since only "healthy eating and exercise help
control your weight gain." But it also counsels if the pill weight gain is
"so strong that it simply can't be offset by any amount of calorie
restricting or even exercise," the psychoactive medication "to help overcome your depression is far
more important." To whom?
High Fructose Corn Syrup
The consumption of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has grown
1000 percent since its introduction in soft drinks in 1984. Corn derived
sweetener not only lacks sugar's wild price swings (from unstable geographic
and political regions and trade barriers) it can be pumped into trucks and tanks
unlike bulky dry sugar. It also provides moisture retention, flavor
enhancement, resistance to crystallization (allowing "moist" baked
goods) and "freezing point depression" for ice cream, say industry
professionals. But HFCS also
metabolizes differently from sugar in the body and is so linked to
obesity and diabetes, public health groups recommend regulation (like New
York City's Mayor Bloomberg).
HFCS stimulates production of triglycerides (a type of fat found in the blood),
increases fat deposition in the liver and causes permanent metabolic changes,
say some. Other researchers say U.S. obesity is not so much linked to HFCS as the bioengineered (GMO)
corn it and countless other products are now made from.
Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners, found in soft drinks, many diet foods
and an astounding number of children's cereals for unclear reasons, may do more
harm than good. While marketed and perceived as helping people avoid calories,
they can have two insidious side effects: because they are sweet they encourage
sugar craving and sugar dependence just like salty foods train people to crave
salt, says research in the Yale Journal of
Biology and Medicine. And, because sweetness is "decoupled from
caloric content," they fail to satisfy the sweets reward system and
actually further fuel "food
seeking behavior," wrote the researchers. See: giving starving dog a
rubber bone. One artificial sweetener, Splenda also has molecular similarities
to endocrine disrupter pesticides
say food safety advocates.
Antibiotics
Noting that the average child in the U.S. and other
developed countries "has received 10--20 courses of antibiotics by the time
he or she is 18 years old," microbiologist Martin Blaser published some
disturbing suggestions in the journal Nature last year. By killing "good" bacteria with
important roles in the body, "Overuse of antibiotics could be fuelling the
dramatic increase in conditions such as obesity, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory
bowel disease, allergies and asthma," he reports. Yes, obesity. Mice given
low-dose antibiotics that mimic farm use and high-dose antibiotics that mimic
infection treatment in children exhibited preliminary "changes in body fat
and tissue composition," says Blaser. Mice developed as much as a 40
percent increase in fat and a 300 percent increase in fat when given a high-fat
diet too, extrapolated Alice
Wessendorf on the research. Denmark researchers found eerie parallels in humans.
Babies given antibiotics within six months
of birth were more likely to be overweight by age 7.
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