Fructose has been demonised in the media recently, touted as the cause of obesity and cardiovascular disease. We believe this is misleading. Wesley Weight Management Clinic Managing Director, Neil Holt, explains why:
The obesity epidemic of the last 30 years is not due to a single cause and there is no magic solution: it is misleading to say otherwise. People who are overweight and have struggled to reach and maintain a healthy weight understand that very well.
The obesity epidemic in developed and developing countries is because we are consuming too much of everything: too much fat, protein and carbohydrate, calorie dense snacks, sugary drinks and alcohol. Reduced activity levels also plays a part, but the overconsumption of everything is the real world culprit.
Food has an energy content measured in calories and in our experience many overweight adults are consuming in excess of 3000 Calories per day when necessary levels for weight maintenance are in the order of 1700 - 2200 calories depending on age, gender and activity level. The overconsumption of food - including calorie dense snacks and sugary drinks - leads to increased weight, obesity and many adverse health outcomes including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Any food - either natural or processed - when over consumed will have adverse outcomes and these are documented daily by health professionals and researchers worldwide.
A proponent of low fructose diets has accused Wesley Weight Management Clinic of advocating the use of meal replacements that are high in fructose, which he claims causes obesity and cardiovascular disease. We believe this criticism is wrong and based on a misunderstanding of how our clinical weight loss program works.
Wesley Weight Management Clinic is not a conspiracy or a product, it is well balanced clinical program designed to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The Clinic is staffed by Doctors, Dietitians, Exercise Physiologists and Psychologists who work as a clinical team to help people lose weight and learn the skills to maintain a healthy weight. Our ownership group and our staff are committed to providing evidence based, ethical and high quality preventative health services and we continuously track and share our results with our clients, their Doctors and the community at large to demonstrate the benefits of investing in health. I believe we conduct the best weight loss service in Australia demonstrated by our outstanding weight loss results.
Meal Replacements - Optifast 800
Meal replacements, when used properly under medical supervision, are very beneficial at the commencement of weight loss. Moving people safely from 3000 Calories per day to 800 - 1000 Calories per day places them in a negative energy state and so their bodies start to process their fat stores for energy and they lose weight. In combination with moderate exercise, women can lose up to a 1kg per week and men up to 2 kg per week.
There are up to 15 meal replacements available on the market and some are nutritionally balanced and others are not. We have used Optifast 800 safely for 10 years and it is supplied by Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition.
Meal replacements are made from processed milk, similar to baby formula. They contain milk protein (14gm), fat (3gm), milk sugars (lactose 8-10gm) and added fructose (8-10 gm) for flavour and energy, vitamins and minerals. The percentage of each component is similar to a healthy balanced diet but the total portion size of the shake is 160 calories when made up with water. The energy content of 1 sachet is similar to 2 slices of bread.
Meal replacements fall into the category of low carbohydrate diets as their purpose is to switch on the oxidation of fat stores for energy, resulting in weight loss. But because our brain and nervous system require sugars that are metabolised from dietary carbohydrates for energy; meal replacements must have some carbohydrate content.
At the Wesley Weight Management Clinic people can safely consume up to five sachets of Optifast 800 per day, or 800 Calories, and that provides them with all their essential daily vitamins and minerals and keeps their hunger controlled. We monitor our clients' blood chemistry and the results of these blood tests tell us that the meal replacements used in our Clinic are safe and not causing any harm, and importantly, our clients lose weight.
Fructose
Fructose is a natural sugar found in 50 different fruits and vegetables - all of us have been consuming fructose our whole life. Fructose has been part of the food chain since man evolved.
Fructose is present in Optifast 800, but there is no more fructose than is in an apple. In five sachets per day of Optifast 800, total fructose does not exceed 50gms, a quarter of the levels of fructose that people consuming 3000 calories per day would consume (including two cans of soft drink).
It is wrong to say there is danger to health at the low levels present in Optifast 800. In fact 50gms of fructose a day is beneficial particularly to diabetics. It is only a danger to your health at artificially high levels, as seen in some published trials where already overweight and obese adults were fed artificially high levels in addition to their normal diet. These trials are conducted in a similar way to toxicological studies as opposed to food safety studies and no food would be considered safe under these conditions. Even pure water triggers adverse health at high repeat dose levels!
It is very difficult to consume high levels of fructose on its own because as a food additive it is combined with glucose in the form of sucrose (sugar) or as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a roughly equal mixture of glucose and fructose. The point is that in consuming sugary drinks or snacks on a daily basis, the total calorie content from their total sugar content is doing harm, not just the fructose content. Our bodies convert any excess calories in our diet to fat - it doesn't matter if the calories are from carbohydrate, fat or protein. At the Wesley Weight Management Clinic we teach our clients how to avoid processed foods and drinks with a high sugar content from whatever source, and this is a critical plank of our success.
Our Results from Using Optifast 800 in Weight Loss
At the Wesley Weight Management Clinic we have recorded the weekly visits of more than 6000 clients and their weight loss results for 10 years. We believe we have the largest database on weight loss in Australia and we publish our results on our website and in credible health journals and forums.
The main reason for recording weekly progress is to make sure that weight loss is done in a safe and sustainable way. All clients who use Optifast 800 are medically counseled by a Doctor and their blood is tested prior to commencing Optifast 800. Those who are not suited to meal replacements are prescribed a meal plan with a set calorie level.
We know that Optifast 800 used in our clinic is safe, effective and well tolerated by clients. All clients transition off Optifast 800 during their weight loss program back to normal healthy meal plans. They are taught and counseled on healthy food choices, correct portion size and good exercise - habits that will last them a lifetime. Their challenge will be to continue those good habits when they leave our environment.
Our results show that our clients lose weight, lose fat, reduce their waist lines, maintain lean tissue (muscle), lower their blood pressure, lower their total cholesterol, LDL (bad cholesterol) and blood triglycerides, lower their blood glucose and lower their cardiovascular risk (risk of heart attack) by up to 47%. We have presented these results to the International Congress of Obesity, the National Heart Foundation and the Federal Parliamentary Enquiry into Obesity and we are rightly proud of them.
In conclusion, we unashamedly stand by our Clinic, our staff, our clients and our results. The obesity epidemic, its causes and solutions, are complex and multifaceted but we know what we do is safe, effective and sustainable. While articles that implicate fructose in obesity and cardiovascular disease are right to highlight the dangers of overconsumption of sugars, the assertions in relation to our clinic, our stakeholders, our staff and our clients are factually incorrect and misleading.
Like good health, it's all about balance.
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