HIGH FRUCTOSE DIET AND ITS EFFECTS

HIGH FRUCTOSE DIET AND ITS EFFECTS

What is fructose?

Fructose is a monosaccharide (simple sugar), which the body can use for energy. Because it does not cause blood sugar rise tremendously (has a low glycemic index), it was once thought that fructose was a good substitute for sucrose (table sugar). However, the American Diabetes Association and nutritional experts have changed their minds about this.

WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF FRUCTOSE?

Fruits and vegetables have relatively small, "normal" amounts of fructose that most bodies can handle quite well. The problem comes with added sugars in the modern diet, the volume of which has grown rapidly in recent decades. The blame has often been pinned to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is made up of 55% fructose and 45% glucose. However, sucrose is half fructose and half glucose. So, HFCS actually doesn't have a whole lot more fructose than "regular" sugar, gram for gram.

High fructose corn syrup has become incredibly inexpensive and abundant, partially due to corn subsidies in the United States. So, really, the problem is more that it has become so cheap that it has crept its way into a great number of the foods we eat every day.

IS FRUCTOSE GOOD OR BAD?

A small amount of fructose, such as the amount found in most vegetables and fruits, is not a bad thing. In fact, there is evidence that a little bit may help your body process glucose properly. However, consuming too much fructose at once seems to overwhelm the body's capacity to process it. The diets of our ancestors contained only very small amounts of fructose. These days, estimates are that about 10% of the modern diet comes from fructose

CONSUMPTION OF GLUCOSE IN LARGE QUANTITIES:

Most of the carbohydrates we eat are made up of chains of glucose. When glucose enters the bloodstream, the body releases insulin to help regulate it. Fructose, on the other hand, is processed in the liver. To greatly simplify the situation: When too much fructose enters the liver, the liver can't process it all fast enough for the body to use as sugar. Instead, it starts making fats from the fructose and sending them off into the bloodstream as triglycerides.

WHY IS THIS BAD?

This is potentially bad for at least THIRTEEN reasons:

1. High blood triglycerides are a risk factor for heart disease.
2. Fructose ends up circumventing the normal appetite signaling system, so appetite-regulating hormones aren't triggered--and you're left feeling unsatisfied. This is probably at least part of the reason why excess fructose consumption is associated with weight gain.
3. There is growing evidence that excess fructose consumption may facilitate insulin resistance, and eventually type 2 diabetes.
4. Fructose can only be metabolized by the liver and can’t be used for energy by your body’s cells. It’s therefore not only completely useless for the body, but is also a toxin in high enough amount because the job of the liver is to get rid of it, mainly by transforming it into fat and sending that fat to our fat cells.
5. Fructose can only be metabolized by the liver and can’t be used for energy by your body’s cells. It’s therefore not only completely useless for the body, but is also a toxin in high enough amount because the job of the liver is to get rid of it, mainly by transforming it into fat and sending that fat to our fat cells.
6. Fructose reacts with proteins and polyunsaturated fats in our bodies 7 times more than glucose. This reaction creates AGEs (Advanced glycation end-products), which are compounds that create oxidative damage in our cells and ultimately lead or contribute to inflammation and a host of chronic diseases.
7. Fructose increases uric acid production, which, in excess, can cause gout, kidney stones and precipitate or aggravate hypertension.
8. While most of your body’s cells can’t use fructose as a source of energy, the bacteria in your gut can and excess fructose can create gut flora imbalances, promote bacterial overgrowth and promote the growth of pathogenic bacteria
9. In part because of the damage done to the liver, chronic excess fructose causes dyslipidemia, which means that your blood lipid markers tend to shift towards numbers that indicate a risk for heart disease.
10. Fructose rapidly causes leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that controls appetite and metabolism to maintain a normal weight. Leptin resistant people tend to gain fat and become obese really easily
11. Excess fructose alone can cause all the problems associated with the metabolic syndrome (diabetes, obesity, heart disease …).
12. Cancer cells thrive and proliferate very well with fructose as their energy source
13. Excess fructose also affects brain functioning, especially as it relates to appetite regulation. It has also been shown to impair memory in rats.
    
    

Is corn syrup fructose different than fructose found in other foods?

No, all fructose works the same in the body, whether it comes from corn syrup, cane sugar, beet sugar, strawberries, onions, or tomatoes. Only the amounts are different. For example, a cup of chopped tomatoes has 2.5 grams of fructose, a can of regular (non-diet) soda supplies 23 grams, and a super-size soda has about 62 grams.

Which foods have high fructose corn syrup and other sugars?

Today, almost all packaged foods have sugar added in some form, which almost always includes a lot of fructose. Honey has about the same fructose/glucose ratio as high fructose corn syrup. Fruit juice concentrates, sometimes used as "healthy sweeteners," usually have quite a lot of fructose (never mind that the processing of these concentrates strips away most of their nutritional value).

1.   SOFT DRINKS

2.   SAUCES AND SALAD DRESSINGS

3.   BREADS

4.   FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

5.   BREAKFAST CEREALS AND BARS

6.   PROCESSED SNACKS

Diets High in Fructose Lead to Overeating:

Scientists have shown, using imaging tests, that fructose can trigger brain changes that lead to overeating. They found that after drinking a fructose beverage, the brain doesn’t register the fullness feeling as it does when simple glucose is consumed.

Scientists think that even though this is a small study and that it doesn’t prove that fructose or high-fructose corn syrup causes obesity, it adds evidence that to the fact that they may play a role. These sugars are often added to processed foods and beverages, whose consumption has risen dramatically since the 1970s along with obesity.

A third of US children and teens, as well as more than two-thirds of adults are obese or overweight. Even though different types of sugars contain the same amount of calories, they are metabolized differently in the body

Nutrition experts think that these sweeteners pose special health risks, but not all of them are convinced of this, especially in the food industry. Doctors claim people eat too much sugar in all forms.

Fructose is detrimental to food intake and weight gain, when compared to glucose². The researchers are now testing how obese people react the same way to fructose and glucose as normal-weight people.

In order to limit the damage, people should cook more at home and eat less processed foods containing fructose and high-fructose corn syrup. The size of sugar-sweetened beverages and how often they are consumed should be limited as well.