22 April 2009
Fructose Bad
There's a very nice writeup explaining results of a recent study comparing impact of fructose vs. glucose. Basically, fructose causes degenerative metabolic changes relative to glucose. I don't see that much coverage of this in the US press yet, and this will likely not do much to make the public better informed. For example, most people now seem to associate "high fructose corn syrup" with "bad", which is good, but I suspect equate "fructose" with "high fructose corn syrup" (hey, it's got fructose in the name!). This leads to things such as "pepsi raw" (in the UK), which proudly boasts of the use of cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. What seems to be a little-known, though, is that sucrose is 50% fructose, whereas high-fructose corn-syrup is 55% fructose. So replacing hfcs with "sugar" won't help much. Furthermore, the results of this study aren't surprising if you know that glucose can be used immediately upon entering the blood but that fructose pretty much has to be metabolized by the liver (thus you'd expect differing metabolic effects of some sort). This is also why fructosey foods will show up as lower "glycemic index" than similar non-fructosey foods, which is really misleading (and a good reason why glycemic index can be very useful but should not be the sole metric to judge quality of dietary items). Would be nice to see more popular press coverage of this study.
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4 comments:
Good info.
In the States the only soft drinks made with cane sugar are specialty brands and ones made in Mexico. The "Mexican Cokes" have become popular despite being expensive because these come in the classic glass Coke bottle and are made with cane sugar instead of HFCS. The reason for the popularity is definitely not health reasons but because it tastes better (both because of the bottle and the sugar). It's obviously not a healthy thing so for me I might have one or two a month as a treat.
I've personally found, being border-line diabetic, that HFCS sends me into elevated blood sugar level tizzies. Kelloggs corn flakes has HFCS (as does Special K, and most everything General Mills and Kelloggs makes). Fresh & Easy store brand does not,using "sugar" instead, or "brown sugar" in some varieties. My personal data shows that 2 hours after ingesting HFCS my liver's going nuts, keeping blood sugar high. 2 hours after a non-HFCS food, I'm in sub 110 blood sugar land (healthy and happy). Avoiding HFCS & sucralose & aspartame is now my personal crusade when I shop at grocery stores, "around the periphery", buying "not too much" (though I know you loath that phrase Ron) or none at all of things I know my Polish liver and pancreas has not evolved to properly metabolize yet.
Consider also, that it is Not Just the individual parts (HFCS, sucralose, glucose, sucrose, etc) but the vehicle in which they are delivered that is of importance. X grams of fructose in a fresh apple (or date, or apricot, or whatever), ladened with fiber and bound within an organic plant cell matrix is much healthier than X grams of fructose delivered instantaneously (mainlined) in a manufactured beverage or candied sweet.
I'll buy that apples are healthy, but I'd phrase the fructose issue as being less unhealthy in an apple than mainlined via sprite. Or in other words, it's not the fructose that makes apples a healthy food. But in general I fully agree with you. But quantity counts, too -- you'd be hard pressed to eat enough apples in one sitting to ingest the same absolute amount of fructose you'd get from a slurpee.
agreed, entirely.
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