Fructose in Food

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down has never been more relevant in society! In fact the more sugar & esp hidden sugar consumed, you are fairly much guaranteed to develop fatty liver, the metabolic derangement of an increased waist circumference, raised blood pressure, triglycerides & cholesterol resulting in diabetes and heart disease & prescribed a catalogue of medicine!

Hopefully, saying that consuming too much sugar is unhealthy isn’t breaking news to you! But we are now beginning to understand more about the sinister effects of hidden sugar - fructose. What is fructose? The white stuff we know as sugar is sucrose, sucrose is actually two simpler sugars stuck together: fructose and glucose.

Consuming fructose and sucrose doubles the body’s fat production in the liver. A fatty liver is a sure way to develop diabetes, cardiovascular disease and poor blood flow to the brain - and we know where that can lead! Fructose is often added to food because it is both cheap and enhances taste - supposedly!

Unlike its sinister sister - glucose which is managed by insulin, fructose heads straight to the liver to be broken down by an enzyme called fructokinase, and this process uses up vast amounts of our energy currency ATP. An ATP depletion then triggers oxidative stress (meaning that the cells have too many “reactive” molecules in them) inflammation, and overall mitochondrial dysfunction.

It gets worse - in the liver, fructose is metabolised to produce glucose, trigylcerides, free fatty acids, and uric acid. Higher levels of all these simply wreak havoc to our metabolism damaging nearly every organ and tissue.

Foods high in added fructose include sauces, salad dressings, sugary drinks, colas, yoghurt, baked goods & fast food. Foods naturally rich in fructose include honey, molasses, agave, dried fruits, fruits & fruit juices. Please, be aware of hidden sugars. We need to educate ourselves and loved ones - as the gov't sure isn’t!