Fructose, Sugar: the effects on our body FACTS!

[nosferatu_dj]

Fructose

12 July 2009

|Download Audio - 12072009 (http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2009/07/orr_20090712.mp3)
Author of Sweet Poison, David Gillespie,discusses the effect of fructose on our bodies.

Show Transcript (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2009/2621415.htm#) | Hide Transcript (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2009/2621415.htm#)
Robyn Williams: Do you know, I'm old enough to remember that shocking book called Pure, White and Deadly, written by Dr John Yudkin in the 1970s. I had him on The Science Show back in 1977, all about sugar and why it's very bad for you.
Now we have a successor. It's Sweet Poison, written here by David Gillespie, who's not a doctor but a lawyer, and loathes sugar as much as Yudkin did. Here's why.
David Gillespie: In 1865, much of what is today inner suburban Brisbane was home to vast sugar cane farms.
The farms were located there because Britain had a problem. They'd finally worked out how to make commercial quantities of refined sugar and then those pesky Americans had a civil war, stopping cane imports dead. But the demand for the white gold was insatiable and the edict went out to the empire: turn all arable land over to the production of sugar.
In the inner eastern suburbs of Brisbane, cane was planted as far as the eye could see and a floating refinery (somewhat aptly named The Walrus) plied the creeks turning out over 1,000 kilograms of sugar every day. But it was still expensive, and wasn't being eaten every day by anyone but Queen Victoria and her mates.
By 1910, sugar-based foods were starting to sneak into our diets. Cadbury had just started shipping its Dairy Maid Chocolate bar, the first-ever packaged chocolate product. In the US, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola were still garage operations run out of sheds behind the pharmacies of their inventors, but were growing fast. But you still wouldn't be able to buy breakfast cereal in Australia for another 14 years. And the only place you'd be tasting fruit juice you hadn't squeezed yourself was in Church on Communion Sunday. In fact it would be 40 years before you could buy canned orange juice at all in Australia.
There weren't many overweight people. In fact four out of every five people you'd meet were downright skinny by today's standards. There was no such thing as heart disease and the medical specialty of cardiology wasn't even going to be necessary for another 25 years.
Obviously no-one was getting rich selling diets or gym-memberships. There wasn't even enough interest in diets to start a woman's magazine. The first copy of Women's Weekly wouldn't be rolling off the presses for another quarter of a century and it would be more than half a century before the first Weight Watchers meeting would happen.
Jump forward 50 years to the 1960s and things had changed a lot. Sugar was everywhere. Coke and Pepsi had grown into goliaths of the food industry. Fruit juice could be bought, refrigerated and drunk at every meal. Chocolate bars had become the lifeblood of the huge Cadbury Empire. Imitators like Nestle and Mars weren't far behind
The range of breakfast cereals had grown from the corn flakes offered in the 1920s, to thousands of high sugar concoctions. Breakfast cereal sales were doubling every nine years. That wasn't the only thing doubling. The number of overweight people in the population had doubled in just 50 years.
Heart disease was endemic, with two out of every three deaths being caused by it. A health disaster was clearly in progress, so cardiologists were trained at a rate never seen before for any profession. Medical schools were endowed with fortunes. Drug companies launched massive research programs with government money helping to grease the wheels.
To help understand why we had all suddenly gotten so fat, a new profession was invented: Human Nutrition. At the urging of the newly minted experts we all went on low-fat diets and took up the brand new sport of jogging. Never before in human history had it been necessary to run for a purpose other than catching food or getting away from danger. Sports clothing and fitness empires were created in the blink of an eye. Having shoes designed for running had never previously been necessary. And going somewhere to 'work-out' had only ever been necessary if you spent your days at Her Majesty's pleasure in a 3x3 cell.
Food manufacturers made low-fat everything. We were doing what the experts said to do, eating low-fat and exercising lots. We ate even more breakfast cereals and drank more juice and Coke because none of these things had the devil, fat, inside.
So how did that work out for us? Emergency over? Well, no, not really.
The doctors did their bit - they used all that extra money to figure out ways of replacing bits of clogged-up artery with bits from your legs. This meant that the death rate from heart disease has halved to only 1 in 3 deaths.
We did what the nutritionists told us. We started having Skinny Lattes. We stopped our children drinking milk at school because it was high in fat. We stopped having bacon and eggs for breakfast; we drank orange juice and we made sure our kids had plenty of juice to drink at school. We worked out at the gym. We got personal trainers and bought sport shoes. We pilloried McDonald's and made them introduce low-fat options and we created a whole new kind of fast food outlet, the low-fat sandwich bar.
Unfortunately, none of that worked. In fact quite the opposite. In the period from the 1960s to now, the percentage of overweight people has doubled again! Now the skinny guy is the odd man out in most rooms.
Type-2 diabetes is taking over as the new killer, and our health systems are collapsing under the weight of treating the complications of weight-related diseases that simply did not exist 40 years ago.
When these stark realities are presented to politicians, there is the usual hand-wringing and waggling of fingers at us, the slothful masses. Clearly we have not been listening to the expert advice. We need to eat less fat, and exercise more.
But the numbers tell a different story. Fat consumption has been steadily declining for 20 years. Health equipment, gym and weight loss have all gone from zero to multi-billion dollar industries in just 30 years. Forget about the internet boom, the boom in the 'health' industry has been sustained like nothing in our economic history. Twice as many people in Australia work as fitness instructors than did just 10 years ago. To mangle Winston Churchill, 'Never before have so many done so much for so little.'
Sugar purveyors like Cadbury, Coke, Pepsi, Mars and Nestle, that barely existed 99 years ago, now sit astride trillions of dollars in annual revenue. Breakfast cereal makers reap billions in profits and fully half of the US corn crop gets turned into sugar to put into soft drinks.
Is there an elephant in the room? Big Sugar (far stronger now than Big Tobacco ever was) assures us there isn't and diverts our attention with talk of everything in moderation. But the elephant is getting hard to hide. For decades there has been grumbling by researchers that couldn't prove that feeding rats fat made them fat, but could prove that feeding them sugar not only made them fat, but gave them heart disease, type-2 diabetes, fattty liver disease and testicular atrophy.
They were easily dismissed or distracted by Big Sugar and the nutritionists. Everyone knows that if you give a rat a big enough dose of anything you can make it sick, or dead. And no-one had been game to try it on humans ever since some researchers had almost killed a few of their trial participants in the early '80s.
But then someone just as powerful as Big Sugar started to look for a different answer. The drug companies that had gotten rich from cholesterol-lowering drugs started looking for a 'cure' to obesity and type-2 diabetes.
When you have to make a drug that works, it's not good enough to guess that fat causes fatness and it's not good enough to guess that exercise has anything to do with changing it. Biochemists started looking at what we actually did with our food rather than making 'educated' guesses as the nutritionists had been doing
As always, money can focus the attention of researchers, and a lot of progress was made during the '90s and noughties. Important new appetite-related hormones were discovered and what emerged from two decades of work was a scientific consensus as to how we digest food and how our appetite control system works.
They found:
We are designed for equilibrium. Like all other animals, we won't get fat unless something is broken about our appetite control system.
When we eat fat and protein a hormone is released by our gut that tells us to stop eating when we've had enough.
When we eat carbohydrates a different hormone is released by our pancreas that does the same thing.
That is true of most carbohydrates, but there is one that doesn't trip either appetite control switch: fructose. Fructose is one half of sugar. Everything that contains sugar, contains fructose.
Now that on its own wouldn't be such a big deal if we didn't eat much fructose. The worst case would be that we'd eat a few more calories than our brains thought we did.
Unfortunately, our livers are blindingly efficient at converting it to fat. Before you even finish the glass of apple juice, the fructose in the first mouthful will be circulating in your bloodstream as fat.
OK, so that's a little worrying, but still not a big deal if we don't eat much fructose.
In 1870 the average Australian's primary source of fructose was from the occasional bit of ripe fruit. And you could only get that fruit when it grew, there was no refrigerated aircraft flying bananas in from Brazil to give them to you in the middle of winter. All of that amounted to at most 1kilogram of fructose per person per year.
By the time two out of every three premature deaths were being caused by heart disease in the '60s, we'd ramped that up to 24kilograms of fructose per person per annum.
By the year 2000, we'd pushed that to 33 kilograms of fructose per person per annum, about a kilo every 10 days!
By then, almost 20% of the average person's daily calorie intake was coming from fructose. But it gets worse.
The researchers found that if you put that much fat in your arteries, you mess up the appetite control system for the foods that do trigger it.
Hormones like insulin, CCK and leptin which tell us when to stop eating, no longer work. If we're not told to stop, we keep eating and overproduction of hormones destroys our pancreas and gives us type-2 diabetes. So not only is fructose undetected and turned to fat, it actually increases the amount of other food we can eat. This is why our average daily calorie intake has increased by 30% in the last three decades.
Clearly we have an insatiable desire for sweetness, born of an evolutionary safety mechanism aimed at keeping us away from poisonous foods which were sour. Even better, if you are a fructose purveyor, it actually makes your customers want more food.
So how has something which now forms almost 20% of the average diet, crept into our food supply without anyone noticing?
The long and the short of it is the nutritionists guessed wrong when they said reduced fat and exercise was the solution. Governments didn't question the guesses and nobody invested serious money into finding out the real answer until there was an obvious buck to be turned.
Flying under the fat radar, fructose crept into every food we buy, often under the banner of making it healthier. We were told to eat more fruit and so we counted dried fruit and fruit juice as good things, and fed them to our kids.
We were told to drink less full fat milk, so we switched to zero fat alternatives, like Coke and apple juice.
We were told to avoid high fat spreads like peanut butter, so we switched to healthy honey and fruit conserves.
We were told to avoid high fat breakfasts like bacon and eggs, so we switched to healthy cereals which were a quarter to half sugar.
The miracle is not that we have all become overweight and sick. The miracle is that we are not all dead in the face of the incessant fructose doping.
So why don't we know this? The drug companies do, but they haven't the cure they were looking for, so there's not much point telling us how to solve the problem ourselves.
There's a saying in the IT industry from which I hail: 'Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM' - perhaps for the nutritionists and politicians, it's 'Nobody ever got fired for recommending a low fat high exercise diet'.
Every day that fructose remains a part of our diet, is a death sentence for thousands of Australians. So what should be done? What can be done?
The quickest and easiest solution would be to immediately ban added fructose as a food. Fructose is not necessary; it is just addictive and cheaper than the alternatives. For politicians with less intestinal fortitude, the next best option would be a regulation that requires the clear and unambiguous labelling of the fructose content of all foods. Then those of us who want to avoid it can vote with our wallets.
Robyn Williams: And it's interesting that Dr Norman Swan ran a similar fructose warning on The Health Report way back. But do keep exercising. David Gillespie is a lawyer and his book, Sweet Poison is published here by Penguin.
Next week, Professor Ian Webster, on good health care for the poor.
I'm Robyn Williams.

[j_shell]

Great bit of info you've got there Nos!

There is a lot to be said for living and eating according to the seasons, and not just blindly eating whatever we want all year just because its available. We get told to eat, and feed our children two serveres of fruit and five serves of veg every day,(I imagine you've seen the commercial with Rolf Harris.) that is alot of food regardless of what it is. People never ate like this back in the day, and like your post says, There was BUGGER ALL HEART DISEASE.

I'm in my 20's and even as short a time ago as my parents generation unless you lived in the city you generally ate the produce of the season and that was that. Basic meals such as stews, or a bit of meat with vegies seemed to be the norm, this combined with a generally physical lifestyle worked for most people. I've never heard people of older generations say much about alergies to foods like you hear today either.

Again mate, good post!

J.

[flickflack]

Fructose is one half of sugar. Everything that contains sugar, contains fructose.

I never knew that.

[mynameis]

Rumor is that Kraft foods and Pepsi are going HFCS free. We shall see.

[shepherdess]

http://i30.tinypic.com/w0re48.jpg

[harris999]

Is there anything we can eat these days?

I am never going to stop having sugar, we all gota die sometime.

[tehuti]

Good read, very well put together and easy to digest.

[piratedude]

Thanks for this info. Good timing, I'm just about to go to the grocery store.:D

[nosferatu_dj]

thanks all for the positive posts :D

i my self could not give up eating sugar... as there is WAY to many foods that have it in it that i like to eat.
BUT i have cut down a heck of a lot of sugar intake..

anyways.. this is as always information that is free to all.
it is up to the individual to do as what they want with it....

[decim]

Honey or Malt is good for a Sugar fix.

Nosferatu what have you to say of this¬

Too much blood or sugar@

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU__J7ThvC8

[nosferatu_dj]

Honey or Malt is good for a Sugar fix.

Nosferatu what have you to say of this¬

Too much blood or sugar@

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU__J7ThvC8

:cool: to much sugar.

tho i do like a sweet bite :[

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6U869g3S30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6U869g3S30

[nosferatu_dj]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/25/aha.sugar.added/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail


Heart group urges daily limit on added sugar


By Shahreen Abedin

If you're like most Americans, you will consume 22 teaspoons, or 355 calories, of added sugar today. Now, the American Heart Association would like you to cut back dramatically.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/HEALTH/08/25/aha.sugar.added/art.sugar.table.sugar.gi.jpgAdded sugar is commonly found in soft drinks, candy, and cookies but it can lurk in many healthful foods too.


http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif


For the first time, the group has issued guidelines that say most women should consume no more then 6 teaspoons (about 100 calories or 25 grams) of added sugar daily, and most men no more than 9 teaspoons (about 150 calories or 37.5 grams).
But here's the tricky part: Added sugar not only includes the white table sugar you might spoon into a cup of coffee or a bowl of cereal, but also sugar added to food and drinks before you even purchase them. Added sugar is commonly found in soft drinks, candy, cakes, and cookies (though it lurks in many types of food, including some yogurts and even granola.) Health.com: Why getting rid of belly fat may lower type 2 diabetes risk (http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20188164,00.html)
Some of the most common added sugars are corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, sucrose, and syrup. In contrast, the most common naturally occurring sugars are fructose and lactose, found in fruit and dairy products, respectively.
The new guidelines were published Monday in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The primary pitfalls of added sugars, according to lead author Rachel Johnson, are that they deliver empty calories and they tend to replace other nutrient-rich foods in our diet. "Because most of us lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle, the food we do eat needs to be packed with nutrients," says Johnson, who is a registered dietitian and a professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont, in Burlington. Health.com: 5 healthy snacks for people with (or without!) diabetes (http://slideshows.health.com/slide_shows/10274/slides/10730)
One of the specific challenges of limiting added sugars is simply recognizing them. Food manufacturers don't have to list the amount of added sugar on products, says Johnson. Instead, added sugars are lumped in with naturally occurring sources, and usually listed together as "total sugars."
Johnson suggests identifying which sugary foods your family consumes most often, and investigating their specific sugar contents, either by finding the product's Web site online, or by consulting the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food composition database (http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/12354500/Data/Add_Sug/addsug01.pdf).
Although added sugar is not directly linked to heart disease, it is associated with risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, and high levels of C-reactive protein, which has been linked to oxidative stress and inflammation, says Linda Van Horn, a registered dietitian and chair of the American Heart Association (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/American_Heart_Association)'s Nutrition Committee.
In contrast, foods with naturally occurring sugars deliver nutrients while still satisfying our craving for sweetness. For example, fruits have essential vitamins and minerals as well as protective agents known as phytonutrients, such as carotenoids and polyphenols; dairy products contain calcium, protein, vitamin D, and more. Health.com: Alicia Silverstone: How a vegan diet makes you sparkle (http://living.health.com/2009/08/19/alicia-silverstone-vegan-diet/)
In the past, there have been few formal guidelines on how much added sugar is too much. The American Heart Association went so far as to recommend only that people "limit added sugars" or consume them "in moderation." The USDA says that based on an average adult 2000-calorie diet, 10 teaspoons of added sugar, or about 40 grams, is the maximum.
So how do you cut down on added sugars? The No. 1. strategy is to eliminate or at least reduce the biggest source of extra sugar in our diets: soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages. For example, one can of soda delivers 130 calories and 8 teaspoons of added sugar. Health.com: Slideshow: The slimming power of mint (http://living.health.com/2009/02/13/fresh-ways-use-mint/)
Sodas containing artificial sweeteners can be used as a "transition beverage" to help reduce the number of sugary drinks consumed, recommends Johnson. Even better alternatives for soda are water, unsweetened iced tea, and low-fat milk, she suggests.
Another tactic: Limit processed foods, and opt for as many fresh, whole, unpackaged, and unprocessed foods as you can, such as fruits, veggies, grains, nuts, and seeds.
Elisa Zied, a registered dietitian and American Dietetic Association spokesperson, says staying away from heavily refined foods means "you'll not only save yourself from too much sugar, but you'll also reduce the risk of overloading on sodium and fat and calories in general." Health.com: Dietary fats can help -- or harm -- your heart (http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20189107,00.html)
You can "save up" your added sugar calories and use them to enhance the flavor of healthy foods, says Zied. For example, reserve your extra sugar for nutrient-rich choices such as fruit-flavored yogurt, chocolate milk, or frosted whole-grain wheat cereal.
Health Library



MayoClinic.com: Artificial sweetners: A safe alternative to sugar? (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/American_Academy_of_Pediatrics)


According to the AHA, the limits recommended for men and women are a rough estimate. They say a person's daily intake of added sugars should not exceed half of the daily allotment of discretionary calories, which are those calories left over after consuming foods recommended for a healthy diet, such as fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, high-fiber whole grains, and lean fish and meats.
You can calculate your own daily dose of discretionary calories on the USDA's Web site (http://www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx), using several factors including age, sex, weight, height, and level of physical activity. Parents wondering about the right amount of added sugars for their children can also use the same Web site to figure it out.
In addition to sugary sodas, fruit juices and fruit drinks are common sugar traps for kids, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/American_Academy_of_Pediatrics) (AAP). Not only do they provide fewer nutritional benefits than whole fruits, but sugary beverages are also associated with malnutrition, tooth decay, and stomach problems such as diarrhea and gassiness in some children, says the AAP.
Parents should choose 100 percent fruit juices and stay away from fruit drinks altogether, according to the pediatricians' guidelines (http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;107/5/1210). Kids ages 1 to 6 should not have more than 4 to 6 ounces of fruit juice a day; the older kids' limit is between 8 to 12 ounces; babies under 6 months should not drink juice at all.

[nosferatu_dj]

http://blog.nutritiondata.com/ndblog/2009/08/new-guidelines-lower-the-bar-for-added-sugars-even-further.html




New guidelines lower the bar for added sugars even further (http://blog.nutritiondata.com/ndblog/2009/08/new-guidelines-lower-the-bar-for-added-sugars-even-further.html)

POSTED BY: Monica Reinagel, M.S., LD/N | August 26, 2009 | 11:44 AM
The American Heart Association has come out with new challenge (http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192627v1): Limit added sugars to no more than 25g (about 6 tsp) per day for women and 36g a day for men. Right now, we consume on average around three and a half times that much.
Where did they come up with the numbers?
The AHA reasons that "excessive consumption of added sugars is contributing to over-consumption of discretionary calories," which, in turn, leads to obesity and increases heart disease risk. Discretionary calories are the ones we eat just for the fun of it and not necessarily to meet our nutritional needs. The USDA dietary guidelines recommend that these discretionary calories should be limited to 10% of total calories. The AHA figures that added sugars should make up no more than half of the discretionary calorie allowance.
This new recommendation sets the bar on added sugars even lower than the "10% of calories" limit that was suggested a few years back by the World Health Organization.
True confessions
I have to be perfectly honest with you: I'd have to make some changes in my diet in order to limbo under the new 25g bar. I don't drink soda, which is the primary source of added sugars for most Americans. And I don't eat a whole lot of processed foods. But I do enjoy ice cream. I often bake muffins or make granola for breakfast. I have a square of chocolate after dinner most nights. It adds up quickly.
What counts as an added sugar?
Of course, it depends on what you count. Most sources agree that naturally occurring sugars in fruit and dairy don't count as added sugars. I agree.
Many try to argue that "natural" sugars like honey or molasses also shouldn't count, but I don't see why. Honey, molasses, maple syrup, agave syrup, refined white sugar, brown sugar, and organic cane sugar are all concentrated sources of sugar. Some are more refined than others, but the nutritional and metabolic impacts are similar. In other words, I'm not off the hook simply because I make my granola with honey. It's still a source of added sugar in my diet. Here's my recipe for granola (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/recipe/1017563/2) by the way. Each serving contains 8g of added sugar.
Adding it up
It's fairly easy to keep track of the sugars that we add ourselves, whether at the table or in the mixing bowl. The real trick is keeping track of the sugars in processed foods. Check the ingredient lists for sugar and all its aliases (such as corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, sucrose, and syrup). The higher up these are in the list, and/or the more of them you see listed, the more sugar the food contains.
The nutrition facts label has a line for "total sugars" and you can use this to keep a tally, but keep in mind that this number includes the natural sugars in fruit and dairy as well as added sugar (honey, etc.).
For example, a container of fruited low-fat yogurt (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/109/2) contains 47grams (!) of sugars. However, a container of plain low-fat yogurt (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/105/2) contains 17g of naturally-occurring sugar. That means that the fruited yogurt has 30g of "added" sugars. Oops...you're already over the limit.
It'd be a bit trickier to sort out the natural versus added sugars in something like a store-bought oatmeal raisin cookie. But you get the idea.
So, how hard would it be for you to limit yourself to 25 grams of added sugar a day? How hard would it be if you also avoided artificial sweeteners?

[alithinos]

Yes,sugar <like everything> if consumed at large doses might cause things..
We shouldn't stop consuming it at all,but don't be extreme either.
But I hope that someone will not consume aspartame products instead of sugar because aspartame <also included at coca cola zero> is worse than sugar.
It's a neurotoxin.

[hank_scorpio]

Fructose (also levulose or laevulose) is a simple reducing sugar found in many foods and is one of the three important dietary monosaccharides along with glucose and galactose. Honey, tree fruits, berries, melons, and some root vegetables, such as beets, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and onions, contain fructose, usually in combination with glucose in the form of sucrose. Fructose is also derived from the digestion of granulated table sugar (sucrose), a disaccharide consisting of glucose and fructose.

Crystalline fructose and high-fructose corn syrup are often mistakenly confused as the same product. Crystalline fructose is produced from a fructose-enriched corn syrup which results in a finished product of at least 98% fructose. High-fructose corn syrup is usually supplied as a mixture of nearly equal amounts of fructose and glucose.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose

[alchemiser]

Well done for putting up so much info on sugar nosferatu_dj :)

I personally never even touch white sugar because of the bleaching that it goes through to make it white.
Doesn't stop me enjoying homemade cakes using Molasses sugar & for sauces i use Black Strap Molasses which is not only the very best part of sugar but it's the part all the processing is designed to remove from white sugar.

The best bit about giving sugar up for me was just how fast all my excess weight disappeared, in the first 2 months i lost 2.5stone & went down 6 inches round the waist. :D

Other good sweet foods i've found are Honey, Maple Syrup & Agave Nectar, though you do need to check the ingredients of them all even as i've even seen honey with added poisons in. :rolleyes:

[piratedude]

Stevia!:D

[wells]

Fructose is one half of sugar. Everything that contains sugar, contains fructose.

I never knew that.

There are three base sugars: sucrose, fructose, and galactose. All other sugars are made up of these three. Sucrose is one half fructose, one half glucose. It is the fructose that causes most of the health problems.

BTW, I highly recommend "Sweet Poison". It covers all the chemistry and science in an easy-to-understand way.

[wells]

I should probably talk a bit more about what I got from the book.

Basically, our bodies are designed to handle fat. We can quickly process it in the liver to get it out of our blood and into glycogen or fat stores. And it's not fat that is making us fat, because our bodies have been dealing with it for millenia.

Fructose is the problem. Yes, fruits contain fructose. But you have to realize that fruit is a seasonal thing, and it's not like we had tons of the stuff around while we were evolving. Fructose is converted directly into fat in the blood stream, and studies have found that feeding people on a high-fructose diet leads to severe cardiac problems, with some of those studied being cancelled because people were literally dropping to the floor from heart attacks. Obesity is of course another major factor. And it screws with your sense of hunger, screws up your body's ability to manage blood sugar levels, etc. etc.

Another subtle thing to realize is how much sugar we get through fruit juices. When you drink a litre of apple juice, you'd have to eat something like 20 apples to get the same amount of sugar. Nobody would eat this amount of fruit naturally, so you really have to be careful with how much of this stuff you drink. We all think of fruit juice as healthy and good, but the fact is it contains amounts of sugar the human body just isn't designed to handle.

Once again I recommend the book. I've been sugar free for 4 months, feeling great, and it's true what they say - after a while you just don't feel like eating sweet food anymore.

[nosferatu_dj]

I should probably talk a bit more about what I got from the book.

Basically, our bodies are designed to handle fat. We can quickly process it in the liver to get it out of our blood and into glycogen or fat stores. And it's not fat that is making us fat, because our bodies have been dealing with it for millenia.

Fructose is the problem. Yes, fruits contain fructose. But you have to realize that fruit is a seasonal thing, and it's not like we had tons of the stuff around while we were evolving. Fructose is converted directly into fat in the blood stream, and studies have found that feeding people on a high-fructose diet leads to severe cardiac problems, with some of those studied being cancelled because people were literally dropping to the floor from heart attacks. Obesity is of course another major factor. And it screws with your sense of hunger, screws up your body's ability to manage blood sugar levels, etc. etc.

Another subtle thing to realize is how much sugar we get through fruit juices. When you drink a litre of apple juice, you'd have to eat something like 20 apples to get the same amount of sugar. Nobody would eat this amount of fruit naturally, so you really have to be careful with how much of this stuff you drink. We all think of fruit juice as healthy and good, but the fact is it contains amounts of sugar the human body just isn't designed to handle.

Once again I recommend the book. I've been sugar free for 4 months, feeling great, and it's true what they say - after a while you just don't feel like eating sweet food anymore.

thank you for this information as it is something i have known about for MANY years..

grew up on farms and know exactly what you mean by the fruit containing sugar. and then combine that with the amount of sugar that is in just about EVERYTHING now days....

live of the land that provides all the food you need "SEASONAL food that is"
this includes meats.

oh yeah as for the book.. i have read this before and i think it has ALLOT of important information for anyone concerned about what they are eating.

[nosferatu_dj]

i was asked to share this info and since it is info that all should know.. here it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvFRLIjOLOU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvFRLIjOLOU

Aspartame (E951) is an artificial sweetener, used in
over 6000 products. The food industry claims that aspartame helps in losing weight, but why is obesity then becoming such an ever increasing problem?
http://www.naturalnews.com/001253.html

Aspartame is a very sweet chemical, responsible for
a host of health problems such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, brain diseases, migraines, ADHD, etc.

Aspartame breaks down into three components:

1. Methanol.
This is poisonous alcohol. In the body, methanol breaks down into formaldehyde, which is a poison.

2. Phenylalanine.
This decreases the amount serotonin in your brain, which leads to mood swings (depressions) and an increased appetite! That is why aspartame is one
of the main causes for the current obesity epidemic.

3. Aspartic acid.
This is a neurological toxin comparable to MSG.

The US Department of Health has recorded 92 (!) symptoms following complaints about aspartame.
In fact, over 80% of all complaints filed with FDA
are related to aspartame consumption!
http://www.321recipes.com/symptoms.html

Some of the brand names for aspartame:
NutraSweet, Equal, NatraTaste, Canderel,
Spoonful, Equal-Measure, etc.

Aspartame is used in any of the following products:
Sugarfree, Light, Diet, Zero (Coke, Sprite & Fanta), Coke 007, Pepsi Max, Crystal Clear, Low-Calorie, Crystal Light, No Sugar Added, Smint, Stimorol Ice, Stimorol Fusion, Freedent, Mentos, Sportlife, etc.

Do no longer believe the lies of the food industry and the 'main stream' media. Contrary to what so-called 'health experts' claim, aspartame is NOT safe!

In fact, aspartame is a sweet poison developed to make people sick so the pharmaceutical industry
can sell expensive medication to 'treat' the chronic diseases that are caused by it's use.

Avoid this toxic chemical for 60 days and discover
how your health will improve dramatically!

Shocking aspartame documentary 'Sweet Misery':
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6551291488524526735

Other artificial sweeteners that you should avoid:
Acesulfame K (E950), Cyclamate (E952), Isomalt (E953), Saccharin (E954), Sucralose or Splenda (E955), Alitame (E956), Neohesperidine (E959), Neotame (E961), Salt of Aspartame-Acesulfame (E962), Maltitol (E965), Lactitol (E966), Sorbitol (E420), Mannitol (E421), Glycerol (E422).

The dangers of Splenda (sucralose):
http://www.splendaexposed.com (http://www.splendaexposed.com/)

Natural based sweeteners and thus relatively safe:
Xylitol (E967), Thaumatin (E957).

Healthy sugar replacements:
Organic raw sugar, organic maple syrup, honey and Stevia, the low calorie, all natural sweetener, used in Paraguay for centuries:
http://www.steviainfo.com (http://www.steviainfo.com/)

Healthy aspartame-free chewing gum, available at health food stores:
http://www.xlear.com/spry.aspx
http://www.xyligum.com (http://www.xyligum.com/)
http://www.xyligum.co.uk (http://www.xyligum.co.uk/)
http://www.zappgum.com (http://www.zappgum.com/)

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
Hosea 4:6 (KJV)

"With all thy getting, get understanding."
Proverbs 4:7 (KJV)

More information about aspartame:
http://www.aspartamesafety.com (http://www.aspartamesafety.com/)
http://www.sweetpoison.com (http://www.sweetpoison.com/)
http://www.321recipes.com/aspartame.html
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame
http://www.naturalnews.com/aspartame.html
http://www.familymatters.tv/level_4/health/aspartame.htm

How the public is being manipulated:
http://www.healingdaily.com/beliefs.htm

Do you find it difficult to lose weight and live healthy?
The solution is actually quite simple.

Avoid all artificial sweeteners, flavor enhancers and (partially) hydrogenated oils/fats (trans fats) as they are the main causes of obesity and disease.

Do no longer use microwaves as they destroy up
to 97% of the nutrients and vitamins in your food!

Read the book 'Fit for Life' by Harvey Diamond. This book will transform your life, in fact you'll never have to get on a diet again for the rest of your life!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fit_for_Life
http://www.fitforlifetime.com/

The cure for diseases and infections:
http://www.miraclemineral.org (http://www.miraclemineral.org/)
http://www.aquasolsilver.com (http://www.aquasolsilver.com/)
http://www.ravediet.com (http://www.ravediet.com/)

Dangerous food additives (E-numbers):
http://www.foodreactions.org/allergy/additives/index.html
http://www.feingold.org/pg-overview.html

Would you like to make a difference?
http://fonteine2.com/make_difference.html

For all my health videos search for: health4me
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=2F856F03238D7810

More videos to follow!

HealthRanger7

[relax]

My food habits / diet now is alkaline based, almost entirely, so veg & fruit basically. So is it all fruits that have this really bad fructose in it?

[nosferatu_dj]

My food habits / diet now is alkaline based, almost entirely, so veg & fruit basically. So is it all fruits that have this really bad fructose in it?

from what i have found out. almost all fruit & veg have it... BUT it is amounts that our bodys can handle.

the amount that is used in processed foods is what is dangerus.

here is what wiki has to say about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose

Fructose

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Fructose (also levulose) is a simple monosaccharide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosaccharide) found in many foods. It is a white solid that dissolves readily in water. Honey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey), tree fruits, berries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berries), melons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melons), and some root vegetables, contain significant amounts of the fructose derivative sucrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose) (table sugar). Sucrose is a disaccharide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaccharide) derived from the condensation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensation) of glucose and fructose.
Crystalline fructose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystalline_fructose) and high-fructose corn syrup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup) are often confused as the same product. Crystalline fructose, which is often produced from a fructose-enriched corn syrup, is indeed the monosaccharide. High-fructose corn syrup, however, is usually considered to be a mixture of nearly equal amounts of fructose and glucose.
Contents

[hide (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:toggleToc%28%29)]


1 Chemical properties (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Chemical_properties)

1.1 Chemical reactions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Chemical_reactions)

1.1.1 Fructose and fermentation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Fructose_and_fermentation)
1.1.2 Fructose and Maillard reaction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Fructose_and_Maillard_reaction)
1.1.3 Dehydration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Dehydration)




2 Physical and functional properties (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Physical_and_functional_properties)

2.1 Relative sweetness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Relative_sweetness)
2.2 Fructose solubility and crystallization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Fructose_solubility_and_crystallization)

2.2.1 Fructose hygroscopicity and humectancy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Fructose_hygroscopicity_and_humectancy)
2.2.2 Freezing point (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Freezing_point)


2.3 Fructose and starch functionality in food systems (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Fructose_and_starch_functionality_in_food _systems)


3 Food sources (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Food_sources)

3.1 Table 1 – Sugar content of selected common plant foods (g/100g) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Table_1_.E2.80.93_Sugar_content_of_select ed_common_plant_foods_.28g.2F100g.29)
3.2 Commercial sweeteners (carbohydrate content) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Commercial_sweeteners_.28carbohydrate_con tent.29)


4 Fructose digestion and absorption in humans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Fructose_digestion_and_absorption_in_huma ns)

4.1 Capacity and rate of absorption (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Capacity_and_rate_of_absorption)
4.2 Malabsorption (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Malabsorption)


5 Fructose metabolism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Fructose_metabolism)

5.1 Fructolysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Fructolysis)
5.2 Metabolism of fructose to DHAP and glyceraldehyde (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Metabolism_of_fructose_to_DHAP_and_glycer aldehyde)
5.3 Synthesis of glycogen from DHAP and glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Synthesis_of_glycogen_from_DHAP_and_glyce raldehyde_3_phosphate)
5.4 Synthesis of triglyceride from DHAP and glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Synthesis_of_triglyceride_from_DHAP_and_g lyceraldehyde_3_phosphate)


6 Health effects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Health_effects)

6.1 Digestive problems (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Digestive_problems)
6.2 Metabolic syndromes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Metabolic_syndromes)
6.3 Compared to sucrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Compared_to_sucrose)
6.4 Liver disease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Liver_disease)
6.5 Gout (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Gout)


7 See also (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#See_also)
8 References (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#References)
9 External links (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#External_links)

[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=1)] Chemical properties

Fructose is a 6-carbon polyhydroxyketone. It is an isomer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isomer) of glucose, i.e. both have the same molecular formula (C (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon)6H (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen)12O (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen)6), but they differ structurally. It typically adopts a cyclic structures owing to the stability of its hemiketal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemiketal). In contrast, aldoses such as glucose, tend to form a six-membered ring. This 5-member ring is formally called D-fructofuranose. Alternatively, the OH group on the sixth carbon may attach to the carbonyl carbon to form a 6-member ring (D-Fructopyranose). In solution, fructose exists as an equilibrium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equilibrium) mixture of 70% fructopyranose and 30% fructofuranose.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-0)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f7/Fructoseisomers.jpg/480px-Fructoseisomers.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fructoseisomers.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fructoseisomers.jpg)
Figure 1: Relationship between the acyclic and cyclic (hemiketal and hemacetal) isomers of fructose



[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=2)] Chemical reactions

[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=3)] Fructose and fermentation

Fructose may be anaerobically fermented by yeast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast) or bacteria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria). [2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-1) Yeast enzymes convert sugar (glucose, or fructose) to ethanol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol) and carbon dioxide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide). The carbon dioxide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide) released during fermentation will remain dissolved in water where it will reach equilibrium with carbonic acid unless the fermentation chamber is left open to the air. The dissolved carbon dioxide and carbonic acid produce the carbonation in bottle fermented beverages. [3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-2)
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=4)] Fructose and Maillard reaction

Fructose undergoes the Maillard reaction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction), non-enzymatic browning, with amino acids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acids). Because fructose exists to a greater extent in the open-chain form than does glucose, the initial stages of the Maillard reaction occurs more rapidly than with glucose. Therefore, fructose potentially may contribute to changes in food palatability (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatability), as well as other nutritional effects, such as excessive browning, volume and tenderness reduction during cake preparation, and formation of mutagenic compounds. [4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-3)
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=5)] Dehydration

Fructose readily dehydrates to give hydroxymethylfurfural (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxymethylfurfural) ("HMF"). HMF is a potential precursor to "green" liquid fuel. Glucose can be isomerized to fructose which then is allowed to dehydrate.
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=6)] Physical and functional properties

[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=7)] Relative sweetness

The primary reason that fructose is used commercially in foods and beverages, besides its low cost, is its high relative sweetness. It is the sweetest of all naturally occurring carbohydrates. Fructose is generally regarded as being 1.73 times sweeter than sucrose.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Hanover-4)[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Oregon_State_University-5) . However, it is the 5-ring form of fructose that is sweeter; the 6-ring form tastes about the same as usual table sugar. Unfortunately, warming fructose leads to formation of the 6-ring form.[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-6)
Figure 2 Relative sweetness of sugars and sweeteners
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Relativesweetness.png/480px-Relativesweetness.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Relativesweetness.png) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Relativesweetness.png)




The sweetness intensity profile of fructose The sweetness of fructose is perceived earlier than that of sucrose or dextrose, and the taste sensation reaches a peak (higher than sucrose) and diminishes more quickly than sucrose. Fructose can also enhance other flavors in the system[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Hanover-4)
Sweetness synergy. Fructose exhibits a sweetness synergy effect when used in combination with other sweeteners. The relative sweetness of fructose blended with sucrose, aspartame, or saccharin is perceived to be greater than the sweetness calculated from individual components[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Nabors-7).
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=8)] Fructose solubility and crystallization

Fructose has higher solubility than other sugars as well as other sugar alcohols. Fructose is therefore difficult to crystallize from an aqueous solution.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Hanover-4) Sugar mixes containing fructose, such as candies, are softer than those containing other sugars because of the greater solubility of fructose [9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-8).
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=9)] Fructose hygroscopicity and humectancy

Fructose is quicker to absorb moisture and slower to release it to the environment than sucrose, dextrose, or other nutritive sweeteners [8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Nabors-7). Fructose is an excellent humectant and retains moisture for a long period of time even at low relative humidity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_humidity) (RH). Therefore, fructose can contribute to improved quality, better texture, and longer shelf life to the food products in which it is used.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Hanover-4)
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=10)] Freezing point

Fructose has a greater effect on freezing point depression than disaccharides or oligosaccharides, which may protect the integrity of cell walls of fruit by reducing ice crystal formation. However, this characteristic may be undesirable in soft-serve or hard-frozen dairy desserts.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Hanover-4)
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=11)] Fructose and starch functionality in food systems

Fructose increases starch viscosity more rapidly and achieves a higher final viscosity than sucrose because fructose lowers the temperature required during gelatinizing of starch, causing a greater final viscosity [10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-9).
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=12)] Food sources

The primary food sources of fructose are fruits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit), vegetables (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable), and honey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey) [11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-10). Fructose exists in foods either as a free monosaccharide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosaccharide), or bound to glucose as sucrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose), a disaccharide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaccharide). Fructose, glucose, and sucrose may all be present in a food; however, different foods will have varying levels of each of these three sugars.
The sugar contents of common fruits and vegetables are presented in Table 1. In general, in foods that contain free fructose, the ratio of fructose to glucose is approximately 1:1; that is, foods with fructose usually contain about an equal amount of free glucose. A value that is above 1 indicates a higher proportion of fructose to glucose, and below 1, a lower proportion. Some fruits have larger proportions of fructose to glucose compared to others. For example, apples (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple) and pears (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pear) contain more than twice as much free fructose as glucose, while for apricots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apricot) the proportion is less than half as much fructose as glucose.
Apple and pear juices are of particular interest to pediatricians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pediatrics) because the high concentrations of free fructose in these juices can cause diarrhea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarrhea) in children. The cells (enterocytes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterocyte)) that line children's small intestines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_intestine) have less affinity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity) for fructose absorption (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Intestine#Absorption) than for glucose and sucrose [12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-11). Unabsorbed fructose creates higher osmolarity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmolarity) in the small intestine, which draws water into the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in osmotic diarrhea. This phenomenon is discussed in greater detail in the Health Effects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Effects) section.
Table 1 also shows the amount of sucrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose) found in common fruits and vegetables. Sugar cane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_cane) and sugar beet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet) have a high concentration of sucrose, and are used for commercial preparation of pure sucrose. Extracted cane or beet juice is clarified, removing impurities; and concentrated by removing excess water. The end product is 99.9% pure sucrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose). Sucrose-containing sugars include common table white granulated sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar) and powdered sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powdered_sugar), as well as brown sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_sugar) [13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Kretchmer-12).
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=13)] Table 1 – Sugar content of selected common plant foods (g/100g)

Food Item Total Carbohydrate
Total Sugars
Free Fructose
Free Glucose
Sucrose Fructose / Glucose
Ratio
Sucrose as a % of
Total Sugars
Fruit Apple 13.8 10.4 5.9 2.4 2.1 2.5 19.9 Apricot 11.1 9.2 0.9 2.4 5.9 0.7 63.5 Banana 22.8 12.2 4.9 5.0 2.4 1.0 20.0 Grapes 18.1 15.5 8.1 7.2 0.2 1.1 1.0 Peach 9.5 8.4 1.5 2.0 4.8 0.9 56.7 Pear 15.5 9.8 6.2 2.8 0.8 2.1 8.0 Vegetables Beet, Red 9.6 6.8 0.1 0.1 6.5 1.0 96.2 Carrot 9.6 4.7 0.6 0.6 3.6 1.0 70.0 Corn, Sweet 19.0 3.2 0.5 0.5 2.1 1.0 64.0 Red Pepper, Sweet 6.0 4.2 2.3 1.9 0.0 1.2 0.0 Onion, Sweet 7.6 5.0 2.0 2.3 0.7 0.9 14.3 Sweet Potato 20.1 4.2 0.7 1.0 2.5 0.9 60.3 Yam 27.9 0.5 tr tr tr na tr Sugar Cane
13 - 18 0.2 – 1.0 0.2 – 1.0 11 - 16 1.0 100 Sugar Beet
17 - 18 0.1 – 0.5 0.1 – 0.5 16 - 17 1.0 100 Data obtained at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ [14] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-13) All data with a unit of g (gram) are based on 100 g of a food item. The fructose / glucose ratio is calculated by dividing the sum of free fructose plus half sucrose by the sum of free glucose plus half sucrose.
Fructose is also found in the synthetically manufactured sweetener (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetener), high-fructose corn syrup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup) (HFCS). Hydrolyzed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolysis) corn starch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornstarch) is used as the raw material for production of HFCS. Through the enzymatic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme) treatment, glucose molecules are converted into fructose [13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Kretchmer-12). There are three types of HFCS, each with a different proportion of fructose: HFCS-42, HFCS-55, and HFCS-90. The number for each HFCS corresponds to the percentage of synthesized fructose present in the syrup. HFCS-90 has the highest concentration of fructose, and is typically used to manufacture HFCS-55; HFCS 55 is used as sweetener in soft drinks, while HFCS-42 is used in many processed foods and baked goods.
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=14)] Commercial sweeteners (carbohydrate content)

Sugar Fructose Glucose Sucrose (Fructose-Glucose) Other Sugars Granulated Sugar (50) (50) 100 0 Brown Sugar 1 1 97 1 HFCS-42 42 53 0 5 HFCS-55 55 41 0 4 HFCS-90 90 5 0 5 Honey 50 44 1 5 Maple Syrup 1 4 95 0 Molasses 23 21 53 3 Corn Syrup 0 35 0 0 Data obtained from Kretchmer, N. & Hollenbeck, CB (1991). Sugars and Sweeteners, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Inc. [13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Kretchmer-12) for HFCS, and USDA for fruits and vegetables and the other refined sugars. [15] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-14)
Cane and beet sugars have been used as the major sweetener in food manufacturing for centuries. However, with the development of HFCS, a significant shift occurred in the type of sweetener consumption. As seen in Figure 3, this change happened in the 1970s. Contrary to the popular belief, however, with the increase of HFCS consumption, the total fructose intake has not dramatically changed. Granulated sugar is 99.9% pure sucrose, which means that it has equal ratio of fructose to glucose. The most commonly used HFCS, 42 and 55, have about equal ratio of fructose to glucose, with minor differences. HFCS has simply replaced sucrose as a sweetener. Therefore, despite the changes in the sweetener consumption, the ratio of glucose to fructose intake has remained relatively constant [16] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-15).
Figure 3 Adjusted consumption of refined sugar per capita in the U.S.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/U.s.sugarconsumption.2.jpg/480px-U.s.sugarconsumption.2.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.s.sugarconsumption.2.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.s.sugarconsumption.2.jpg)




[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=15)] Fructose digestion and absorption in humans

Fructose exists in foods as either a monosaccharide (free fructose) or as a disaccharide (sucrose). Free fructose does not undergo digestion; however when fructose is consumed in the form of sucrose, digestion occurs entirely in the upper small intestine. As sucrose comes into contact with the membrane of the small intestine, the enzyme sucrase catalyzes the cleavage of sucrose to yield one glucose and fructose unit. Fructose passes through the small intestine virtually unchanged, then enters the portal vein and is directed toward the liver.
Figure 4 Hydrolysis of sucrose to glucose and fructose by sucrase
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Sucrase.jpg/360px-Sucrase.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sucrase.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sucrase.jpg)



The mechanism of fructose absorption in the small intestine is not completely understood. Some evidence suggests active transport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_transport), because fructose uptake has been shown to occur against a concentration gradient. [17] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-16) However, the majority of research supports the claim that fructose absorption occurs on the mucosal membrane via facilitated transport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitated_diffusion) involving GLUT5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLUT5) transport proteins. Since the concentration of fructose is higher in the lumen, fructose is able to flow down a concentration gradient into the enterocytes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterocytes), assisted by transport proteins. Fructose may be transported out of the enterocyte across the basolateral membrane by either GLUT2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLUT2) or GLUT5, although the GLUT2 transporter has a greater capacity for transporting fructose and therefore the majority of fructose is transported out of the enterocyte through GLUT2.
Figure 5 Intestinal sugar transport proteins
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Fructosetransporter.jpg/340px-Fructosetransporter.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fructosetransporter.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fructosetransporter.jpg)

[nosferatu_dj]

Capacity and rate of absorption

The absorption capacity for fructose in monosaccharide form ranges from less than 5g to 50g and adapts with changes in dietary fructose intake. Studies show the greatest absorption rate occurs when glucose and fructose are administered in equal quantities [18] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-17). When fructose is ingested as part of the disaccharide sucrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose), absorption capacity is much higher because fructose exists in a 1:1 ratio with glucose. It appears that the GLUT5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLUT5) transfer rate may be saturated at low levels and absorption is increased through joint absorption with glucose [19] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-18). One proposed mechanism for this phenomenon is a glucose-dependent cotransport of fructose. In addition, fructose transfer activity increases with dietary fructose intake. The presence of fructose in the lumen causes increased mRNA transcription of GLUT5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLUT5), leading to increased transport proteins. High fructose diets have been shown to increase abundance of transport proteins within 3 days of intake. [20] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-19)
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=17)] Malabsorption

Main article: Fructose malabsorption (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption)
Several studies have measured the intestinal absorption of fructose using hydrogen breath test (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_breath_test)[21] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-20)[22] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-21)[23] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-22)[24] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-23) . These studies indicate that fructose is not completely absorbed in the small intestine. When fructose is not absorbed in the small intestine, it is transported into the large intestine, where it is fermented by the colonic flora. Hydrogen is produced during the fermentation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation_%28biochemistry%29) process and dissolves into the blood of the portal vein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_vein). This hydrogen is transported to the lungs, where it is exchanged across the lungs and is measurable by the hydrogen breath test. The colonic flora also produces carbon dioxide, short chain fatty acids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_chain_fatty_acid), organic acids, and trace gases in the presence of unabsorbed fructose [25] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-24). The presence of gases and organic acids in the large intestine causes gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, and gastrointestial pain [26] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-25). Exercise can exacerbate these symptoms by decreasing transit time in the small intestine, resulting in a greater amount of fructose being emptied into the large intestine[27] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-26).
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=18)] Fructose metabolism

All three dietary monosaccharides are transported into the liver by the GLUT 2 transporter [28] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-27). Fructose and galactose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactose) are phosphorylated (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorylation) in the liver by fructokinase (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructokinase) (Km= 0.5 mM) and galactokinase (Km = 0.8 mM). By contrast, glucose tends to pass through the liver (Km of hepatic glucokinase = 10 mM) and can be metabolised anywhere in the body. Uptake of fructose by the liver is not regulated by insulin.
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=19)] Fructolysis

Fructolysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructolysis) occurs in two steps. First, the two trioses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trioses) dihydroxyacetone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydroxyacetone) (DHAP) and glyceraldehyde (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyceraldehyde) are synthesized. Second, the trioses are metabolized either in the gluconeogenic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluconeogenesis) pathway for glycogen replenishment and/or complete metabolism in the fructolytic pathway to pyruvate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyruvic_acid), which after conversion to acetyl-CoA enters the Krebs cycle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid_cycle), and is converted to citrate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid) and subsequently directed toward ’’de novo’’ synthesis of the free fatty acid palmitate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmitic_acid) [29] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-McGrane-28).
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=20)] Metabolism of fructose to DHAP and glyceraldehyde

The first step in the metabolism of fructose is the phosphorylation of fructose to fructose 1-phosphate by fructokinase, thus trapping fructose for metabolism in the liver. Fructose 1-phosphate then undergoes hydrolysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolysis) by aldolase B (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldolase_B) to form DHAP and glyceraldehydes; DHAP can either be isomerized (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isomerization) to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate by triosephosphate isomerase or undergo reduction to glycerol 3-phosphate by glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase. The glyceraldehyde produced may also be converted to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate by glyceraldehyde kinase or converted to glycerol 3-phosphate by glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase. The metabolism of fructose at this point yields intermediates in the gluconeogenic and fructolytic pathways leading to glycogen synthesis as well as fatty acid and triglyceride synthesis.
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=21)] Synthesis of glycogen from DHAP and glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate

The resultant glyceraldehyde formed by aldolase B then undergoes phosphorylation to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. Increased concentrations of DHAP and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate in the liver drive the gluconeogenic pathway toward glucose and subsequent glycogen synthesis. It appears that fructose is a better substrate for glycogen synthesis than glucose and that glycogen replenishment takes precedence over triglyceride formation [30] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-29). Once liver glycogen is replenished, the intermediates of fructose metabolism are primarily directed toward triglyceride synthesis.
Figure 6 Metabolic conversion of fructose to glycogen in the liver
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Fructose-glycogen.jpg/480px-Fructose-glycogen.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fructose-glycogen.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fructose-glycogen.jpg)




[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=22)] Synthesis of triglyceride from DHAP and glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate

Carbons from dietary fructose are found in both the free fatty acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fatty_acid) and glycerol moieties of plasma triglycerides. High fructose consumption can lead to excess pyruvate production, causing a buildup of Krebs cycle intermediates [29] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-McGrane-28). Accumulated citrate can be transported from the mitochondria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrion) into the cytosol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytosol) of hepatocytes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatocytes), converted to acetyl CoA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetyl_CoA) by citrate lyase and directed toward fatty acid synthesis [29] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-McGrane-28); [31] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Sul-30). Additionally, DHAP can be converted to glycerol 3-phosphate as previously mentioned, providing the glycerol backbone for the triglyceride molecule [31] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-Sul-30). Triglycerides are incorporated into very low density lipoproteins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_low_density_lipoprotein) (VLDL), which are released from the liver destined toward peripheral tissues for storage in both fat and muscle cells.
Figure 7 Metabolic conversion of fructose to triglyceride in the liver
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Fructose-triglyceride.jpg/480px-Fructose-triglyceride.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fructose-triglyceride.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fructose-triglyceride.jpg)




[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=23)] Health effects

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Ambox_style.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ambox_style.png)
This section may require cleanup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Cleanup) to meet Wikipedia's quality standards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style). Please improve this section (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit) if you can. (June 2007) [edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=24)] Digestive problems

Fructose absorption occurs via the GLUT-5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLUT5)[32] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-31) (fructose only) transporter, and the GLUT2 transporter, for which it competes with glucose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose) and galactose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactose). A deficiency of GLUT 5 may result in excess fructose carried into the lower intestine.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)] There, it can provide nutrients for the existing gut flora (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora), which produce gas. It may also cause water retention in the intestine. These effects may lead to bloating (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloating), excessive flatulence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatulence), loose stools, and even diarrhea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarrhea) depending on the amounts eaten and other factors.
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=25)] Metabolic syndromes

Excess fructose consumption has been hypothesized to be a contributing cause of insulin resistance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_resistance), obesity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity),[33] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid12399260-32) elevated LDL cholesterol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-density_lipoprotein) and triglycerides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triglyceride), leading to metabolic syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome)[34] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-PMC552336-33). Short-term tests, lack of dietary control, and lack of a non-fructose consuming control group are all confounding factors in human experiments. However, there are now a number of reports showing correlation of fructose consumption to obesity,[35] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid16932334-34)[36] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid16166564-35) especially central obesity which is thought to be the most dangerous kind of obesity.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)]
There is a concern with Type 1 diabetes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_1_diabetes) patients and the apparent low GI (glycemic index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index)) of fructose. Fructose gives as high a blood sugar spike as that obtained with glucose. In fact, the GI measurement applies only to glucose containing foods (eg, those with high-starch content). The basic GI measurement technique is somewhat confusing. This is because the body's response to glucose is "standardized" with 50g of ingested glucose, while the GI researchers use 50g of digestible carbohydrate (not necessarily glucose) as its reference standard. Although all simple sugars have nearly identical chemical formulae, each has distinct chemical properties.
This can be illustrated with pure fructose. A journal article reports that, "...fructose given alone increased the blood glucose almost as much as a similar amount of glucose (78% of the glucose-alone area)".[37] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid2929488-36)[38] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-37)[39] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid11743131-38)[39] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid11743131-38)[40] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid8989331-39)
A study in mice suggests that fructose increases the risk of obesity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity).[41] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid16076983-40)
One study concluded that fructose "produced significantly higher fasting plasma triacylglycerol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triglyceride) values than did the glucose diet in men" and "...if plasma triacylglycerols are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiovascular_disease), then diets high in fructose may be undesirable".[42] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid11063439-41) Bantle et al. "noted the same effects in a study of 14 healthy volunteers who sequentially ate a high-fructose diet and one almost devoid of the sugar."[43] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-42)
Fructose is a reducing sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reducing_sugar), as are all monosaccharides. The spontaneous chemical reaction of simple sugar molecules to proteins, known as glycation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycation), is thought to be a significant cause of damage in diabetics. Fructose appears to be equivalent to glucose in this regard and so does not seem to be a better answer for diabetes for this reason alone, save for the smaller quantities required to achieve equivalent sweetness in some foods.[44] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-43) This may be an important contribution to senescence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senescence) and many age-related chronic diseases.[45] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-44)
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=26)] Compared to sucrose

Studies that have compared high fructose corn syrup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup) (an ingredient in nearly all soft drinks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_drinks) sold in the US) to sucrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose) (common table sugar) find that most measured physiological effects are equivalent. For instance, Melanson et al. (2006), studied the effects of HFCS and sucrose sweetened drinks on blood glucose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_glucose), insulin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin), leptin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptin), and ghrelin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghrelin) levels. They found no significant differences in any of these parameters.[46] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-45) This is not surprising since sucrose is a disaccharide which digests to 50% glucose and 50% fructose; while the high fructose corn syrup most commonly used on soft drinks is 55% fructose. The difference between the two lies in the fact that HFCS contains little sucrose, the fructose and glucose being independent moities.
Fructose is often recommended for diabetics because it does not trigger the production of insulin by pancreatic ß cells, probably because ß cells have low levels of GLUT5 [47] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-46)[48] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-47)[49] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-48). Fructose has a very low glycemic index of 19 ± 2, compared with 100 for glucose and 68 ± 5 for sucrose.[50] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-49) Fructose is also seventy-three percent sweeter than sucrose (see 2.1 Relative Sweetness) at room temperature, so diabetics can use less of it. Studies show that fructose consumed before a meal may even lessen the glycemic response of the meal.[51] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-50) Its sweetness changes at higher temperatures, so its effects in recipes are not equivalent to sucrose (ie, table sugar).
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=27)] Liver disease

"The medical profession thinks fructose is better for diabetics than sugar," says Meira Field, Ph.D., a research chemist at United States Department of Agriculture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture), "but every cell in the body can metabolize glucose. However, all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. The livers of the rats on the high fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic."[52] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-51) This is not entirely true as a few other tissues (eg, sperm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm) cells and some intestinal cells) do use fructose directly, though in less metabolically significant amounts.
Unlike glucose, fructose is almost entirely metabolized in the liver. "When fructose reaches the liver," says Dr. William J. Whelan, a biochemist at the University of Miami School of Medicine, "the liver goes bananas and stops everything else to metabolize the fructose." Eating fructose as compared to glucose results in lower circulating insulin (pancreatic beta cell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_cell) insulin release is controlled only by blood glucose levels) and leptin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptin) levels, and attenuation in the suppression of ghrelin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghrelin) postprandially.[53] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-52) These hormones are implicated in the control of appetite and satiety, and it is suspected that eating large amounts of fructose increases the likelihood of weight gain.[54] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-53)
Excessive fructose consumption is also believed to contribute to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-alcoholic_fatty_liver_disease).[55] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-pmid18395287-54)
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=28)] Gout

It has been suggested in a recent British Medical Journal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Medical_Journal) study that high consumption of fructose is even linked to gout (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gout). Cases of gout have risen in recent years, despite commonly being thought of as a Victorian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era) disease, and it is suspected that the fructose found in soft drinks (eg, carbonated beverages) and other sweetened drinks is the reason for this.[56] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-55)[57] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_note-sugarfix-56)
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=29)] See also



DMF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,5-Dimethylfuran) (potential fructose-based biofuel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel))
Fructose intolerance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_intolerance)
Fructose malabsorption (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption)
Fructan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructan) (fructose polymer)
Galactose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactose)
Glucose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose)
Glycation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycation)
High fructose corn syrup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup)
Hyperuricemia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperuricemia)
Seliwanoff's test (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seliwanoff%27s_test)
Sucrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose)
Sugars in wine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugars_in_wine)
Agave syrup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_syrup)

[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=30)] References



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^ a (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-McGrane_28-0) b (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-McGrane_28-1) c (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-McGrane_28-2) McGrane, MM (2006), Carbohydrate metabolism: Synthesis and oxidation, Missouri: Saunders, Elsevier, pp. 258–277, ISBN 141600209X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/141600209X)
^ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-29) Parniak, MA (1988). "Enhancement of glycogen concentrations in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes exposed to glucose and fructose". Biochemical Journal 251: 795–802.
^ a (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-Sul_30-0) b (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-Sul_30-1) Sul, HS (2006), Metabolism of Fatty Acids, Acylglycerols, and Sphingolipids, Missouri: Saunders, Elsevier, pp. 450–467, ISBN 141600209X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/141600209X)
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^ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-50) Patricia M. Heacock, Steven R. Hertzler and Bryan W. Wolf. September 2002. Fructose Prefeeding Reduces the Glycemic Response to a High-Glycemic Index, Starchy Food in Humans. The Journal of Nutrition 132(9):2601-2604 (http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/132/9/2601)
^ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-51) Forristal, Linda (Fall 2001). "The Murky World of High-Fructose Corn Syrup (http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/hfcs.html)". Weston A. Price Foundation. http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/hfcs.html.
^ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-52) Teff, KL; Elliott SS, Tschöp M, Kieffer TJ, Rader D, Heiman M, Townsend RR, Keim NL, D'Alessio D, Havel PJ (June 2004). "Dietary fructose reduces circulating insulin and leptin, attenuates postprandial suppression of ghrelin, and increases triglycerides in women". J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 89 (6): 2963–72. doi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifier):10.1210/jc.2003-031855 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1210%2Fjc.2003-031855). PMID 15181085 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15181085).
^ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-53) Swan, Norman; Lustig, Robert H. "ABC Radio National, The Health Report, The Obesity Epidemic (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2007/1969924.htm)". http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2007/1969924.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
^ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-pmid18395287_54-0) Ouyang X, Cirillo P, Sautin Y, et al. (June 2008). "Fructose consumption as a risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease". J. Hepatol. 48 (6): 993–9. doi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifier):10.1016/j.jhep.2008.02.011 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jhep.2008.02.011). PMID 18395287 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18395287).
^ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-55) "Gout surge blamed on sweet drinks (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7219473.stm)". BBC News (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_News). 2008-02-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7219473.stm.
^ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#cite_ref-sugarfix_56-0) Johnson, Richard Joseph; Timothy Gower (2008). The Sugar Fix : The High-Fructose Fallout That is Making You Fat and Sick. US: Rodale (http://www.rodale.com/). pp. 304. ISBN 10 1-59486-665-1.


[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fructose&action=edit&section=31)] External links



Fructose (http://drkaslow.com/html/fructose.html)
Carbohydrate metabolism (http://www.medbio.info/Horn/Time%201-2/carbohydrate_metabolism%20March%202007a.htm)
[1] (http://www.bu.edu/aldolase/HFI/hfiinfo/index.html) Hereditary Fructose Intolerance
[2] (http://medbio.info/Horn/Sugars4Kids/introduction.htm) Sugars4Kids

[hide (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:collapseTable%280%29;)] v (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Carbohydrates) • d (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:Carbohydrates) • e (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Carbohydrates&action=edit)

Types of Carbohydrates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate)
General: Aldose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldose) · Ketose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketose) · Pyranose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyranose) · Furanose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furanose)

Geometry Cyclohexane conformation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclohexane_conformation) · Anomer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomer) · Mutarotation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutarotation)

Monosaccharides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosaccharide) Trioses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triose)
Ketotriose (Dihydroxyacetone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydroxyacetone)) · Aldotriose (Glyceraldehyde (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyceraldehyde))

Tetroses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrose)
Ketotetrose (Erythrulose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythrulose)) · Aldotetroses (Erythrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythrose), Threose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threose))

Pentoses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentose)
Ketopentose (Ribulose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribulose), Xylulose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylulose)) Aldopentose (Ribose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribose), Arabinose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabinose), Xylose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylose), Lyxose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyxose))
Deoxy sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deoxy_sugar) (Deoxyribose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deoxyribose))

Hexoses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexose)
Ketohexose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketohexose) (Psicose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psicose), Fructose, Sorbose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbose), Tagatose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagatose)) Aldohexose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldohexose) (Allose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allose), Altrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altrose), Glucose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose), Mannose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannose), Gulose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulose), Idose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idose), Galactose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactose), Talose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talose))
Deoxy sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deoxy_sugar) (Fucose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucose), Fuculose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuculose), Rhamnose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhamnose))

>6
Heptose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heptose) (Sedoheptulose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedoheptulose)) · Octose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octose) · Nonose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonose) (Neuraminic acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuraminic_acid))

Multiple Disaccharides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaccharide)
Sucrose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose) · Lactose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose) · Maltose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltose) · Trehalose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trehalose) · Turanose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turanose) · Cellobiose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellobiose)

Trisaccharides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisaccharide)
Raffinose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffinose) · Melezitose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melezitose) · Maltotriose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltotriose)

Tetrasaccharides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrasaccharide)
Acarbose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acarbose) · Stachyose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stachyose)

Other oligosaccharides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligosaccharide)
Fructooligosaccharide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructooligosaccharide) (FOS) · Galacto-oligosaccharide (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Galacto-oligosaccharide&action=edit&redlink=1) (GOS) · Mannan-oligosaccharides (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mannan-oligosaccharides&action=edit&redlink=1) (MOS)

Polysaccharides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysaccharide)
Glucose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose)/Glucan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucan): Glycogen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycogen) · Starch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starch) (Amylose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amylose), Amylopectin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amylopectin)) · Cellulose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose) · Dextrin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextrin)/Dextran (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextran) · Beta-glucan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta-glucan) (Zymosan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zymosan), Lentinan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentinan), Sizofiran (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizofiran)) · Maltodextrin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltodextrin) Fructose/Fructan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructan): Inulin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inulin) · Levan beta 2→6 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levan_beta_2%E2%86%926)
Mannose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannose)/Mannan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannan)
N-Acetylglucosamine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-Acetylglucosamine): Chitin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitin)
Glycosaminoglycans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycosaminoglycan) (Heparin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heparin) · Chondroitin sulfate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondroitin_sulfate) · Hyaluronan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaluronan) · Heparan sulfate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heparan_sulfate) · Dermatan sulfate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermatan_sulfate) · Keratan sulfate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratan_sulfate))

Major families of biochemicals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochemistry)
Saccharides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosaccharide)/Carbohydrates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate)/Glycosides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycoside) · Amino acids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid)/Peptides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peptide)/Proteins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein)/Glycoproteins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycoprotein) · Lipids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipid)/Terpenes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terpene)/Steroids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steroid)/Carotenoids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carotenoid) · Alkaloids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaloid)/Nucleobases (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleobases)/Nucleic acids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleic_acids) · Cofactors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cofactor_%28biochemistry%29)/Flavonoids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavonoid)/Polyketides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyketide)/Tetrapyrroles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrapyrrole)

[nosferatu_dj]

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2010/2770728.htmIs fructose the root of all evil?

10 January 2010

Listen Now - 10012010 (http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/player_launch.pl?s=rn/ockhamsrazor&d=rn/ockhamsrazor/audio&r=orr_10012010_2856.ram&w=orr_10012010_28M.asx&t=10%20January%202010&p=1) |Download Audio - 10012010 (http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2010/01/orr_20100110.mp3)
On 12th July last year lawyer and author David Gillespie presented an Ockham's Razor talk telling us that fructose is very bad for us. In this program nutritionist Chris Forbes-Ewan refutes some of the claims made by David Gillespie.

Show Transcript (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2010/2770728.htm#) | Hide Transcript (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2010/2770728.htm#)
Robyn Williams: Are you, by any chance, enjoying some orange juice with breakfast? If so, drink on. Last year it seemed to be a dodgy idea. But in 2010, it may just be OK again. Here's Chris Forbes-Ewan, who does research on nutrition with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation in Scottsdale, Tasmania.
Chris Forbes-Ewan: In July 2009 David Gillespie made a presentation on Ockham's Razor about the effects of fructose consumption on health.
To refresh your memory, fructose constitutes one half of sugar, the other half being glucose. So sweet foods such as desserts, cakes, chocolate and other confectionery, and sugar-sweetened beverages such as carbonated soft drinks, sports drinks and so on, contain large quantities of fructose. Fructose is also present in fruit, and especially in fruit juice.
In his presentation, David argues that fructose has severe and adverse effects on many aspects of metabolism related to health, leading to the current alarming levels of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and even some cancers.
I've been a professional nutritionist for more than two decades, and I was aware of research results showing some adverse effects on health, resulting from high fructose consumption. However, I wasn't aware that, to quote David, it is a 'miracle ... that we are not all dead in the face of the incessant fructose doping.'
David's program was based on his book Sweet Poison. My program today consists of a critique of the ideas he puts forward in his book and his Ockham's Razor program.
I found that some of his ideas are orthodox, but there is also much that I don't agree with.
Starting with the positives, I found Sweet Poison to be very entertaining - it contains gentle humour, plain English descriptions of complex topics, and David has, at least to some extent, made an attempt to base his book on the scientific literature.
However, David Gillespie is a lawyer, not a nutritionist or otherwise scientifically qualified writer, and he appears to have adopted a legal approach to his investigation of fructose - an approach that is apparently based on the adversarial nature of the profession of law. He also appears to have appointed himself counsellor for the prosecution.
So how well has he compiled his case for the prosecution against fructose, and do his arguments support his conclusion that we should avoid all sweet foods, that is those containing added sugar (and therefore added fructose)?
Well, I'll start by pointing out that not all his claimed facts are correct. For example, his Ockham's Razor program includes the claim that 'by the year 2000 ... almost 20% of the average person's daily calorie intake was coming from fructose. However, in Sweet Poison, David states that Australians consume only about two-thirds as much fructose as Americans, and there is clear and consistent evidence from the scientific literature that fructose provides about 8% to 10% of dietary energy intake in the United States. So fructose is probably responsible for about 6% of Australians' total energy intake, not the 20% he claims. This is an important error because, as I will argue later, the effects of fructose on health are likely to depend on how much fructose is consumed.
But indicative as they are of sloppy research, factual errors do not disprove David's main thesis. So how convincing is the evidence he advances that added fructose in the diet is harmful at any level, and is the major cause of the epidemics of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and so on?
Sweet Poison contains a description of a critical study (at least critical to his argument) conducted in 1984. According to David, 24 men were divided into two groups of 12, with one group receiving 20% of their energy intake from fructose, the other receiving the same percentage of energy from starch. He states that:
The study had to be terminated when four of the men in the fructose group developed cardiac problems, ranging from severe tachycardia (his heart rate tripled) to mild heart attacks, within the first 11 weeks.
This certainly sounds serious, and if true, it would provide strong support for the idea that fructose is indeed a very dangerous substance.
But here is what actually happened. The study had a crossover design, that is, each group was to spend seven weeks on either the high-starch diet or the high-fructose diet and then cross over to the other diet for the following seven weeks. During the eleventh week of the study - the week in which it was terminated because of heart problems in four participants - all the participants who were still in the study had experienced at least three weeks on each diet. That is, they had all recently been exposed to relatively high intakes of both fructose and starch. This is something that David Gillespie neglects to mention in his book. Further, one of the four participants who experienced heart problems - the one who sustained a myocardial infarction - suffered this while on the starch diet, before he had even commenced the fructose diet! So the claim that it was fructose-induced heart problems that caused the study to be prematurely terminated is a complete misinterpretation of the study's findings.
Referring to the same study, David's Ockham's Razor program includes the claim that '... no-one had been game to try (fructose feeding) on humans ever since some researchers almost killed a few of their trial participants in the early '80s'. This claim is also not correct. From a search of the scientific literature that was by no means exhaustive, in the period between the fructose-feeding study David relies on so heavily (but misinterprets) and 2008, the year of publication of Sweet Poison, I found 19 papers on studies involving purposefully feeding humans a fructose-based diet.
Perhaps of even more relevance, these 19 studies include two by the same group who had conducted the study David claims had to be terminated because four people suffered severe fructose-related heart problems. If high fructose intakes really had led to severe heart conditions, why would those researchers have continued conducting such dangerous studies? How could they have obtained ethical approval to continue research that had led to life-threatening medical emergencies? The solution to these conundrums is, of course, that the 1984 study did not implicate fructose any more than starch, which David believes is a perfectly safe food.
I also found I could divide these 19 studies into seven that clearly identified harmful effects attributable to fructose, and 12 that reported either neutral or beneficial health effects. So at the time of publication of Sweet Poison the evidence did not support David's claim that we can 'be absolutely certain that fructose is a killer of epidemic proportions ...'
David does make some valid points in both his Ockham's Razor program and his book. As one example, he points out that two serves of fruit per day would be an appropriate level of intake. This is consistent with the Australian recommendation on fruit consumption. He also emphasises the value of dietary fibre to human health, and points out that physical activity is effective (even 'crucial') for overall health by promoting mood improvement, combating heart disease, improving sleep quality and enhancing sex life, among other benefits.
However, Sweet Poison also contains the advice: 'Don't exercise if your dominant purpose is to lose weight: let a lack of fructose do that instead.' This contrasts strongly with the advice of Australia's peak health body, the National Health and Medical Research Council. For weight control, the NHMRC recommends that, at a minimum, people should 'Put together at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days' and 'If you can, also enjoy some regular, vigorous activity for extra health and fitness.'
So David Gillespie hasn't done a good job of providing science-based evidence to support his case for the prosecution in the trial of dietary fructose as a slow poison. does this mean it would be pointless to follow his advice? Well, perhaps paradoxically, my answer is no. I believe that completely avoiding foods containing added sugar would almost certainly lead to the same positive results David experienced: he lost 40 kilograms of excess body weight. But the same result happens with any restrictive diet - low-carbohydrate, low-fat, low-sugar, low-joule diets all lead to lower food intake and weight loss, at least in the short term.
I also wonder how many people would willingly give up, for the remainder of their lives, chocolate, ice cream, honey, sweet drinks (including fruit juice) and desserts such as apple pie, wine trifle, tiramisu ... (you can complete your own list of wonderful desserts here) and all other sweet foods? I suspect the appropriate answer is: not many. You could even revise the wording of the old joke, 'Will I live any longer if I give up all sweet foods? Possibly, but even if you don't, it will certainly seem longer'. After all, there is overwhelming evidence that humans are programmed to like sweet food. This is believed to have an evolutionary origin - poisonous plant foods are generally bitter or sour, while sweet foods are usually safe to eat.
So what do authoritative nutrition bodies say about the place of sugar in the diet? In their 2004 position statement, the American Dietetic Association advised that '... all foods can fit into healthful diets, even those high in added sugars'. That is, you do not have to avoid all sweet foods - simply limit their intake. In August 2009 the American Heart Foundation released guidelines on safe intakes of added sugars. Their recommended levels are well below current average American intakes, but the American Heart Foundation accepts that there are safe levels of intake of added sugars.
Many Australians do eat excessive amounts of sugar, and would do themselves (and their waistlines) a favour by reducing sugar intake.
It may be that sugar in beverages is especially undesirable. Consumption of large quantities of sweetened carbonated soft drinks seems to be particularly implicated in obesity, because it appears that people do not always compensate for the added kilojoules they consume in soft drinks by reducing their intake of other foods. In a paper published in 2009 in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, many leading nutritionists advocate taxing sugar-sweetened beverages to reduce their intake.
So will fructose be proven to be the root of all evil, as claimed by David Gillespie? Well, as the great 20th century Danish physicist Niels Bohr put it: 'Predictions are hard to make ... especially about the future'. Although it is not conclusive, the evidence in the last couple of years - that is since the publication of Sweet Poison - does suggest that fructose may have a tendency to stimulate, rather than satisfy appetite. If this proves to be correct, it could implicate high fructose intake as a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Recent results also suggest that high fructose intake may increase the risk of conditions such as gout, kidney stones, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, and may also lead to blood lipid profiles associated with greater risk of heart disease.
But note that it is high consumption of fructose that is implicated in these problems. The 16th century physician Paracelsus is credited with being the first person to point out that there are no such things as poisons, only poisonous doses. That is, anything is harmful if taken in excess, and nothing is harmful if the dose is small enough. This applies equally to fructose as it does to anything else. The evidence to date suggests that in moderate doses fructose may actually be beneficial for public health, while in large doses it is very likely harmful. This is in stark contrast to David Gillespie's conclusion that 'Every day that fructose remains a part of our diet, is a death sentence for thousands of Australians' and his call to '... immediately ban added fructose as a food'.
The cause (or causes) of the obesity epidemic remain unknown. I still believe that to reduce your risk of obesity, the best advice is to follow the Dietary Guidelines for Australians. In the context of this talk, the two most relevant guidelines are:
Consume only moderate amounts of sugars and food containing added sugars; and
Prevent weight gain: be physically active and eat according to your energy needs.
Robyn Williams: Good advice for the too festive season. Chris Forbes-Ewan in Scottsdale, Tasmania. He's with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation.
Next week, to Brisbane, where Professor Mark Dodgson is Professor of Innovation.
I'm Robyn Williams.