Sugar May be Bad, But this Sweetener is Far More Deadly by Dr. Mercola

[Guest guest]

Scientists have proved for the first time that fructose, a cheap form of sugar

used in thousands of food products and soft drinks, can damage human metabolism

and is fueling the obesity crisis.

Fructose, a sweetener usually derived from corn, can cause dangerous growths of

fat cells around vital organs and is able to trigger the early stages of

diabetes and heart disease.

Over 10 weeks, 16 volunteers on a controlled diet including high levels of

fructose produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive

organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to

diabetes and heart disease. Another group of volunteers on the same diet, but

with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems.

Sources:

Grist December 15, 2009

J Clin Invest 2009

Times Online 2009

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

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This study takes its place in a growing lineup of scientific studies

demonstrating that consuming high-fructose corn syrup is the fastest way to

trash your health. It is now known without a doubt that sugar in your food, in

all it's myriad of forms, is taking a devastating toll.

And fructose in any form -- including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and

crystalline fructose -- is the worst of the worst!

Fructose is a major contributor to:

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Insulin resistance and obesity

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Elevated blood pressure

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Elevated triglycerides and elevated LDL

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Depletion of vitamins and minerals

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Cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis and even gout

A Calorie is Not a Calorie

Glucose is the form of energy you were designed to run on. Every cell in

your body, every bacterium -- and in fact, every living thing on the Earth--uses

glucose for energy.

If you received your fructose only from vegetables and fruits (where it

originates) as most people did a century ago, you'd consume about 15 grams per

day -- a far cry from the 73 grams per day the typical adolescent gets from

sweetened drinks. In vegetables and fruits, it's mixed in with fiber, vitamins,

minerals, enzymes, and beneficial phytonutrients, all which moderate any

negative metabolic effects.

It isn't that fructose itself is bad -- it is the MASSIVE DOSES you're

exposed to that make it dangerous.

There are two reasons fructose is so damaging:

1.

Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose.

The entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver.

2.

People are consuming fructose in enormous quantities, which has made

the negative effects much more profound.

Today, 55 percent of sweeteners used in food and beverage manufacturing are

made from corn, and the number one source of calories in America is soda, in the

form of HFCS.

Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from

sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that HFCS

was not only far cheaper to make, it's also about 20 times sweeter than table

sugar.

This switch drastically altered the average American diet.

By USDA estimates, about one-quarter of the calories consumed by the average

American is in the form of added sugars, and most of that is HFCS. The average

Westerner consumes a staggering 142 pounds a year of sugar! And the very

products most people rely on to lose weight -- the low-fat diet foods -- are

often the ones highest in fructose.

Making matters worse, all of the fiber has been removed from these processed

foods, so there is essentially no nutritive value at all.

Fructose Metabolism Basics

Without getting into the very complex biochemistry of carbohydrate

metabolism, it is important to understand some differences about how your body

handles glucose versus fructose. I will be publishing a major article about this

in the next couple of months, which will get much more into the details, but for

our purpose here, I will just summarize the main points.

Dr. Lustig Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of

Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a pioneer

in decoding sugar metabolism. His work has highlighted some major differences in

how different sugars are broken down and used:

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After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on

your liver. But with glucose, your liver has to break down only 20 percent.

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Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose.

Therefore, much of it is " burned up " immediately after you consume it. By

contrast, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging

form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.

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The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat

droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance

and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance progresses to

metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.

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Fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate. In other words, fructose

converts to activated glycerol (g-3-p), which is directly used to turn FFAs into

triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not

do this.

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When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored

as fat. 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat.

Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat!

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The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste

products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up

blood pressure and causes gout.

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Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin,

which suppresses your appetite. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes

with your brain's communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.

If anyone tries to tell you " sugar is sugar, " they are way behind the times.

As you can see, there are major differences in how your body processes each one.

The bottom line is: fructose leads to increased belly fat, insulin

resistance and metabolic syndrome -- not to mention the long list of chronic

diseases that directly result.

Panic in the Corn Fields

As the truth comes out about HFCS, the Corn Refiners Association is

scrambling to convince you that their product is equal to table sugar, that it

is " natural " and safe.

Of course, many things are " natural " -- cocaine is natural, but you wouldn't

want to use 142 pounds of it each year.

The food and beverage industry doesn't want you to realize how truly

pervasive HFCS is in your diet -- not just from soft drinks and juices, but also

in salad dressings and condiments and virtually every processed food. The

introduction of HFCS into the Western diet in 1975 has been a multi-billion

dollar boon for the corn industry.

The FDA classifies fructose as GRAS: Generally Regarded As Safe. Which

pretty much means nothing and is based on nothing.

There is plenty of data showing that fructose is not safe -- but the effects

on the nation's health have not been immediate. That is why we are just now

realizing the effects of the last three decades of nutritional misinformation.

As if the negative metabolic effects are not enough, there are other issues

with fructose that disprove its safety:

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More than one study has detected unsafe mercury levels in HFCS[ii].

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Crystalline fructose (a super-potent form of fructose the food and

beverage industry is now using) may contain arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy

metals.

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Nearly all corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn, which

comes with its own set of risks.

The FDA isn't going to touch sugar, so it's up to you to be proactive about

your own dietary choices.

What's a Sugarholic to Do?

Ideally, I recommend that you avoid as much sugar as possible. This is

especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol,

or high blood pressure.

I also realize we don't live in a perfect world, and following rigid dietary

guidelines is not always practical or even possible.

If you want to use a sweetener occasionally, this is what I recommend:

1.

Use the herb stevia.

2.

Use organic cane sugar in moderation.

3.

Use organic raw honey in moderation.

4.

Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even

more quickly than fructose.

5.

Avoid agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost

all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming

regular sugar or HFCS. Agave's meteoric rise in popularity is due to a great

marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant

are processed out.

6.

Avoid so-called energy drinks and sports drinks because they are

loaded with sugar, sodium and chemical additives. Rehydrating with pure, fresh

water is a better choice.

If you or your child is involved in athletics, I recommend you read my

article Energy Rules for some great tips on how to optimize your child's energy

levels and physical performance through good nutrition.

Here is the site to read the full article. Cyndi B

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/current.aspx