Mainly the problem is that it is difficult to avoid. Fructose can cause serious health problems if we do not know its functioning if we cannot consume fruit or honey smartly if we do not check how many things contain Fructose. This simple fruit sugar seems healthy and necessary at first sight. But according to the newest research, it can cause rather problems – obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes. We do not say that you should give up consuming fruit, rather we encourage you for the proper measure. It cannot cause big problems.
The article summarizes the followings:
- What is Fructose? Basic knowledge
- The price of the sweet life
- Fructose-free diet: fruit diet pros and cons
What is Fructose? Basic knowledge
We do not tell you a secret if we say that Fructose is fruit sugar. This is a very simple compound that can be found in nature, a monosaccharide, its formula is C6H12O6. It is usually mentioned together with the glucose as they have a strong connection to each other. The Fructose is absorbed easily and slowly in the bloodstream and immediately gets to the liver. It fills the glycogen stores of the liver up and the excess is transformed into fat. And the vicious circle begins, the value of the cholesterol worsens the abdomen part gets fat and even insulin resistance can develop. We could blow the whistle on the process if we knew how much is enough and how much is excess. But unfortunately, it is really easy to carry the amount of the consumed Fructose too far as fruit sugar is not only in fruits.
Vegetables also contain Fructose. The real danger is not in the fruit and vegetables which are consumed in a moderate amount seasonally in fresh form but the manufactured products, the artificially made sweeteners like the corn syrup, the fruit juices and flavoured mineral waters so it is worth giving them up.
The price of the sweet life
Flavoured fizzy drinks instead of natural mineral water. A big glass of grape juice instead of a bunch of grapes. Deep-frozen pizza and convenience foods. Is our life worth enough to think over why our favourite foods are so delicious and sweet? Ah, so they are made with corn syrup which is by the way all Fructose? Or why do we think that honey is better for us than beet sugar? How would it be healthier if it is full of fruit sugar?
When we say that of course, the ancients lived so much longer, we must consider as well, that in that time chocolate, cola and even fruit was not eaten every day. They ate what they grew, they ate them when those ripened and lived together with nature, the soil fed them according to the year circle. They were not addicted to sweet, sugary foods but rather a delicious cake was a reward, a kind of celebration. For the body and the soul. Consuming sugar is a kind of source of happiness but people these days have gone to the other extreme and there is no stop. There is only addiction, perilous sugar addiction and obesity, eating disorders, heart and vascular system problems, civilizational diseases.
Fructose-free diet: fruit diet pros and cons
I only ate fruit and drank freshly squeezed fruit juice but I did not lose weight, on the contrary…. It is a familiar sentence, isn’t it? Knowing the functioning of Fructose, we should not be surprised about the lack of success of this kind of diet. Nothing happens but Fructose intake in a much bigger amount than necessary. This is why it is better to drink, for example, squeezed vegetable juices during a liquid fasting diet because there is much less fruit sugar in vegetables. Of course, they are not so delicious like the fruit juices but you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs. So it is healthier if you dilute the squeezed orange juice with 2-3 times more mineral water. With drinking a glass of pure orange juice you surely drink much more of the daily fruit sugar amount which you actually need.
Did you know that we tolerate Fructose better in the morning? This time, after getting up the glycogen level of the liver is lower so we can tolerate and assimilate the fruit sugar. So we do not say to give up eating fruits but you should get to know the rules and keep them!
Fruit sugar is part of our life but it is important not to let it control us. It can be our friend but it should not be our enemy! If you are able to give fizzy drinks with sugar, sweets, foods with added sugar, sweetener or corn syrup up – be careful because there are a lot! – you can make a big step for your health. If you like fresh fruit eat safely but in moderation, and choose local ones from local farmers and there cannot be a big problem.
