What exactly is fructose?
Fructose is a type of sugar found in foods such as fruit. It is also added to sodas, juice blends, salad dressings, pasta sauce and other foods, primarily in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). HFSC is about half fructose and half glucose (another type of sugar).
How does fructose promote weight gain?
Unlike glucose, fructose may increase appetite. And research indicates that when it's eaten before or with fat, that fat is more likely to be stored than burned. Consuming HFCS appears to cause resistance of leptin,a hormone that tells your brain how much fat is stored and signals the feeling of fullness. The problem is Americans are consuming more of such sugars, especially in sweetened beverages.
Is white table sugar better for you than fructose based sweeteners?
No. Like HFCS, table sugar is about half fructose and half glucose. Some studies have found it has similar effects on the body.
How can you limit your intake of fructose?
If you drink soda or juice, have only and 8oz glass with ice in it. And limit intake of foods that have"high fructose corn syrup" on the label.
So, to sum it up, natural sugars found in fruit are the best for our bodies! Sweet,Delicious and Nutritious.
Information found in health digest (kmart pharmacy)
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2 comments:
Hi,
My google alert picked up your post. Sugar, sucrose, and HFCS are both composed of fructose and glucose, but that's where the similarity ends. Sucrose is a disaccharide which means the fructose and the glucose are linked. HFCS is just a blend of glucose and fructose. More problematic is the ratio of fructose to glucose. Take the variant HFCS-55 which is used to sweeten all national brands of soda. Although 55%fructose:45%glucose looks similar to the 50:50 ratio of sucrose, it really isn't.
55/45=1.22 That means that everytime a teen chugs a soda his liver is receiving, compared to glucose, 22% more fructose. The CRA keeps hawking that sucrose and HFCS are similar. This is patently misleading. Ditch HFCS, especially HFCS-55. To your health.
Just to add to your already excellent post, Local Matters. It is actually the fibre in the pulp in fruit that allows our bodies to process the Fructose. Many people are under the impression that drinking fruit juice is extremely healthy. Whilst yes the juice is full of vitamins and antioxidants, since the pulp is missing our bodies stuggle processing the fructose.
Lesson to be learned, go for a smoothie, not a juice.
Dan
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