A high fructose diet causes high blood pressure. I've touched a bit on how fructose could cause hypertension in earlier post, and this seems to occur, because fructose increases blood levels of a compound called uric acid. Other forms of sugar do not raise uric acid, so they do not have any effect on blood pressure.
A high fructose diet also raises levels of unhealthy blood fats. Fructose causes liver cells to produce triglycerides, a type of blood fat. Fructose also lowers HDL cholesterol, and other forms of sugar DO not have this effect on the liver. Eating a high fructose diet, may also increases deposits of triglycerides within the liver cells, causing swelling and damage. Anyone heard of fatty liver disease? Yes, it is also known as non-alcoholic hepatitis, and over time, it will leads to cirrhosis.
Diet high in fructose, also causes insulin resistance. Eating fructose for extended periods can make cells less responsive to insulin. People who develop condition known as insulin resistance, are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Consuming food or beverages which is high in fructose for an extended period of time, also causes kidney disease. Other forms of sugar do not have this effect on the kidney. What most frightening, is physicians advising kidney patients to consume low protein, high carbohydrates diet, which could lead to increased fructose consumption.
Fructose, as you know by now, is a form of sugar. For most people, sugar, is regarded as white crystals that we stir into our coffee. But sugar takes many forms, and it is important to know the difference of each type of sugar, how they metabolize in our body. Sugar, is a carbohydrate. One of the three main macro nutrients in human diet. The simplest forms of sugars, which can't be broke down into smaller sugar, are known as monosaccharides. Fructose and glucose, are monosaccharides.
All sugars, share a few things in common. First, they are all sweet. Second, they provide fuel to our body, about 4 calories per gram. However, they vary greatly in how sweet they taste. Fructose is the sweetest of all sugars. Glucose is about 50-60% as sweet as fructose, and sucrose, if approximately 70-85% of fructose. As fructose is the main sugar in fruits, vegetables has much lower fructose.
Fruits and vegetables are supposed to be beneficial to health on most occasions. But why do people loves to eat fruits? Is it because of the abundance of the sweet tasting fructose? Indeed, humans are hardwired and seek out sweet devour foods. For instance, studies show that newborns prefer sweet water, rather then plain unflavored water. Food which is usually high in fructose, contain high calories. How could a high calories food, that makes you want to keep eating, improve survival?
Our cave-dwelling ancestors may have craved sweet foods all the more intensely simply because they were so hard to come by. Although fructose-rich food has been part of human diet since the dawn of time, it has not been cultivated since 6000 years ago. Our oldest ancestors were probably limited to whatever fruits they could gather from trees and bushes near their settlements. Because they have no way to preserve and keep fruits for long periods, these sweet foods were relatively infrequent treats, not part of the daily diet.
We can't be sure how much of fructose our primitive ancestors ate every day, but it was probably very little, I would assume 15-20g at the most, or maybe one or two pieces of fruit per day. Today, we have an epidemic of fructose consumption in our daily lifestyle. Easily, an average Malaysian with a typical poor diet consumes 40-70 grams per day. From soft drinks to so called 'fruit juices', yogurts, mainly processed food.
Well, thanks for modern refrigeration, food processing, worldwide shipping, fruit and honey are no longer rare 'pleasures'. They are available in any grocery store, year round. But, majority of our fructose nor sugar consumption are not from natural sources, but refined sugar, HFCS or other sweeteners.
Diet high in fructose, also causes insulin resistance. Eating fructose for extended periods can make cells less responsive to insulin. People who develop condition known as insulin resistance, are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Consuming food or beverages which is high in fructose for an extended period of time, also causes kidney disease. Other forms of sugar do not have this effect on the kidney. What most frightening, is physicians advising kidney patients to consume low protein, high carbohydrates diet, which could lead to increased fructose consumption.
Fructose, as you know by now, is a form of sugar. For most people, sugar, is regarded as white crystals that we stir into our coffee. But sugar takes many forms, and it is important to know the difference of each type of sugar, how they metabolize in our body. Sugar, is a carbohydrate. One of the three main macro nutrients in human diet. The simplest forms of sugars, which can't be broke down into smaller sugar, are known as monosaccharides. Fructose and glucose, are monosaccharides.
All sugars, share a few things in common. First, they are all sweet. Second, they provide fuel to our body, about 4 calories per gram. However, they vary greatly in how sweet they taste. Fructose is the sweetest of all sugars. Glucose is about 50-60% as sweet as fructose, and sucrose, if approximately 70-85% of fructose. As fructose is the main sugar in fruits, vegetables has much lower fructose.
Fruits and vegetables are supposed to be beneficial to health on most occasions. But why do people loves to eat fruits? Is it because of the abundance of the sweet tasting fructose? Indeed, humans are hardwired and seek out sweet devour foods. For instance, studies show that newborns prefer sweet water, rather then plain unflavored water. Food which is usually high in fructose, contain high calories. How could a high calories food, that makes you want to keep eating, improve survival?
Our cave-dwelling ancestors may have craved sweet foods all the more intensely simply because they were so hard to come by. Although fructose-rich food has been part of human diet since the dawn of time, it has not been cultivated since 6000 years ago. Our oldest ancestors were probably limited to whatever fruits they could gather from trees and bushes near their settlements. Because they have no way to preserve and keep fruits for long periods, these sweet foods were relatively infrequent treats, not part of the daily diet.
We can't be sure how much of fructose our primitive ancestors ate every day, but it was probably very little, I would assume 15-20g at the most, or maybe one or two pieces of fruit per day. Today, we have an epidemic of fructose consumption in our daily lifestyle. Easily, an average Malaysian with a typical poor diet consumes 40-70 grams per day. From soft drinks to so called 'fruit juices', yogurts, mainly processed food.
Well, thanks for modern refrigeration, food processing, worldwide shipping, fruit and honey are no longer rare 'pleasures'. They are available in any grocery store, year round. But, majority of our fructose nor sugar consumption are not from natural sources, but refined sugar, HFCS or other sweeteners.
Thank you! That was very enlightening. I've recently cut back on a lot of refined sugar. My boby feels much better, but I still have a long way to go. I've had some reactions to it lately, crashing after I eat it, blurred vision and headaches. Any idea if these are pre Diabetic Typre II symptoms? With a family history of diabetes, I want to try and catch it early.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Ben
Hi Ben,
ReplyDeleteDiabetes Type II, is on a sharp rise in many industrialized nations, especially USA and my country Malaysia as well. A lot of ppl, including conventional doctors think that Diabetes is a blood sugar disease. In fact, it is NOT. We have doctors and physicians telling diabetic patients its ok to eat grains as long as they reduce the sugar consumption. Thats a big mistake, and we have to know that diabetes is NOT a blood sugar issue that we are facing here, it is how we control insulin levels in our body. Leptin faulty signalling also is a major player involved in this disease.
One of the biggest mistakes of conventional treatment of Diabetes, is doctors putting their diabetes type 2 patients on insulin, that is a disaster. Initially the treatment may temporarily subside the blood sugar levels, but in longer term, the patient WILL be more and more insulin resistant.
Now, for a normal people, yr blood sugar(fasting) should be below 100. If it is 110-125, u r pre-diabetic. How do u prevent it? Avoid all grains, bread, bakeries, any processed food with sugar, soft drinks, fruit juices, sports drinks, and aim for food with low glycemic index. Avoid potatoes too as starchy carbs are not ideal. Finally, ensure yr sleeping cycle does not pass 11pm, get enough 8-9 hrs of sleep. If you stay awake pass midnight, stress hormone cortisol will be secreted, triggering more insulin to be circulating in yr body.
Lastly, exercise. Yes. You don need to workout or exercise everyday. No one have the time for that. Aim for high intensity short burst training or interval, 15-20 mins per session is sufficient. Twice a week, that is good enough for the whole week. Avoid running long distance cardio on the treadmill as yr body will produce more cortisol and stress hormones. If you wan to know more about diagnosis and treatment, email me. Good luck Ben.