Category: Fructose

Different Sugars and Their Fructose Load

Fructose is not metabolized by the body but is turned directly into fat by the liver. That’s not a good thing — both for the accumulation of fat but also for the hard-press liver. So the best choice for sweeteners is one with a relatively low percentage of fructose in the blend of its different sugars.

Worst case scenario is agave nectar with 90% fructose. You should avoid agave nectar for this reason. HFCS comes in at 56% and related corn syrup at 55% — both very high. Cane sugar comes in at 50%, while honey is a bit lower at only 40% and has some anti-bacterial benefits as well.

One potential winner in this race to lower fructose levels is rice syrup with no fructose at all, but the caveat here is that its glycemic index score is a whopping 98, which is terrible, and means that this one will really spike your insulin levels and quickly. So another no go.

But that there is a clear winner. That would be maple syrup with a mere 4% for its fructose load. So if you want to sweeten with a real sugar, the best choice is an obvious one.

Vegan Deficiencies

Fructose

Evolution has played you relative to fructose.

Primordial man –this is, the human condition for much of the million years we have been around — was faced with frequent periods of starvation. So the body learned to store fat as a natural defense against this likely occurrence. Fructose was a major piece of this mechanism, as it is not metabolized by the body but instead is turned into fat by the liver. For much of human history, that mechanism with fructose in fruit was a good thing — as it protected us from the frequent periods of starvation, i.e., the body would have a reserve of stored fat in order to survive those periods.

Fast forward to today, when in the developed world food is so abundant and easily available, and the obesity rate is through the roof. Now, the fact that fructose isn’t metabolized but turned into fat becomes a significant liability. Here evolution has been stood on its head — what was once a benefit with fructose has become a serious shortcoming.

Sarcopenia