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High fructose is the problem ,not high fructose corn syrup

Small amounts of fructose aren’t a problem. In fact, they’re a treat, but large amounts of fructose are a metabolic CRISIS.

The idea that sugar makes you fat is NOT new.

Dieting 101 –  cut the sugars.

i.e. lose the sweets, ice cream and chocolate cake.

We’ve known this for years……

It’s NOW official

And governments around the world are scrambling to ACT against sugar……….. implementing sugar taxes.

The primary target of sugar taxes………… fizzy cold drinks.

Now, it is hard to argue that these guys are healthy.   They’re NOT.  But, as with everything biological – it’s more complicated.  And understanding these nuisances, might make all the difference to your body chemistry.

So let’s start with the basics………

The chemistry of “sugar”

We call it sugar – but from a chemical perspective – it is a molecule of sucrose.  Sucrose is made by jamming a glucose and a fructose molecule together.

It’s an intimate relationship.

The “couple” arrive in the digestive system, TOGETHER.

And the enzymes of the digestive system, PULL THEM apart……………

High fructose corn syrup

Is the man made equivalent……..

It tastes great, but the chemistry is a little different.  The fructose and glucose molecules are still there,  but they’re just hanging out.

They’re friends, not lovers.

And there is a slight disparity in the numbers.

Fructose dominates.  But, it’s not a white wash……

If you counted a hundred molecules.  55 might be fructose and 45 glucose.

Fruit juice

In fruit juice, it’s a white wash.

The dominant sugar in fruit , is fructose.  So when you juice that orange or apple, you’re primarily drinking  fructose.

So, although high fructose corn syrup is man made………. it’s not that different.  The point, blaming high fructose corn syrup for all our health woes, is probably misguided.

So what is to blame ?

It’s the fructose !

Not the molecule per se,  after all, fructose is 100 % natural,  but the quantity !

The reality, in the last 100 years we’ve increased “our” consumption of fructose by approx. 100 fold.

That increase is not just about eating more sugar.

A hundred years ago,  there was no shortage of sweet things on the menu, the difference between then and now, is how the sugar is consumed.

We don’t just eat it, we drink it.

Both with our meals and in between.

And it’s those in between drinks and snacks,  that might be our downfall.  This is what a group of researchers from Princeton University have  uncovered.

Following the fructose

What the team did, was they labelled fructose molecules,  both  when the fructose was joined at the hip with glucose, as well as when it was free  ………….. and  they watched what happened.

They found the cells inside the small intestine, didn’t care.

For them, fructose was fructose !

And their reaction to fructose was ALWAYS the same…………

They gobbled it up !

And turned it into glucose

This glucose, was then used to fire up their systems, so they could do all the stuff they needed to do.

Any spare glucose that was created,  and there was some, was generously passed onto the liver, for safekeeping.

So the small intestine works to keep  fructose levels, nice and low.

Pretty much everywhere.

Neither the liver, nor the large intestine,  ever have  to handle,  this slightly UNBALANCED little sugar.

And this goes a long way to creating BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY !

But, when there is a run on fructose, which can easily happen, when you swig down a glass of coke or orange juice, some of those fructose molecules, slip past the small intestine.

Click here to find out  what happens when the fructose in your sugar treat “gets” away.

Further reading

Want to discover more ways to create BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY ?