Sugar is a primary ingredient in the modern diet. Ever since the words “dietary fat” became synonymous with obesity and heart disease, people have demanded more low-fat and fat-free foods. Unfortunately, even as dietary fat has decreased, obesity and metabolic diseases have skyrocketed.
Why? Because as Dr. Robert Lustig says, “A high-sugar diet is a high-fat diet.” Fructose, whether in common table sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey or fruit juice, is the primary cause of obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer in the standard American diet.
In a recent interview with 60 minutes, Dr. Robert Lustig, an endocrinologist and professor at the University of California, tells us that based on his research sugar is a dangerous toxin and consumption should be regulated just like alcohol and tobacco.
The sugar that you use as a sweetener is half fructose and half glucose. High fructose corn syrup has a little bit more fructose than glucose. They are both toxic and lead to disease when consumed in excess.
Fructose Increases Very Low Density Lipoproteins
Low density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol, has a number of important jobs. It helps convert sunlight to vitamin D, it supports a healthy immune system, and it is used to protect your nerves. The particles are light and fluffy. They are too big to get through the cells of your arteries. Natural dietary fats raise this type of LDL.
When LDL oxidizes, it turns into very low density lipoprotein (VLDL). This form is small and dense. VLDL particles are small enough to get through the vessel’s cells, which can lead to atherosclerosis. When VLDL is elevated, fructose is the culprit.
Fructose Consumption Promotes Cancer Cell Proliferation
There is a transporter in your gut that the body uses to absorb fructose. This transporter, called GLUT5, increases as you consume more fructose. More absorption results in greater toxic effects.
Researchers discovered that GLUT5 isn’t found in healthy breast tissue, but is contained in human breast cancer cells.
In any cancer cell, the presence of GLUT5 can reveal malignancy as well as the capacity to proliferate and spread quickly. Normal cells can block GLUT5; cancer cells have lost the ability to repel it.
Fructose Increases Appetite and Abdominal Fat
Neurons sense the amount of glucose in the blood and send signals to the brain regarding hunger or fullness. When glucose levels rise, messages are sent to suppress the appetite.
This isn’t the case with fructose, which is metabolized differently. Fructose reverses the signals, stimulating the appetite.
Leptin is a hormone that suppresses your appetite. Ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates it. The two hormones compete to regulate your hunger. Fructose doesn’t activate leptin and it doesn’t suppress ghrelin. When you consume fructose, you’re helping ghrelin win the battle to make you eat more than you need to.
Fructose is Controlled in Fruit
Fructose in its natural form is found in whole fruit. It contains a variety of nutrients that inhibit the harmful effects of fructose alone. Fiber and micronutrients add benefits and limit absorption.
Nutrients slow the absorption of carbohydrates to avoid a spike in insulin. Fruit passes through the intestines quickly. This raises PYY(3-36), another hormone in your gut that regulates appetite, which helps you to feel full. However, even high sugar fruits can increase blood sugar and insulin, so they should be consumed in moderation. It’s best to stick with the low sugar fruit like berries.
Many people recognize that sugar is not healthy for them, but find it impossible to give up because of overwhelming cravings. What they don’t realize is that they are dealing with a powerful addiction. If that is the case for you, then you can find the help you need in, How to Break Your Sugar Addiction Today.
Fructose replaced dietary fat, and what was supposed to be a healthy low-fat diet turned out to be quite the opposite. Since fructose occurs in nature, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers it to be safe, but the truth is out: just like tobacco, alcohol, cocaine and heroin, fructose is a toxic and addictive substance that causes disease.
Resources:
Lustig, Robert. “Sugar: The Bitter Truth.” YouTube. University of California, San Francisco, 30 July 2009. Web. 02 Apr. 2012.
Verschoor, L., Y.-D. I. Chen, Eve Reaven, and G. Reaven. “Glucose and Fructose Feeding Lead to Alterations in Structure and Function of Very Low Density Lipoproteins.” Hormone and Metabolic Research 17.06 (1985): 285-88. Print.
Diamond, Davis. “How Bad Science and Big Business Created the Obesity Epidemic.” YouTube. University of South Florida, 20 May 2011. Web. 02 Apr. 2012.
Zamora-Leon, S. P., et al.. “Expression of the Fructose Transporter GLUT5 in Human Breast Cancer.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93.5 (1996): 1847-852. Print.
Bowen, R. “Leptin.” Colorado State University, 7 Nov. 1998. Web. 02 Apr. 2012.
Douard, V., and R. P. Ferraris. “Regulation of the Fructose Transporter GLUT5 in Health and Disease.” AJP: Endocrinology and Metabolism 295.2 (2008): E227-237. Print.
Basque Research. “Action Of Ghrelin Hormone Increases Appetite And Favors Accumulation Of Abdominal Fat.” ScienceDaily, 20 May 2009. Web. 2 Apr. 2012.
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