If you are at all interested in the biochemistry of how your liver metabolizes glucose vs fructose, you may find this video from a Dr. Lustig of the Univ. of California of some use:
The Bitter Truthbullet points I remember at the moment:
- Glucose (with a 6 atom ring) is the energy of life; it's metabolized easily by every cell in the body.
- Fructose (with 5 atom ring ) can only be metabolized by the liver.
- Sucrose is 50% glucose and 50% fructose.
- High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is generally50% glucose and 50% fructose.
- (so from a biochemisty perspective, sucrose (table sugar) == HFCS)
- much of the glucose is stored as glycogen in the liver. This is normal and good. What's not stored as glucose is burned for energy in the Krebs cycle in the mitochondria. This triggers the fat creation / fat storage pathways when a lot is being burned.
- nearly all of fructose triggers fat storing pathways, but also creates uric acid (gout), and other blood toxins.
- Fructose stifles the signals that tell your brain that you're full... so you keep eating.
- The effects of fructose processes in the liver are very similar to those of methanol (like a shot of whiskey) but without the buzz.
- it's a volume issue. Only a small portion of glucose actually gets metabolized in the liver. And the metabolic process produces waste products that are not good for you body in high amounts. 100% of fructose, on the other hand, is metabolized by the liver, creating many more waste products, even some that glucose metabolism doesn't make. The liver catches a bit of a break with methanol, as the brain processes about 10% of it (thus the buzz). Not so with fructose.
- remember table sugar and corn syrup are 50/50 glucose/fructose. That's a big load on the liver when consumed at every meal in the amounts that are present in otherwise seemingly sugar free foods.
-fructose as found in fruit is fine for you. It's in small amounts and is absorbed into the liver slowly as it comes with lots and lots of fiber. Fructose in sucrose, on the other hand, hits the liver all at once and is toxic in the sheer load it introduces. Fruit doesn't trigger the negative satiation signalling, nor creates the massive amounts of toxic byproducts in the blood.
So imagine my horror at the BBQ last night in Northern Italy when I saw this on the table:
The marketing pitch on the side was doubly horrifying:
Italiano:
English:
Good luck with your sugar fast! I too have cut out all processed food with added sugar or added HFCS. Like - forever. A bit of dark choco now and then, however, sure. Or a small piece of a home made pastry - of course.