{"id":29868,"date":"2012-08-01T10:52:33","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T14:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28667"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:45:35","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:45:35","slug":"the-dangers-of-fructose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868","title":{"rendered":"The Dangers of Fructose"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent weeks I\u2019ve heard from readers who are perplexed by an upcoming \u201cDiabetic Ice Cream Social\u201d<\/a> where participants are invited to eat something, presumably ice cream, in order to advocate for the right of a diabetic to eat as he or she pleases. This event came to be in 2011, I\u2019m told, after a reporter named Wendell Something suggested that giving ice cream to a diabetic is the equivalent of giving a drink to an alcoholic.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A certain stupid, idiot, alarmist, asinine, militant, Jewish, Nazi<\/em> blogger (OMG, that\u2019s me!) has publicly questioned<\/a> using ice cream (even if it\u2019s not ice cream) as a platform for diabetes advocacy.\u00a0 I do not believe I have the right to tell anyone what to eat, nor do I believe I have the right to offend anyone.\u00a0 I apologize to those I have offended.\u00a0 I do not express my opinions out of a mean spirit, but out of genuine concern.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s so back to Mr. Something. Understandably, his alcohol analogy enraged many people with diabetes.\u00a0 The irony here (and, no, I’m not defending Wendell) is that one of the world\u2019s leading researchers and physicians, Dr. Robert Lustig Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at University of California, San Francisco, and Director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) Program at UCSF, believes that giving ice cream to anyone, diabetic or not, is similar to giving a drink to anyone, alcoholic or not.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because the metabolic effects and central nervous system pathways of fructose and ethanol (alcohol) are very similar.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Really?<\/em>\u00a0 That\u2019s what you\u2019re thinking right now, isn\u2019t it? \u00a0In order to try to explain Lustig\u2019s conclusion, I am going to pull some Lusting quotes and make an effort to summarize points from this May 2011 video<\/a>, in which Lustig addresses the causes of the obesity epidemic of the last 25-30 years and what we can do to stop it. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

*This video is so worth watching.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0z5X0i92OZQ&feature=related[\/youtube]\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Curbing obesity:<\/strong> The first thing we have to do is ignore conventional wisdom.\u00a0 Eat less, move more<\/em> isn\u2019t going to make you lose weight.\u00a0 And if it does, there\u2019s a high chance the weight will return.\u00a0 Exercise is a good thing.\u00a0 It keeps you healthy, but it doesn\u2019t keep you thin.\u00a0 What Lustig suggests is that changing our behavior won\u2019t change our weight problem.\u00a0 The reason is that behavior has a biochemical basis behind it. In obesity, the biochemical process has to do with a hormone called leptin.\u00a0 Leptin comes from our fat cells and tells the brain that we have had enough to eat.\u00a0 When leptin goes down, the brain sees starvation.\u00a0 In obesity, leptin isn\u2019t working.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So what has changed to make leptin stop working in the last 25 years?\u00a0 Something environmental? Some possibilities: Exposure to estrogens, phthalates, organo chlorines, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, organotins, <\/strong>and\/or something in our diet<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lustig says that something is fructose. \u00a0 We need to address the dangers of fructose.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Are you now thinking\u2026 WTF?\u00a0 Fructose is fruit sugar and that\u2019s natural and therefore good.<\/em> Not exactly.\u00a0 Fructose is the sweet part of sugar, whereas glucose is not sweet.\u00a0 Glucose is the energy source for all life \u2013 every organism on earth runs on glucose.\u00a0 You can find glucose in bread, potatoes, pasta, and rice.\u00a0 Lustig emphasizes \u2013 it is not sweet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0The other ose<\/em> that\u2019s important to mention now is sucrose.\u00a0Sucrose (table sugar) is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0And then there\u2019s the evil high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) we\u2019ve all heard so much about.\u00a0 HFCS is a processed sweetener derived from corn and is 42-55% fructose.\u00a0 It was invented in Japan in 1966 and began to be used in America in 1975. \u201cWe\u2019re consuming 63 pounds of HFCS a year and this is something we\u2019ve never had in our food supply before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Here\u2019s another shocker:\u00a0 According to Lustig, HFCS and sucrose are equally bad.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re both poison.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Glucose vs Fructose: What are some of the dangers of fructose?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0Fructose is seven times more likely than glucose to cause a \u201cbrowning\u201d reaction which damages your arteries.\u00a0 Fructose does not suppress gherlin, the hunger hormone that tells your brain you\u2019re hungry.\u00a0 (If a kid drinks a soda before a meal, he will eat more than if he did not have a soda.)\u00a0 Acute fructose does not stimulate insulin or leptin.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t stimulate leptin, your brain thinks you\u2019re hungry so you eat more.\u00a0 And importantly, the hepatic (liver) metabolism of fructose is different. Chronic fructose exposure promotes metabolic syndrome – hyperinsulinemia, high insulin levels, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, lipid problems, heart disease, fatty liver disease, polycystic ovarian disease and early data suggests cancer and dementia, as well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0All of these diseases of energy balance, Lustig says, are a problem at the level of the liver. So keeping the liver healthy is important.<\/p>\n

And this is where the alcohol connection comes in. You get alcohol from the fermentation of sugar \u2013 think wine. \u201cThe big difference between alcohol and sugar in terms of how your body deals with it is that for the alcohol, the yeast does the first step of metabolism, which in science is called glycolysis.<\/p>\n

For sugar, we do our own glycolysis, but ultimately after that, the substrate, the product of that metabolism, is delivered to an area of the cell called the mitochondria. The mitochondria is the part of the cell that burns energy and creates chemical energy for your body to use.<\/p>\n

If you overload your mitochondria, and it doesn’t matter what the substrate was that got you there, you’re going to end up having that mitochondria convert that to liver fat, and when your liver converts it to fat, it starts getting sick, and that is what we have seen.\u201d (http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2012\/02\/17\/147047545\/should-sugar-be-regulated-like-alcohol)<\/p>\n

How\u00a0ose-s<\/em>\u00a0are metabolized:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Glucose metabolism:<\/strong> If you take 120 calories of glucose (2 slices of bread), 96 of the calories will be metabolized by all of the organs in the body because every organ has a glucose transporter.\u00a0 Twenty-four calories end up in the liver as glycogen (liver starch), a non-toxic storage form of glucose in the liver.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ethanol metabolism:<\/strong> Ethanol is a carb, and it\u2019s also a toxin, a regulated toxin.\u00a0 Every country in the world has an alcohol policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0If you take 120 calories of ethanol, a shot glass, 96 calories go to the liver.\u00a0 The liver has to work four times harder than it does with glucose.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sucrose metabolism:<\/strong> If you take 120 calories of sucrose, an 8 ounce glass of orange juice, the glucose does the same split as before, but the fructose goes entirely to the liver because the liver is the only organ which can metabolize fructose.\u00a0 The result is 72 calories to the liver, or three times more than with glucose.<\/p>\n

\u00a0[There\u2019s an important take away message here for those of us who inject insulin: A carb is not a carb! My attitude has been that a carb is a carb – if I have to bolus for it, what difference does it make?\u00a0 Apparently, I should have checked this first with my liver.\u00a0 Sorry, Liver.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Lustig explains that our current food supply is loaded with fructose (added sugar) specifically for the food industry’s purposes, because it makes food taste better (\u201cAdd enough sugar and you can make dog poop taste good.\u00a0 Your kids are eating sugar-flavored dog poop.\u201d) and increases shelf life.\u00a0 This has a toxic side effect in our livers, which drives chronic metabolic diseases.<\/p>\n

The only thing that can reverse this constant liver toxicity is reduction in consumption of sugar.\u00a0 There is no other way to treat the problem. There are no drugs for this nor will there be any.<\/p>\n

Then what can we do?\u00a0 The food industry is powerful and the federal government isn\u2019t likely to help since we export sugar all over the world.\u00a0 And let\u2019s not forget \u2013 sugar is addictive.\u00a0 Studies, both in animals and humans, show that the area of the brain, the reward center, is affected by sugar the same way it is by tobacco, alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, and heroin.<\/p>\n

\u00a0So how do we get societal consumption of sugar to go down? (http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2012\/02\/17\/147047545\/should-sugar-be-regulated-like-alcohol<\/a>)\u00a0 Lustig proposes we regulate sugar like we regulate alcohol and other potentially abusive and addictive substances.\u00a0 Education, like the Just Say No<\/em>, campaign have failed and will fail.\u00a0 Classroom education fails too, not surprising given the constant junk food marketing and advertising aimed at children.<\/p>\n

I believe there\u2019s something else, aside from regulation,that will work.\u00a0 Peer education and peer support.\u00a0 I believe we can encourage each other to skip the sugar.\u00a0 I believe that there\u2019s enough power in social media to influence the food industry and the federal government.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think we have to be doomed to an obesity epidemic or chronically sick livers. Lustig says, \u201cOur environment has changed our biochemistry and our biochemistry has changed our behavior.\u00a0 We can\u2019t fix our behavior, but we could fix our environment.\u201d\u00a0 We have to.<\/p>\n

For more from Dr. Lustig you can purchase this book<\/a> on Amazon or pre-order Fat Chance<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dangers of Fructose<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The dangers of fructose are real. According to Lustig, HFCS and sucrose are equally bad. \u201cThey\u2019re both poison.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Apple\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868\",\"name\":\"The Dangers of Fructose\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-01T14:52:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:45:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\"},\"description\":\"The dangers of fructose are real. According to Lustig, HFCS and sucrose are equally bad. \u201cThey\u2019re both poison.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Dangers of Fructose\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\",\"name\":\"Jessica Apple\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jessica Apple\"},\"description\":\"Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica\u2019s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=8\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Dangers of Fructose","description":"The dangers of fructose are real. According to Lustig, HFCS and sucrose are equally bad. \u201cThey\u2019re both poison.\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jessica Apple","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868","name":"The Dangers of Fructose","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","datePublished":"2012-08-01T14:52:33+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-27T20:45:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607"},"description":"The dangers of fructose are real. According to Lustig, HFCS and sucrose are equally bad. \u201cThey\u2019re both poison.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","width":1280,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29868#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Dangers of Fructose"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607","name":"Jessica Apple","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jessica Apple"},"description":"Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica\u2019s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)","sameAs":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org"],"url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=8"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}