Good, Bad or otherwise?
Is Fructose bad for us? What is fructose? What do scientists in the field have to say about it? We’ll answer these questions throughout this chapter to keep you more informed on this topic and allow you to make choices that will allow you to remain healthy, happy and confident in your decisions.
What is fructose?
What is Fructose? well quite simply it’s a derived term from the latin meaning of fructus or fruit. You’ll usually find Fructose in fruit but you’ll also find it in sweeteners such as honey and table sugar. Fructose is the category of sugar that builds 50% of table sugar (sucrose). Sugar also contains glucose which is the primary energy source for your body’s cells and is metabolised very differently by your body. While every cell within your body are able to use glucose as an energy source, the liver is the only organ that can metabolise fructose in large quantities. That way, if your consistently eating high calorie food that is high in fructose, your liver will become overloaded and transfer the fructose into fat.
Some experts are of the opinion that high levels of fructose is the cause of Type 2 Diabetes and other diseases. They believe the more we consume, the worse it becomes. Some go as far as to say that we should stop eating fruit altogether.
If we go by research things start to read a little differently. For starters it’s suggested that we consume no more than 50g of added fructose per day. Things like honey, corn syrup, juice and other sweeteners are all contain added fructose and it wont take long to reach your daily allowance, just like kids using their data on Instagram you’ll crack the limit quite quickly.
Whole foods don’t seem to be as bad due to their fibre, water and phytonutrient content. So if you threw your apple in the bin after reading the 3rd paragraph, you may want to go grab it NOW!
If we start to go over the suggested 50g of added fructose we’ll start to see problems. This is heightened in those with a sedentary lifestyle and they’re at risk of metabolic disruption.
What does 50g of added fructose look like?
950ml of Soft Drink = 50g
950ml of Sports Drink = 22g
A bag of skittles = 24g
If we compare that to the half eaten apple you’re frantically dusting off, well you can eat 11 of these to reach 50g but then again, this isn’t added, it’s natural.
If your daily nutrition contains 5-10% of fructose on a regular occurrence, your health will be worse for it!
Justin Beard Pn1