Study finds fructose can be especially dangerous to diabetics
A new study has just revealed the most damning evidence to date on the dangers of fructose.
And those in the greatest jeopardy are the people who were once told this sweetener was a dream come true for them…diabetics.
Harvard scientists have discovered how the sweetener can “open the floodgates” allowing diabetics to absorb it almost immediately where it goes straight to the liver and turns into — fat.
But that’s not all.
The researchers also said that this study puts another brick in the wall about what might be causing the gigantic rise of diabetes in the U.S.
It wasn’t all that long ago when those with diabetes were told that fructose was perfectly fine for them to use.
And even now, you may hear about studies claiming that fructose is not only okay, but that it’s somehow beneficial to diabetics.
Well, don’t believe a word of it.
With all the facts we currently know, giving fructose a clean bill of health is about as logical as insisting the world is flat!
Just last week I told you how fatty liver disease, a potentially deadly condition that’s reaching epidemic proportions, can be triggered by foods and beverages high in fructose. And over the years I’ve told you how high fructose corn syrup has been linked to everything from diabetes to heart attacks to liver disease to cancer.
But this research is helping to put all those puzzle pieces together.
The Harvard scientists found that diabetic mice have a protein that can activate the deadly effects of fructose immediately. It’s almost like flipping on a light switch.
Within minutes of the sweetener hitting the stomach, the mice absorbed the fructose and it went directly to their livers. There it was converted to fat. And that was the case in both short and long-term feeding experiments.
Harvard professor Richard Lee, the study author, said that what the team discovered tells them that diabetics may be “more susceptible to the damaging effects of fructose.”
In other words, fructose is double trouble if you have diabetes.
Professor Lee also said the research supports the idea of how high fructose consumption can actually “spur diabetes.”
And that’s not a new theory, either.
Study after study has found that fructose can be “a principle driver of type 2 diabetes.” And as for obesity, current research has booted that absurd mantra that “a calorie is a calorie” right out the door.
As a cardiovascular research scientist said about his study on fructose last year, “now we understand that different types of calories have different metabolic effects in the body.”
Of course knowing that fructose is bad for you and being able to dodge it in foods and beverages are two different things!
So here are the top names you need to watch out for where fructose is concerned.
- HFCS, an ingredient you want to avoid at all costs.
- HFCS-90, another kind of HFCS, only it’s 90 percent fructose.
- Fruit sugar, while it sounds natural, this ingredient is typically nothing more than a code name for high fructose corn syrup.
- Agave syrup, even if it’s organic and has beautiful pictures on the label! Agave can be up to almost 100 percent fructose.
- Crystalline fructose, which you’ll find added to numerous drinks including sports ones claiming to be good for you. This sweetener is 100 percent fructose. And it’s derived from genetically-modified corn to boot.
And again, even though fruit also contains fructose, it’s at low levels and digested differently due to its natural fiber content.
Sources:
“How fructose may trigger body fat” Alexandra Sifferlin” October 11, 2016, Time, time.com
