Fructose is BAD! (Learnings from a Las Vegas Lecture)
Fructose is naturally occurring. The fact that it occurs naturally doesn't make it good for you. Viruses are by and large naturally occuring too.
Interesting tidbit from Dr Eric Westman (Duke University) in his lecture on Low Sugar/low Starch diets: Fruits are not essential to health, in fact they are fairly unnecessary. His diet contains no fruit and only a selection of nutritionally dense, fiber-rich veggies.
Interesting tidbit from Dr Eric Westman (Duke University) in his lecture on Low Sugar/low Starch diets: Fruits are not essential to health, in fact they are fairly unnecessary. His diet contains no fruit and only a selection of nutritionally dense, fiber-rich veggies.
On November 2, 2011 at 6:27 AM Pacific Time, RagamuffinB wrote:
Fructose is naturally occurring. The fact that it occurs naturally doesn't make it good for you. Viruses are by and large naturally occuring too. Interesting tidbit from Dr Eric Westman (Duke University) in his lecture on Low Sugar/low Starch diets: Fruits are not essential to health, in fact they are fairly unnecessary. His diet contains no fruit and only a selection of nutritionally dense, fiber-rich veggies.
I'm the kind of person that does not like it when a whole catagory of foods is labeled bad because people consume it in obscene amounts. This is how eggs got a bad rap, as well as whole milk, butter, and now HFCS. Anything is bad in copeous amounts!!
Hugs,
Ratkity
It is amazingly nice to read this. I keep telling family members and friends that HFCS is nothing but problematic for the body. This backs me up.
Funny thing is I would some days get RH type symptoms. So I decided to experiement and keep my HFCS ingestion low. My soda (pop) is Pepsi Throwback or Sierra Mist, no HFCS in either and also not diet. I am allergic to artificial sweeteners (like throat swell shut allergic). I havent changed much in diet otherwise just mindful of HFCS. I have not had a RH type issue in over a year. The other funny thing, my weight has not fluctuated at all. I drink 20-40 oz of soda a day (its my coffee folks, I dont drink it after 11 am), My energy is better than ever and I feel like crap if I eat something with HFCS. Like Reeces Peanut Butter Cups do not containt it...I've checked. I also notice less sugar cravings since being mindful of HFCS.
I am saving and printing sir. Thank you very much. Cant wait to see the whole study in a couple months.
Funny thing is I would some days get RH type symptoms. So I decided to experiement and keep my HFCS ingestion low. My soda (pop) is Pepsi Throwback or Sierra Mist, no HFCS in either and also not diet. I am allergic to artificial sweeteners (like throat swell shut allergic). I havent changed much in diet otherwise just mindful of HFCS. I have not had a RH type issue in over a year. The other funny thing, my weight has not fluctuated at all. I drink 20-40 oz of soda a day (its my coffee folks, I dont drink it after 11 am), My energy is better than ever and I feel like crap if I eat something with HFCS. Like Reeces Peanut Butter Cups do not containt it...I've checked. I also notice less sugar cravings since being mindful of HFCS.
I am saving and printing sir. Thank you very much. Cant wait to see the whole study in a couple months.
DS Aug 15th,2005 @ goal, living life and loving it.
"An Arabian will take care of its owner as no other horse will, for it has not only been raised to physical perfection, but has been instilled with a spirit of loyalty unparalleled by that of any other breed."
Steve, thanks for posting this.
May I share this with a diabetes list I belong to? We recently had a discussion on diet sodas. (long one for us). Since we only allow scientific studies, not conjecture, this will add to the discussion.
Btw, I hope you & T are also having fun while at the convention.
Liz
May I share this with a diabetes list I belong to? We recently had a discussion on diet sodas. (long one for us). Since we only allow scientific studies, not conjecture, this will add to the discussion.
Btw, I hope you & T are also having fun while at the convention.
Liz
Duodenal Switch (Lap) 01-24-11 | Surgeon: Stephen Boyce | High weight: 250 in 2002 | Surgery weight: 203 | Lowest weight: 121 | Current weight: 135 | Goal weight: 135
Steve,
Did they talk about alternatives such as stevia? How does it stack up in comparison to regular sugar or splenda-like sweeteners?
C-Girl
Starting Stats: Ht: 5' 0" HW: 242 ~ SW: 229.9 ~ CW: 117 ~ Goal: 124.9 ("normal" BMI)
% EWL @ 03 months: 36% % EWL @ 09 months: 80%
% EWL @ 06 months: 63% % EWL @ 12 months + 2 weeks: 100%
I have a problem with the doctor's lecture. Acetyl CoA is an important molecule in cellular respiration. It's important in the citric acid cycle in both fat and sugar metabolism (and in ketosis). It's also an important part of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. I'd like to see a biochemist review this data.
Also, sucrose is a disaccaride. It means it's essentially a double molecule composed of fructose and glucose. There's an addition hydrolysis step in it's breakdown and to say it's half fructose and half glucose is a bit of an over simplification in that it's implying it's a mixture of two monosaccarides floating around in crystal form. The extra step in it's breakdown does trigger other biochemical pathways not mentioned.
Yes, ethanol is a sugar. It has 2 carbons. Fructose has 3 carbons. You can make ethanol from fructose (grapes, apples, etc), but it can also be made from starches (think beer), so it's not just fermented fructose sugar. It's a fermentation (breakdown) of a myraid of complex sugars. Yes, it's hard on the liver (not disputing that at all, btw) and here's why:
The biochemistry of ethanol is really cool, meaning how our bodies break it down. It forms a temporary ketone (ethyl aldehyde) and then goes back to sugar form and then gets broken into energy (ATP). Drinking methanol, the temporary ketone is formaldehyde (methyl aldehyde). This is why methanol (wood alcohol) is so toxic. It fixes proteins (inactivates the proteins: like the corneas of your eye, hence blindness)*. Fortunately, the pKa (how rapidly a molecule bind or likes it's receptor) of ethanol is higher than methanol and to combat methanol poisoning, just get someone drunk on ethanol. The breakdown and subsequent metabolism of ethanol with alcohol dehydrogenases is a primary function of the liver and that's why over indulging on alcohol is hard on the liver.
Sorry for the biochem geek rant.
I'm looking forward to the lancet paper. I just wanted to point out a few things I think are incorrect or over simplified.
Hugs,
Ratkity
*edited to add: cadavers used to be preserved in formaldehyde as well as other biological specimens. Because of the toxicity, other alternatives are used when appropriate.
Also, sucrose is a disaccaride. It means it's essentially a double molecule composed of fructose and glucose. There's an addition hydrolysis step in it's breakdown and to say it's half fructose and half glucose is a bit of an over simplification in that it's implying it's a mixture of two monosaccarides floating around in crystal form. The extra step in it's breakdown does trigger other biochemical pathways not mentioned.
Yes, ethanol is a sugar. It has 2 carbons. Fructose has 3 carbons. You can make ethanol from fructose (grapes, apples, etc), but it can also be made from starches (think beer), so it's not just fermented fructose sugar. It's a fermentation (breakdown) of a myraid of complex sugars. Yes, it's hard on the liver (not disputing that at all, btw) and here's why:
The biochemistry of ethanol is really cool, meaning how our bodies break it down. It forms a temporary ketone (ethyl aldehyde) and then goes back to sugar form and then gets broken into energy (ATP). Drinking methanol, the temporary ketone is formaldehyde (methyl aldehyde). This is why methanol (wood alcohol) is so toxic. It fixes proteins (inactivates the proteins: like the corneas of your eye, hence blindness)*. Fortunately, the pKa (how rapidly a molecule bind or likes it's receptor) of ethanol is higher than methanol and to combat methanol poisoning, just get someone drunk on ethanol. The breakdown and subsequent metabolism of ethanol with alcohol dehydrogenases is a primary function of the liver and that's why over indulging on alcohol is hard on the liver.
Sorry for the biochem geek rant.
I'm looking forward to the lancet paper. I just wanted to point out a few things I think are incorrect or over simplified.
Hugs,
Ratkity
*edited to add: cadavers used to be preserved in formaldehyde as well as other biological specimens. Because of the toxicity, other alternatives are used when appropriate.
Oversimplification - yes. The message can get lost in the details. Yes, acetyl co-A is important, but processing excess acetyl co-A creates problems. Yes, sucrose is a disaccharide, but it's not germaine to the point of this post because regardless of how it's broken down it still yields fructose.
Bottom line: fructose, however it's obtained, requires the liver to process it. It's impossible to avoid fructose, but consuming products with a man-made high-fructose corn syrup (higher concentrations than found in nature) is not the smartest move and leads to insulin resistance, fatty liver, and elevated liver enzymes.
Foods naturally containing fructose are a better choice than HFCS yet, based on liver metabolism, should be limited in my opinion during the first year since the liver impact rivals that of alcohol. My opinion. You're entitled to yours. That's what makes this site so great - differing opinions spark discussion and further research. Hopefully something useful will come out of it.
Bottom line: fructose, however it's obtained, requires the liver to process it. It's impossible to avoid fructose, but consuming products with a man-made high-fructose corn syrup (higher concentrations than found in nature) is not the smartest move and leads to insulin resistance, fatty liver, and elevated liver enzymes.
Foods naturally containing fructose are a better choice than HFCS yet, based on liver metabolism, should be limited in my opinion during the first year since the liver impact rivals that of alcohol. My opinion. You're entitled to yours. That's what makes this site so great - differing opinions spark discussion and further research. Hopefully something useful will come out of it.
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