September 14, 2017
Pramod Pathak
It all starts with one word: insulin. Glucose, in the form of starch, spikes your insulin, while fructose does not directly spike your insulin. However, that does not mean that fructose is good for you and glucose is bad for you. Excess fructose goes right to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats, such as triglycerides and cholesterol), which leads to one of the major causes of liver damage known as fatty liver disease.
What’s so bad about having a fatty liver? Well, two of the major repercussions are: inflammation, which triggers insulin resistance and pre-diabetes, causing your body to deposit fat into your liver and other organs – including your belly (this is called visceral fat); and increased risk of heart attack.
There is a difference between having a small amount of fructose from fruit, versus having fructose from other foods like sports drinks. And when you combine glucose and fructose into one product (like table sugar, which is 50% glucose and 50% fructose) that is really bad. Remember: There are 257 names for sugar, and despite very minor variations, they all create the same damage. If you have type 2 diabetes, you might even need to stay away from sugars all together; but for the most part, low-glycemic fruits should be fine for many people.
So yes, high fructose corn syrup is absolutely worse for you than the natural sugar found in berries and apples, but for the most part, sugar is sugar is sugar. It all it all wreaks havoc on your health.
What’s so bad about having a fatty liver? Well, two of the major repercussions are: inflammation, which triggers insulin resistance and pre-diabetes, causing your body to deposit fat into your liver and other organs – including your belly (this is called visceral fat); and increased risk of heart attack.
There is a difference between having a small amount of fructose from fruit, versus having fructose from other foods like sports drinks. And when you combine glucose and fructose into one product (like table sugar, which is 50% glucose and 50% fructose) that is really bad. Remember: There are 257 names for sugar, and despite very minor variations, they all create the same damage. If you have type 2 diabetes, you might even need to stay away from sugars all together; but for the most part, low-glycemic fruits should be fine for many people.
So yes, high fructose corn syrup is absolutely worse for you than the natural sugar found in berries and apples, but for the most part, sugar is sugar is sugar. It all it all wreaks havoc on your health.
