In part 1 we were beginning to look at how fructose affects our health. So let’s continue. We learned that fructose has some issues mainly that it causes a fatty liver when consumed in large amounts. This leads to insulin resistance which damages the liver in a way similar to the effects of alcohol which is a well-known toxin to the liver. Because of the excess fat now being stored in the liver, the liver then has to get rid of the excess fat mainly by sending it out to our fat cells which causes us to gain weight. 

Fructose also causes oxidative damage to our cells which then creates inflammation which can lead to a plethora of chronic degenerative diseases including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis just to name a few. It doesn’t stop there. Excess fructose can cause a condition called dyslipidemia, which causes cholesterol, and triglycerides to increase.

Another issue with fructose is as it is processed in the liver, it blocks the production of nitric oxide in the blood vessels. This is highly significant because nitric oxide is the substance, in the lining of the blood vessels, that relaxes the blood vessels themselves. This keeps your blood pressure down. So, if fructose is blocking the production of nitric oxide you end up with hypertension ( high blood pressure). Since we have a hypertension epidemic in this country, it might be a good idea to lay off the sugars especially fructose.

While short-term consumption of fructose doesn’t seem to be a problem, it’s the cumulative effect over months and years that begin to add up causing a lot of problems.

This is the flaw in many of the studies on fructose which shows short-term consumption of fructose causes no apparent problems mainly because it doesn’t raise the levels of glucose in the blood and it’s not high on the glycemic index. Therefore, the negative effects of fructose are completely hidden. Therefore we don’t see the overall effects until much later on. 

So, what do we do? Does this mean we should never eat fruit again? Well, it depends. If you want to lose weight or are trying not to gain weight, you should remove all sugars from your diet. if you have any kind of active disease or an autoimmune condition, you should not consume sugar of any kind. If you like your weight level, small amounts of fruit would be permissible but only in the full fruit form not in the form of juices. Fruit juices are way too high in fructose and have no fiber. Fiber is the antidote to the toxin of fructose and helps to offset some of the harmful effects. 

Aging well is going to require that we eliminate or greatly reduce sugar from our diet.

Click here to read part 1