Fructose
Everyone knows that an excessive amount of sugar in the diet can be bad for them but what most people don’t know or aren’t fully aware of is the impact that different kinds of sugar has on the body. Different sugars react in different ways with the body and while some kinds of sugar give us energy and provide us with the ability to stay strong and healthy - other sugars, like fructose for example, are the kinds of sugar that just sit in the body and turn to fat or cholesterol. These kinds of sugars, especially when consumed in large amounts, can be dangerous to us and dangerous can end up meaning harmful in a lot of different ways.
Glucose is the type of sugar that our body needs and it’s the same kind of sugar that we need to break down and turn into energy to fuel the many different processes of our body. Other kinds of sugar, like fructose, are the kinds that just cause problems when the are processed by the liver because they turn into VLDL, cholesterol, and triglycerides. Because of this fructose can contribute to a variety of health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, excess uric acid, inflammation, and it affects the liver in much the same way that alcohol does. One of the biggest problems with fructose however is that it doesn’t elicit the same reactions from the body that glucose would. Fructose doesn’t signal the body’s satiety mechanism which means that you don’t feel full when you’re eating it. You can continue to eat and eat fructose and the signal to stop eating doesn’t get turned on in your body like it would with glucose. It also doesn’t release leptin which controls the appetite along with a lot of other important metabolic processes. If left unchecked this can lead to insulin resistance because fructose doesn’t stimulate the release of insulin and it can turn into diabetes down the road if you aren’t careful. A lot of people think that fructose is some kind of a safe sweetener because it doesn’t cause your body to release insulin but over the long run it can actually cause insulin resistance which is far more harmful.
What some people don’t understand is that the fructose that is in fruit isn’t the same as what you find in processed refined products and it isn’t a refined sugar like what we get in all the stuff we find in the grocery store. The fructose that is in fruit is paired differently with all sorts of other factors and nutrients like fiber and antioxidants and is very nourishing when consumed in it’s whole and natural form as well as an important part of anyones diet. However, commercial fruit juices that have been processed are little more than refined sugar and many of them contain next to no fruit juice whatsoever so be certain of what you’re getting before you buy - read the labels and so forth and you’ll be able to choose what’s best for you. Try and make sure that the only sources of fructose in your diet are those that come from natural fruits and you’ll be able to avoid any health concerns.