If you’re like most Americans, you eat a lot of fructose and sugar every day. In fact, fructose is so prevalent in the American diet that it’s the number one source of calories in the U.S. The problem is that it’s “programming” our bodies to become fat.
According a report in the Epoch Times, the U.S. has the fattest citizens of 33 countries studied. An estimated 70% of Americans are currently overweight, and this number is projected to jump to 75% by 2020 and 85% by 2030.
Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has led the way in decoding sugar metabolism. Here are some facts about fructose from his work:
- Fructose metabolism causes a tremendous burden on your liver: After you eat fructose, 100% of the burden to metabolize fructose relies on your liver, opposed to glucose, which your liver only has to break down 20% (the other 80% is metabolized in cells throughout the body).
- 1/3 of fructose calories end up as stored fat: Fructose converts into activated glycerol-3-phosphate (g-3-p) that’s directly used to turn free fatty acids (FFAs) into triglycerides, which then get stored as fat. The more fructose you eat, the more g-3-p is created and the more fat is stored in your body. This doesn’t happen with glucose. For instance, 120 calories of glucose results in less than one calorie of stored fat. However, 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories of stored fat. So basically, if you eat fructose, you’re eating fat.
- Fructose makes you feel hungry so you overeat: Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which suppresses your appetite, so you feel less hungry and won’t overeat. On the other hand, fructose doesn’t suppress ghrelin and interferes with your brain’s communication with leptin, so you feel hungrier and tend to overeat.
The bottom line is that fructose and sugar—and dietary carbohydrates such as grains that break down into sugar—leads to obesity and related health issues. The way to avoid this is to stop eating so much fructose and sugar.
Unfortunately, various forms of fructose and sugar, such as high fructose corn syrup, are in practically all packaged foods and beverages that we consume in epic amounts every day. It’s in our soft drinks, fruit juices, sports drinks, and “hidden” in processed foods from pasta sauces and pretzels to cookies and condiments. Even several baby formulas contain the sugar equivalent to a can of soda!
Another example is Vitamin Water, which you’d think was made of just water and vitamins. But in actuality, it contains 33 grams of added sugar. That’s as much sugar as three glazed doughnuts! Or, how about Oscar Mayer Lunchables with crackers, processed turkey and American cheese—it contains 36 grams of sugar. So if you pack a Lunchables for your child’s lunch, it’s like sending him off to school with three glazed doughnuts!
The recommended daily intake of sugar is 25 grams, which is about 6 teaspoons. But according to USDA estimates, the average American consumes 12 teaspoons of sugar per day, which equates to about two tons of sugar in their lifetime! Keep in mind that this is just an average figure—many people consume two or three times this much sugar every day, or even more!
The solution is obvious: to consume less fructose and sugar, and eat a low-fat, low-carb diet of whole, natural foods and avoid processed foods and sweetened beverages as much as possible. By reducing the amount of fructose and sugar you and your family consumes, you can make a real difference in the quality of your health and the health of your loved ones.