Fructose

Khannie

Anyone seen granulated fructose for sale anywhere?

rubadub

Saw it in the country cellar in dun laoghaire. Probably in other health stores.

I read a bit about it being low GI, but read other sites advising against it.

Khannie

rubadub wrote: »

I read a bit about it being low GI, but read other sites advising against it.

Hmmm. I came across a crazy old lady site that advised against it. It looked like crazy old lady talk to me. Fructose is the sugar from fruit. It's low GI because your liver needs to break it down into glucose before you can use it AFAIK.

Investigating.....

edit: quote from wikipedia:

Fructose is often recommended for, and consumed by, people with diabetes mellitus or hyperglycemia, because it does not raise blood glucose or insulin concentrations since it is metabolized without the need of insulin. However, this benefit is tempered by concern that fructose may have an adverse effect on plasma lipid and uric acid levels.

More editing: looks like elevated uric acid levels can lead to gout. In fairness though, we all eat fruit so it wouldn't be a huge concern for me.

cozmik

Holland and Barrett

El_Dangeroso

Fructose raises your triglycerides, a negative marker for cardio health. The sweetener in fruit is half sucrose (table sugar), half fructose, neither of which are good for you.


http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2007/04/09/5077.html



A study published in the December 2006 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that high fructose consumption doesn’t raise insulin resistance or ectopic lipid deposition (fat in the wrong place) in healthy lean young males, but does heighten risk of cardiovascular disease by increasing plasma triglycerides.


This test involved 7 healthy males who were given a high fructose diet and then tested at baseline, one week, and four weeks. The high fructose diet resulted in significant increases in fasting plasma concentrations of triglyceride and leptin after one week, in lactate after two weeks, and in glucose after four weeks.


There was no effect on body weight, body composition, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, or muscle or liver fat. The author of the study, Dr. Luc Tappy of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, concluded that healthy lean subjects can adapt their metabolism to increased fructose.
He added, however, that other groups, older, fatter, or genetically more vulnerable, might not be so lucky. He noted that in rodents, high fructose intake does lead to both insulin resistance and ectopic lipid deposition. He and his co-workers are in the process of studying the effects of fructose on people with a family history of type 2 diabetes and on overweight and middle-aged people.

Khannie

Just read that last post now. Interesting reading. I wouldn't plan on taking in a lot of fructose. Might use it for sweetening here and there. I was more thinking of adding it to coffee tbh.

I must admit to not knowing what triglycerides are. I'll have to do a bit of research on that.

El_Dangeroso

I really would avoid extra fructose in the diet where possible, heart wise, your better off with other alternatives..

If you're looking for a good natural sweetener, try erythritol which you need to order off the net as I haven't seen it in shops, it's low GI, completely natural and acts as a prebiotic too.

If you don't feel like ordering off the net, try xylitol, it's made from plant bark, is lower in cals than sugar and low GI as well as improving dental health (hence it's inclusion in some brands of sugar free gum)