Facts on Fructose and Sucrose

Fructose and Sucrose

If are interested in diet, nutrition and health, chances are you’ve come across the term HFCS, otherwise known as high fructose corn syrup. The internet is awash with the dangers of this sweetener added liberally to processed foods and drinks, including soft drinks.

And it’s all true.

The good news is that HFCS is not used in Australia.

The bad news is that the sweetener currently used in Australia, sucrose, is every bit as bad.

Fructose on the other hand has always been thought of as a healthier sweetener as it doesn’t have an immediate effect upon blood sugar levels. This is why soft drinks such as certain Cola drinks have a low glycemic index. Fructose, unlike glucose doesn’t stimulate insulin production. Insulin’s job is to store energy, in other words, insulin’s job is to make you gain weight. This is why a high glucose or sugar intake leads to weight gain.

According to Dr Robert Lustig, Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of California, research over the last 10 years has shown that fructose is by no means a healthy alternative to glucose.

In Dr Lustig’s own words, “We’re being poisoned to death by fructose”.

He describes fructose as behaving more like an alcohol and a fat than a sugar. In fact he describes fructose as “just like alcohol without the buzz”.

You might want to keep this statement in mind the next time you reach for a glass of fruit juice or a ‘sugar free’ jam sweetened with fructose.

A high fructose diet can over many years can cause:

• Liver damage

• Weight gain

• Elevated uric acid (gout)

• High blood pressure

• Unhealthy cholesterol levels (elevated VLDL’s, the Very Bad cholesterol)

What does fructose have to do with sucrose, the main sweetener used in Australian processed foods?

Sucrose is actually 50% glucose and 50% fructose making it 100% unhealthy. High fructose corn syrup also known as isoglucos contains 45-58% glucose and and 42-55% fructose.

Sucrose is also known as table sugar or sugar.

Fructose does occur naturally in fruit, but our bodies are not designed to handle it in the amounts that are currently being ingested.

Our consumption of fructose has increased from around 250 grams per year in 1970 to 25kg in 2003. It comes as no surprise then that we’re all getting fatter as a society, despite the fact our fat intake has decreased from 40% to 30%.

Choose a piece of fruit over a glass of fruit juice and limit your consumption of sugar sweetened foods (if you really care about your health make it a priority to eliminate these unhealthy foods altogether). Also beware of ‘Sugar Free’ foods as these are often sweetened with fructose.