10 Reasons Why Fructose Is Bad

10 Reasons Why Fructose Is Bad

It’s common knowledge in the Paleo Diet circles that sugar, especially the sugar fructose, should be limited and that it can cause a multitude of problems like those categorized under the metabolic syndrome umbrella term. Unlike other major unhealthy foods and non-foods (eg.: grains, soy, vegetable oils), sugar is also in foods that are natural and healthy like fruits and vegetables. This can make it hard for us to really understand the dangers of consuming too much sugar and reminders are often a good idea.

The problem comes from the amount of sugar consumed in today’s diets. We were probably never in contact with much sweet fruit, let alone fruit juices, sodas, sweeteners and candies. If some of our ancestors were ever in contact with high amounts of sweet fruits, it surely wasn’t year round.

In sucrose (table sugar) and in sugary fruits, the fraction that is problematic is the sugar fructose. The other main fraction is glucose, which can be used by all our cells for energy and is the main fuel for life on earth.

Because glucose is the good sugar, can be used by all our cells for energy and is essential for some parts of our bodies, the best sources of natural carbohydrates are starchy vegetables. Starch is a complex polymer of glucose molecules that are disassembled in our digestive systems and absorbed as glucose. Starchy vegetables have been demonized in the past by Paleo Diet practitioners, but science has shown that starchy vegetables are not only generally healthy, but have also been consumed for a very long time already by our ancestors as a dense source of energy. Of course, many sources of starch like grains and legumes are very unhealthy and over consumption of total carbohydrate is also problematic, especially for the already metabolically challenged.

It’s good to keep in mind though that fructose, in small amounts, has been in our diet for a very long time as a species and that we usually handle small amounts very well. Of course, the amount where fructose becomes toxic and damaging varies for everybody depending on a multitude of factors, but a good rule of thumb for most healthy people is at around 50 grams of fructose per day. Keeping in mind that most fruits are half glucose and half fructose, consuming over 100 grams of sugar from fruits every day can become problematic.

We should also keep in mind that by eliminating the other toxic agents in our diets like grains and vegetables oils our bodies probably become more tolerant to a little excess sugar. This shouldn’t become an excuse to indulge in high amounts of fruits and natural sweeteners though, but only as a reminder not to stress over your diet if you find yourself eating higher amounts of sugar from natural sources from time to time. The real damage is when the high sugar habit becomes chronic and is repeated day after day.

Without further ado, here are 10 reasons why excess consumption of the sugar fructose, no matter if it comes from apples or high-fructose corn syrup, is damaging to our health:

10 reasons to limit fructose consumption

Fructose can only be metabolized by the liver and can’t be used for energy by your body’s cells. It’s therefore not only completely useless for the body, but is also a toxin in high enough amount because the job of the liver is to get rid of it, mainly by transforming it into fat and sending that fat to our fat cells.

Excess fructose damages the liver and leads to insulin resistance in the liver as well as fatty liver disease. In fact, fructose has the same effects on the liver as alcohol (ethanol), which is already well known as a liver toxin.

Fructose reacts with proteins and polyunsaturated fats in our bodies 7 times more than glucose. This reaction creates AGEs (Advanced glycation end-products), which are compounds that create oxidative damage in our cells and ultimately lead or contribute to inflammation and a host of chronic diseases.

Fructose increases uric acid production, which, in excess, can cause gout, kidney stones and precipitate or aggravate hypertension.

While most of your body’s cells can’t use fructose as a source of energy, the bacteria in your gut can and excess fructose can create gut flora imbalances, promote bacterial overgrowth and promote the growth of pathogenic bacteria.

In part because of the damage done to the liver, chronic excess fructose causes dyslipidemia, which means that your blood lipid markers tend to shift towards numbers that indicate a risk for heart disease.

Fructose rapidly causes leptin resistance. Leptin is an hormone that controls appetite and metabolism to maintain a normal weight. Leptin resistant people tend to gain fat and become obese really easily.

Excess fructose alone can cause all the problems associated with the metabolic syndrome (diabetes, obesity, heart disease, …).

Cancer cells thrive and proliferate very well with fructose as their energy source.

Excess fructose also affects brain functioning, especially as it relates to appetite regulation. It has also been shown to impair memory in rats.

Sugar: The bitter truth

For a very interesting and lengthy discussion on fructose and its effect on our biochemistry, here is a very insightful and popular talk given by Dr. Robert Lustig:

P.S. Be sure to check out the Paleo Recipe Book. It’s a cookbook I’ve created to help you cook the best food for your health. It contains over 370 recipes and covers absolutely everything you need.

via 10 Reasons Why Fructose Is Bad.

Exploring the Paleo World

Evolution

Recently, I have been examining my diet and looking at what works, and what doesn’t. In recent years, I have been adding more and more raw foods, and noticing a marked difference in how I was feeling. Of course, being celiac, my body needs all the help I can give it in regard to assisting with digestion and assimilation.

I tried raw vegan for 2 years, and was very pleased for about the first 14 months or so. This is a great way to reset your metabolism and cleanse toxins from the organs and gut. For more info, please see:14 Day Raw Food Cleanse I have since learned that I can do a raw food cleanse periodically to jump start my immune system and clean things out!

For the past two weeks, I have been using a Paleo Diet crossed with The Diet Solution. This has been amazing! I have already noticed that my slacks fit better, and I am sleeping better! Who knew! The surprising part is that my gut feels better, and I am very satisfied between meals. No more constant hunger or cravings. It seems to me that my high carb tendency set me up for cravings (and perhaps a borderline food allergy).

At any rate, I will keep you posted on my progress, and would be interested to know if any of you have tried these strategies, and what your results were.

Blessings!

JoDee

How to Set Up a Raw Vegan Kitchen

Setting up a kitchen for raw food preparation can be daunting, especially in a world where your kitchen is already equipped to COOK your food!

In the midst of your oven, cook-top, microwave and toaster oven, where do you find room for you dehydrator, food processor, vita-mix, spiralizer and trays of wheat grass?

What do you really need in a raw food kitchen? What is just a nice-to-have?

These are questions I asked when I made the commitment to go raw. Perhaps you can get some ideas from this article.

New Lens Up Featuring Taste The Difference

Taste the Difference in Gluten-Free Cooking!

Gluten-Free & wheat-free cooking need not be boring and tasteless! With a little creativity and some help from a good resource; be it a great cookbook, a class or a support group, within a short period of time, you should be able to duplicate your favorite recipes and find splendid new ones to delight your palate!
Here are a few keys to your success:
1 – Find someone who can help you
2 – Buy a few good cookbooks
3 – Check your local library for resources within your geographical area
4 – Be prepared to make a few mistakes (Fail your way to success!)

Find more information here: Taste the Difference in Gluten-Free Cooking

Raw Vegan & Gluten-Free SuperFoods!

If you are new to the Raw Vegan & Gluten-Free Lifestyle, you might be a bit overwhelmed, confused or lost right now. Embarking on a new eating adventure has it’s rewards, but the learning curve can be steep.

It is comforting to know that there are ready made solutions to get you through your introduction period. If you are an old hand at Raw Vegan & Gluten-Free, you will appreciate these delicacies and delights for what they are (and are not)!

SuperFoods are the food/medicine not just of the future, but of the present. Recharge your body’s immune system and feel great! It is especially handy to have some of these goodies when traveling, or when time is at a premium, and you want to maintain you highest value food choices.

Topics included are:

1. Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future
2. Goji Berries
3. Chocolate Powder
4. Raw Power!
5. Dark Cacao Mint Truffles
6. MacaPunch Maca Powder
7. Spirulina, Hawaiian
8. Live Liquid Marine Ocean Phytoplankton
9. Hemp, Sprouted Flax & Maca Protein Powder
10. Acai Powder by Amazon Thunder
11. Camu Camu Berries
12. Incan Berries
13. Laughing Giraffe Organics
14. Raw Vegan Superfoods at Amazon.com
15. How to Prepare Raw Vegan Recipes
16. Love This Lens?
17. Please share your comments here
18. Raw Vegan Recipes

Read the full article

Visiting Family and Friends & Staying Gluten – Free

Visiting family and close friends can sometimes be challenging with a restricted diet. Sometimes, it’s a nightmare! Like the time I was invited to a potluck dinner and everyone brought pasta! My salad became my dinner! Which taught me a huge lesson. From that point on, if invited to a potluck, I brought a one-dish-meal!

Here are some tips for dining with friends and family that I had to learn the hard way!

• Call your host/hostess and ask questions about the menu.
• Inform your host/hostess about what your dietary restrictions are
• Volunteer to provide a list of safe foods and foods that you need to avoid
• Bring something you can safely eat (I frequently bring a wonderful dessert. That way I get a treat, and others can broaden their horizons!)
• Eat something at home before going to dinner if the menu is suspect. (You will be less inclined to take chances if your aren’t famished)
• Be prepared for hurt feelings somewhere along the way. (Sometimes, rejecting someone’s lovingly prepared food can be interpreted as a personal rejection)

Above all, take care of yourself. Regardless of what others may say and do, you are responsible for yourself. If that means offending Aunt Betty, because you aren’t eating her blintzes, then so be it. Your health is paramount. You are the only you that you’ve got! Besides, Aunt Betty will get over it!

Namaste

For other ideas, see: Taste The Difference Cookbook

Is Massage Therapy an Extravagance? Or is it a Necessity?

Massage Therapy

OK! So is massage something I NEED to do? Or does it just make me feel good?

In these very interesting economic times, I hear a lot of talk about cutting back on luxuries. In this lens I intend to discuss this topic in a little more detail as to how it relates to massage therapy. I’ll take on the questions: Couldn’t I spend my money in better ways? Is massage a luxury? And perhaps a few others.

Stress!

This topic gets me going, so enter at your own risk!

Massage is probably one of the oldest healing arts around. It’s been traced back over 3000 years in India as a shamanic healing practice in the form of what’s now called “East Indian Head Massage.” That being said, today, we all hear a lot about cutting back and eliminating “extras”, but before you cut our your bi-weekly massage, I would like to offer you some food for thought.

Stress, likely the number one killer in our society today, has been linked to nearly every disease known to man. No matter what direction we look in, we can see the ravages of stress in our own lives and in the lives of those that we care about. Stress has been linked to heart disease, cancer, depression and the list goes on.

Massage Therapy has been proven to help alleviate the symptoms of stress in many ways; by lowering hormones like cortisol (known as the death hormone), by activating the parasympathetic system, by lowering blood pressure, and by raising other hormones associated with pleasure.

Could anyone experience more stress on a daily basis than what our culture is going through at this very moment? Do you suppose that watching the evening news might be escalating our stress levels?

http://www.squidoo.com/MassageNecessity

PARADE Magazine | The Scoop on Sugar Substitutes

Sugar SubstituteOnce upon a time, your choice for a sugar substitute was pretty much limited to one product—saccharin, commonly sold as Sweet’N Low. Twenty-four years after “the pink one” debuted in 1957, aspartame Equal or NutraSweet was introduced, and 17 years after that, sucralose Splenda gained the approval of the Food and Drug Administration FDA. No other sugar substitute has ever come close to the popularity of the Big Three. But now, a number of natural sweeteners may give those familiar packets a run for their money.

The mainstays. Before we get to the new guys on the block, let’s take a look at old pink, blue, and yellow. The FDA has given its stamp of approval to saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose. The Center for Science in the Public Interest—a health advocacy group—disagrees about saccharin and aspartame, citing studies that indicate those sweeteners increase the risk of cancer, and advises people to choose sucralose. I don’t think it matters which product you choose if you consume less than two artificially sweetened items a day. Or you could ditch artificial sweeteners altogether and switch to one of the new natural sugar substitutes.

Surviving The Diagnosis: Gluten Intolerant

Winning Image

Surviving the Diagnosis

If you were like me, the drive home from the doctor’s office was a pretty traumatic trip. I was diagnosed as gluten intolerant. A celiac. The list of foods containing gluten was terribly long, and I was convinced that there was nothing left to eat. I cried all the way home, the rest of the evening, and into the next several days.

I have no idea why it hit me so hard. I had been dealing with a number of other health problems for a few years, some of which were pretty difficult to manage. This was perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back. What next, Lord?

That was 13 years ago. I’m still here. I can find food to eat. I can eat out. I can entertain guests. Yes, there was an adjustment period, but I made it through. And, so can you.

First things first, take your list and look over the food in your kitchen. You might want to separate out the things you can eat from the things you can’t. Place the questionable items in their own space – these you will want to contact the manufacturer and ask about. Instruct your family in the way you would like your safe food stored on the shelves, in the refrigerator etc., so that you don’t get confused as to where “your” food is.

Make a list of your favorite foods that just hit the list of not good for you items. Then take a trip to your nearest co-op or health food store and try to find some acceptable alternatives. For me, it was snacks. Once I found “Pamela’s” brand cookies and mixes, I knew that I could survive this. There was just something about being able to find ready made or fast food that was comforting to me. Once I got to looking around, I found frozen pizza, bread, biscotti, pancake mixes, baking mixes, all the things I felt were necessary to life, were just made by different folks.

Once you have your alternatives, and have made notes on which gluten-free manufacturers make what you need, you are halfway home. Now you are ready to experiment on your own. That is where these recipes come in. If you are missing Bran Muffins, try out the Flax Meal Muffins. If you want an Angel Food Cake, just make one. They are easy to do, and will satisfy that craving.

You also might want to check out the chapter on Basics. There you will find some flour mixes that will enable you to take some of your own family recipes and adapt them to your needs. You may have to experiment a few times to get the desired end result, but it can be done.

Best Wishes and Happy Experimenting!

JoDee Vale

Taste the Difference:

182 Sensational Solutions to the Wheat and Gluten-Free Diet Problem!

via Surviving The Diagnosis: Gluten Intolerant.

Quinoa, the SuperGrain…but how do you eat it?

Quinoa Image

Quinoa, the SuperGrain…but how do you eat it?

Quinoa Plant

Most people conscious of their health or shop at health food stores have heard of Quinoa, but it still remains an undiscovered grain. Among vegetarians, it contains all the essential amino acids to be a complete protein. It’s high in magnesium and iron, and full of fiber. So why isn’t it all over the restaurant scene? Not a lot of people know how to cook and serve it.

By itself, it’s a bitter tasting bland version of cous cous…at best. However, boiled correctly and dressed with some tasty and healthful pairings, it can become a culinary treat…for your taste buds as well as your body’s health. The following is a quick recipe for a dish that is unique: it can be tasty either hot or cold. If possible, choose organic quinoa for best nutritional results.

To boil, don’t follow a time constraint from some recipe that pretends that all altitudes or stove temperatures act the same. Whatever amount you decide to cook, place in a pot tall enough to hold double the amount in water. Because quinoa absorbs so much water, I don’t season the water with salt, but rather after it is done. Properly cooked quinoa should not be mushy, but rather still individualistic. You will see little strands of what looks like string (its outer hull lining) when done, which typically occurs 10-15 min after gently boiling.

Here is a quick salad recipe that is based off of 2 cups of cooked grain: 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 tsp raw minced garlic, 1/2 cup diced red onion, 1 cup diced bell peppers (variety of colors looks great), salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 cup sliced celery, a pinch of dried oregano, a pinch of dried thyme, and a teaspoon of red wine vinegar. Garnish with shredded parmesan.

The recipe is vegetarian, vegan, dairy free and gluten free. Add other ingredients if dietary restrictions aren’t necessary, such as sliced pepperoni, salami, a dab of butter, sliced olives, etc. Get as creative as you want, and your body will thank you!

www.quinoa.net/

via Denver Sustainable Food Examiner: Quinoa, the SuperGrain…but how do you eat it?.