Originally published August 26 2005
Fructose from fresh fruit is healthy
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The benefits of fruits outweigh any negatives of the fructose they contain.
As I have been writing reviews about fructose for a number of years, I would like to set the record straight.
Fructose is a sugar or a so-called monosaccharide, which, together with glucose, occurs naturally in fruit and honey.
Besides occurring in fruit and honey, fructose is increasingly entering the food supply, particularly in countries such as the USA, in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.
High-fructose corn syrup is very sweet and also inexpensive, which is why it is being added to foods such as canned and frozen fruit and sweetened cold drinks.
If we consider that the use of fructose has increased in the USA from 64 g per day to 81 g per person per day in the period between 1970 and 1997, it is perfectly feasible that such a dramatic change in food intake could have an effect on many aspects of metabolism.
This trend has not yet occurred in South Africa, where most of our canned fruit and sweetened cold drinks are still sweetened with sucrose or table sugar.
Ludwig and his co-workers (2001) first identified the staggering energy contribution that cold drinks make to the diets of American children.
In the USA, drinking two 400 ml cold drinks a day can provide up to 50 g of fructose to the daily diet or 10% of the energy requirement of a woman of average weight.
Diabetics can use small quantities of about 25 g of fructose for purposes such as baking, because this sugar helps to improve the colour of baked products.
This is due to their relatively high energy value, the problem that liquid sugars may be more inclined to cause obesity than solid sugars, and the fact that fruit juice may contribute to tooth decay (both the sugars and the acids in fruit juice can corrode tooth enamel).
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml