Not All Sugars Are The Same

I’ve been saying this for years, based on even the most cursory reading of the literature that is out there, that not all sugars are processed by the body in the same way. Fructose and glucose, even though they appear chemically similar, are treated by, and processed in, the human body in totally different ways.

Reuters reports on a recent study, the original study can be found here, here and the abstract is here. You can find the PDF of the full paper by searching Google if you don’t feel like logging in.

There is little question about the results of the study, though I do question some of the broader implications. Pancreatic tumour cells, some of the most aggressive to be found, can utilise both fructose and glucose, but fructose is like a super-fuel to them.

This isn’t rocket science people! Bad food is bad for you.

I made a conscious decision to reduce my sugar intake many years ago, and it has certainly left me feeling healthier, especially in my appetite size and feeling of fullness. It was only recently, about four years ago, that I consciously decided to reduce my high fructose corn syrup intake to “reasonable levels” and just 18 months ago to reduce it to near zero. The more evidence that accumulates on this subject, the more I realise just how bad this crap is for the human body.

Generally I only eat HFCS or other artificial sugars now when I do not know they exist in the food. If I know HFCS is in something, I don’t eat it.

I realised my biggest fructose intake was through artificially sweetened foods and when you decide to consciously reduce your sugar consumption, just like reducing salt intake, whole new vistas of flavours open up to you. By consuming vast quantities of sugar I wasn’t just poisoning my body, I was also destroying my taste. Now when I consume a piece of food that has even a moderate amount of sweetness to it, I find it far too sugary. I was the kind of kid that chowed down on every type of sweet (candy) that existed, so I certainly was no stranger to overly sugary foods.