The Nutrition Debate #97: Fructose in Foods

There is a dangerous misconception that fructose, commonly thought of as fruit sugar, is present primarily in fruit. And since fruit is generally thought of as a “healthy” food, since it is natural and has fiber, pectin, micronutrients and phytochemicals, all of whose mysteries we have yet to unwrap, we consider them beneficial.  And besides, the bottom line is: all fruit, especially the modern, hybridized varieties, contains “natural sugar” and therefore are okay to eat in moderation. Besides, who can eat a dozen apples? All true enough, except: watch out for apple sauce and apple juice. You can easily overdose on the liquefied sugars (and fructose), in these processed food products.

But fructose, the “natural fruit sugar,” is not just found in fruit. It is present naturally in many other whole foods. It is 49% to 82% of the sugar in sweeteners, both natural and manufactured, 40% to 67% of the sugar in fruits, and from 38% to 55% of the sugars in some vegetables.  It is 50% of the content of granulated sugar, made either from sugar cane or sugar beets. And it is 55% of the liquid form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) used to sweeten soft drinks in the U.S. HFCS is used for a variety of reasons in solid food including “mouth feel.” In a loaf of bread, it is brushed on to brown the surface and to get a few whole grains to stick to it. HFCS used in baked goods and many more products is 42% fructose.

The recent ruckus over high fructose cane sugar is having some effect, though. On a recent inspection of bread loaves in my local supermarket, a number of the “better” brands (e.g. Arnold and Pepperidge Farm) now advertize that they have “No HFCS.” The Cane Sugar Refiners Association has fired back that there is really very little difference between sucrose (sugar, as in cane sugar) and HFCS, made from corn, and I’m afraid I have to agree with them. The difference between 55% fructose and 50% fructose is small, and they are both equally bad! Check out the ingredients listed on any loaf of bread. In the order of prevalence: Flour, water, sugar, unless it is flour, water, molasses or flour water, honey. The store brand is usually still: flour, water, HFCS, because HFCS is cheaper than sucrose (cane sugar) due to subsidies.

So, what’s all the fuss about fructose? Take a look at some earlier columns of mine, particularly #29, “Fructose, Formerly Known as Fruit Sugar,” #30, “Is Fructose a Liver Toxin?” and also #28, “Sugar in the Diet,” and #31, “Carbohydrates and Sugar.” Dr. Kurt Harris’s Archevore program (#19) is one of my favorites. His mantra is to avoid the three Neolithic Agents of Disease: Wheat, excess fructose and excess Omega 6s. Check it out at here.

Since this column is, “Fructose in Foods,” I have created, from USDA and Wiki sources, a table of common “foods,” including fruits, vegetables and sweeteners (including natural, refined and manufactured). Note the percent fructose.

Sugars in Foods	Sucrose	Free	Free	Other	Total	Total	Fructose/
as % of total sugars	50%F/50%G	Fructose	Glucose	Sugars	Fructose	Glucose	glucose ratio
Sweeteners
HFCS55 (beverages)	0%	55%	41%	4%	57%	43%	1.34
HFCS42 (solid foods)	0%	42%	53%	5%	44%	56%	0.79
Granulated sugar	100%	0%	0%	0%	50%	50%	1.00
beet sugar	100%	0%	0%	0%	50%	50%	1.00
brown sugar	97%	1%	1%	1%	50%	50%	1.00
maple syrup	96%	1%	3%	0	49%	51%	0.96
honey	1%	53%	46%	0	53%	47%	1.14
molasses	54%	24%	22%	0	51%	49%	1.03
agave nectar	0%	82%	18%	0	82%	18%	4.47
Fruits
apple	20%	57%	23%	0	67%	33%	2.01
apricot	64%	10%	26%	0	42%	58%	0.72
banana	20%	40%	41%	0	50%	50%	0.98
dried fig	0%	48%	52%	0	48%	52%	0.92
grapes	1%	52%	46%	0	53%	47%	1.12
peach	58%	18%	24%	0	47%	53%	0.89
pear	8%	63%	29%	0	67%	33%	2.06
pineapple	61%	21%	17%	0	52%	48%	1.09
plum	16%	32%	52%	0	40%	60%	0.66
water melon	20%	55%	26%	0	64%	36%	1.81
Vegetables
red beet	97%	1%	1%	0	50%	50%	1.00
carrot	75%	13%	13%	0	50%	50%	1.00
popcorn	69%	16%	16%	0	50%	50%	1.00
sweet corn	15%	31%	55%	0	38%	62%	0.61
sweet red pepper	0%	55%	45%	0	55%	45%	1.21
sweet onion	14%	40%	46%	0	47%	53%	0.89
sweet potato	60%	17%	24%	0	46%	54%	0.87

 

When this table is then sorted by total percent fructose, from highest to lowest, the results are an eye-popper:

Sugars in Foods	Sucrose	Free	Free	Other	Total	Total	Fructose/
as % of total sugars	50%F/50%G	Fructose	Glucose	Sugars	Fructose	Glucose	glucose ratio
agave nectar	0%	82%	18%	0	82%	18%	4.47
pear	8%	63%	29%	0	67%	33%	2.06
apple	20%	57%	23%	0	67%	33%	2.01
water melon	20%	55%	26%	0.06	64%	36%	1.81
HFCS55 (beverages)	0%	55%	41%	4%	57%	43%	1.34
sweet red pepper	0%	55%	45%	0	55%	45%	1.21
honey	1%	53%	46%	4.54	53%	47%	1.14
grapes	1%	52%	46%	0	53%	47%	1.12
pineapple	61%	21%	17%	0	52%	48%	1.09
molasses	54%	24%	22%	0	51%	49%	1.03
Granulated sugar	100%	0%	0%	0%	50%	50%	1.00
beet sugar	100%	0%	0%	0%	50%	50%	1.00
brown sugar	97%	1%	1%	1%	50%	50%	1.00
red beet	97%	1%	1%	0	50%	50%	1.00
carrot	75%	13%	13%	0	50%	50%	1.00
popcorn	69%	16%	16%	0	50%	50%	1.00
banana	20%	40%	41%	0	50%	50%	0.98
maple syrup	96%	1%	3%	0	49%	51%	0.96
dried fig	0%	48%	52%	0	48%	52%	0.92
sweet onion	14%	40%	46%	0	47%	53%	0.89
peach	58%	18%	24%	0	47%	53%	0.89
sweet potato	60%	17%	24%	0	46%	54%	0.87
HFCS42 (solid foods)	0%	42%	53%	5%	44%	56%	0.79
apricot	64%	10%	26%	0	42%	58%	0.72
plum	16%	32%	52%	0	40%	60%	0.66
sweet corn	15%	31%	55%	0	38%	62%	0.61

Did it ever occur to you that the sugars in pears and apples were so high in fructose – the highest, in fact: two thirds fructose! And look at agave nectar. It is hands-down the absolute worst! And how about those high fructose veggies: red bell pepper, red beets and carrots, all at or above 50% fructose as a percent of sugars, with sweet onions and sweet potatoes not far behind. Only sweet corn is low in fructose, but correspondingly high in glucose.

And did you ever imagine that honey and maple syrup were so high in fructose? They’re not even fruit! So, fructose is not just the fruit sugar in fruit. I guess we can be glad that the USDA last June (2012) declined the request to rename HFCS as Corn Sugar. The Sugar Association sure was. They commended the government for their action. It would make it sound too much like Cane Sugar. But wait a minute, isn’t that what they are saying? That HFCS (ersatz “Corn Sugar”) is processed by the body exactly the same as cane sugar? Of course it is, and once again, I’d have to agree with them.

The Nutrition Debate #96: The Pregnant Bachelor’s Diet

If you are a “beer belly bachelor,” or have just noticed you can’t see your toes anymore, and have been told that you are “prediabetic” or have “high cholesterol” or borderline “elevated blood pressure,” and “need to take a pill(s),” then this diet will work for you. By the way, when your doctor says you are “prediabetic,” he is just following a misguided protocol which has become the “standard of practice” today. It means that your fasting blood glucose was between 100 and 125 and you have other risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. For this he may prescribe Metformin and tell you to lose weight.

What he should be telling you is that you are (i.e., have already become), to a lesser or greater (probably greater) degree, carbohydrate intolerant. That means that, through a progressive worsening over many years, you have developed insulin resistance. Your cells can no longer “take up” the circulating glucose from all the carbs you have been eating on your ill-advised, medically-prescribed low-fat (and thus high-carbohydrate) diet. As a consequence, you now have either impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or worse, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Although your doctor is not likely to test for it, you also probably have high circulating insulin, which means you will have difficulty losing weight even on a “starvation” diet. You will be hungry all the time and likely will gain back very quickly any weight you do manage to lose.

In addition, as you ate the diet you were told to eat, you will have probably also acquired elevated triglycerides, low HDL, “high (total and LDL) cholesterol,” and hypertension (high blood pressure). And omental adiposity or “truncal obesity” (the beer belly or “pregnant” look in middle-aged and older males) and possibly gynecomastia, the dreaded “man boobs.” All these things are actually part of a common condition known as Metabolic Syndrome. Has your doctor ever mentioned Metabolic Syndrome to you? I have yet to hear of one who has. You can confirm your own diagnosis of this condition by reading the first paragraph of this link. Then, come back here to learn what you can do about it.

In order to lose weight, you need to eliminate most carbs from your diet. This will drop your insulin levels. Your body expects that insulin is present because you have a glucose supply either circulating or in storage to use for energy. When insulin drops, your body gets the message, through hormonal signaling, that your body fat is needed for energy and will burn its own fat reserves for fuel. Again, you need to lower the carbs you eat, and then store, in your body’s muscles and liver. All carbs digest into simple sugars (glucose, etc), and so as long as they are “available,” insulin will block those fat reserves from breaking down and being used. It’s a beautifully regulated system that maintains homeostasis (harmonic balance) so long as we allow it to work as designed. But if we eat too many carbs (to avoid those terrible saturated fats and dietary cholesterol, as we’ve been all told to do), then, for many of us who are pre-disposed and  susceptible to this metabolic disregulation, the system breaks down and we get fat, and “prediabetic.”

I put prediabetic in quotes because the medical establishment is hopelessly behind in recognizing this disease. Only recently did it recommend routine use of the Hb A1c test which measures your blood sugar “continuously” over about 3 months by a test of the glucose on the surface of your red blood cells. And they only lowered the goal for diagnosis (and blood sugar control!) from 7.0% to 6.5% for diabetics, and to 6.0% for prediabetes. But Richard K. Bernstein, M. D., a pioneer in home self-monitoring, and eating-to-meter t, and the author of the seminal “Diabetes Solution,” believes an A1c of 5.8% is fully diabetic. Ask your doctor to test your A1c to see what he says, if you don’t believe me.

Ralph DeFronzo, M.D., winner of the prestigious Banting Award and keynote speaker at the 2008 American Diabetes Association dinner in San Francisco, said, “In summary, individuals with IGT [impaired glucose tolerance] are maximally or near-maximally insulin resistant, they have lost 80% of their β-cell function, and they have an approximate 10% incidence of diabetic retinopathy. By both pathophysiological and clinical standpoints, these pre-diabetic individuals with IGT should be considered to have Type 2 diabetes.” His concluding sentence in the Prediabetes section of the full paper later published here, is, “The clinical implications of these findings for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes are that the physician must intervene early, at the stage of IGT [impaired glucose tolerance] or IFG [impaired fasting glucose], with interventions that target pathogenic mechanisms known to promote β-cell function.” Gobbledygook, I know, but…

The Pregnant Bachelor Diet for “Pre-Diabetics” is not. It’s as simple and easy as 1-2-3. No, not that diet (#90). This one:

·         Breakfast: 1 big cup of coffee with H&H or full cream and Splenda or Truvia, 2 fried eggs and 2 strips of bacon.

·         Lunch: 1-3.75 oz can of King Oscar Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (no soy oil!) w/1 Tbs of coconut oil on top.

·         Dinner 1-3.75 oz can of Trident Royal Red Wild Alaska Sockeye Salmon with 1 Tbs of coconut oil on top and, to wash it down, 2-7oz glasses of your favorite red wine (which, with the sardines and salmon, will raise your HDL!

This diet is 1,500kcal/day: 100g of very good fats, 55g protein & 13g of carbs (10 in wine). A VLC ketogenic diet for sure.

Okay, it’s not a palatable diet. The point is: To get your doctor off your back, improve all your risk factors for heart disease, stroke, etc., and lose your beer belly, eat low carb. But don’t tell him how you did it. He’ll have a heart attack.