NATURA
- Jul 10
- 5 min read

The Science of Fructose

Updated: Jul 19

This time, I researched fructose✨✨

You know fructose, right? It is a type of sugar found in all fruits 🍎🥭. Glucose, on the other hand, is a type of sugar found in starchy foods like white rice 🍚 and potatoes 🥔🍠. White rice 🍚 and potatoes 🍠 do not contain fructose, which is a common misconception. But this time, we are talking about fructose✨✨

Actually, fructose is very bad for your body. When you consume fructose, it is first digested in your stomach and then absorbed in the small intestine. During this process, it depletes adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a precursor that assists in nutrient absorption, causing inflammation and oxidative stress. Additionally, in the liver, fructose is broken down into glucose, lactic acid, uric acid, and methylglyoxal, producing a large amount of acetyl-CoA. This acetyl-CoA is stored as fat, causing the liver to become inflamed and its metabolism to worsen. Fructose is absorbed faster than glucose, increasing insulin resistance and making it harder for insulin to be released from the pancreas. Moreover, fructose intake reduces the release of leptin, a hormone that suppresses appetite, and increases the release of ghrelin, a hunger hormone, suppressing the satiety hormone peptide YY3-36.

Furthermore, once fructose is absorbed from the small intestine, it enters the bloodstream and crosses the blood-brain barrier, causing brain inflammation, cognitive decline, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and impaired insulin signaling.

In the US 🇺🇸, you often see very overweight men and women. This is because their insulin resistance has increased.

In short, consuming too much fructose causes inflammation in the brain, liver, and nerves!

In an experiment with rats 🐀, just 7 days of fructose intake altered the function of the hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for memory). In another experiment with Syrian hamsters 🐹, a diet of 60% fructose for 10 weeks increased levels of tau protein (Tau-p-s199)(p-s404) and β-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ42), which are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Moreover, fructose 🍎🥝 is the most potent glycation agent among sugars, being 7 times more potent than glucose 🍚🍠. It triggers the Maillard reaction in cells, where proteins undergo glycation, causing cells to turn brown. This reaction produces advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and carboxymethyllysine, which damage brain function✨✨

Worst of all, while glucose (glucose) is used as an energy source for muscles 💪 and the brain 🧠, fructose is not used for energy☀️.

In the US 🇺🇸, the overweight individuals you see often consume too much fructose-rich foods like sweets 🍪 and juices 🍹, increasing their insulin resistance. Fructose is stored as fat, leading to extreme weight gain. Unfortunately, obesity can be passed on genetically to children, making them more likely to be overweight as well 🥲🥲🥲🥲.

People with high levels of insulin and cortisol (stress hormone) are more likely to become obese 🥲.

If insulin is injected into you with a syringe 💉, you will gain weight☀️☀️.

In countries like the US 🇺🇸 and other developed nations 🇯🇵🇰🇷🇬🇧🇫🇷🇦🇺, it’s easy to find snacks, junk food, and soft drinks 🥤 containing high-fructose corn syrup, which consists of 40% fructose and 60% glucose, made from corn 🌽. These foods contribute to obesity and lifestyle diseases. In Mexico 🇲🇽, there are areas where people consume a lot of cola 🍹, and many residents suffer from diabetes and obesity, yet they believe cola is not the cause and even revere it 🍹🍹☀️☀️.

Now you understand how scary fructose can be!!✨✨

So, what should you do??🤔🤔 Some people might ask. As a countermeasure, when shopping at supermarkets or convenience stores, try to choose unprocessed foods and eat vegetables 🥦, fish 🐟, and fresh fruits 🍎🍊🍌✨✨.

Unprocessed fresh fruits have a higher water content and contain micronutrients and fiber, which aids digestion. If you crave sweets 🍪 or juices 🍹, it is healthier to buy and eat fruits from the supermarket✨✨.

However, dried fruits are high in sugar, so they are not recommended. Vegetable juices lose all their fiber during the manufacturing process, turning into sweet fructose juice. Therefore, eat vegetables and fruits directly✨.

If you have high insulin resistance due to excessive fructose intake and struggle with obesity, fasting is recommended. Experiments have shown that long-term fasting reduces subcutaneous fat and improves insulin resistance by creating periods of hunger. So, if you are struggling with obesity, fasting is recommended✨✨.

Once, visit a hospital 🏥 and consult a doctor to see if fasting is suitable for you✨✨✨✨.

How was it??😂😂

Personally, I try to eat only fresh fruits and limit the number of times I eat them. When I crave something sweet, I buy and eat sweet potatoes 🍠, pumpkins 🎃, or amazake (fermented rice drink)✨✨.

Thank you for reading🍠🍠🍙🍙🎃🎃

[My scientific recommendations]

I will introduce health foods and items with scientific evidence that I also use regularly!!

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