It’s bizarre that the produce manager is more important to my children’s health than the pediatrician.

~Meryl Streep

THE NEXT GLUTEN

Gluten free is a big deal.

It is hard to walk into any grocery store now without bumping into products marketed as “gluten free”. And now, even big chains including Dominoes, Applebees, Starbucks and over 70 others, are advertising their gluten free offerings.

This is the result of increasing public awareness of the health dangers of gluten. Ten years ago, this idea of gluten free did not exist, no books, no products, and certainly no special menus at major resturant chains.

While I have written previously on the dangers of gluten, wheat and how to substitute healthier options, today I will look into the future and answer the question what will be the next big thing in healthy eating?

The next gluten, meaning the food ingredient that is going to make major waves in the health care community is fructose. And I would like to give you a preview of what is to come.

What is Fructose?

Fructose is a simple sugar molecule often found in fruits such as apples, grapes, pineapples and the like (scroll down for an expanded list). In the 1800s and early 1900s, the average American consumed approximately 15 grams of fructose per day, mostly in the form of whole fruits. Now, the average consumption of fructose sugar is up to 55 grams in adults and 73 grams in teens, representing a 3-5x increase in just two generations.

This is worrisome because this increase in fructose consumption parallels the rise in obesity, heart disease, metabolic syndrome and a related condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Dr. Lustig did the pioneering work in this area and for the technically inclined, posted a 90 minute lecture on youtube that does a great job of explaining the biochemistry of the disease.

In the body, fructose is handled in a fundamentally different way than glucose, or typical table sugar. Because of this, fructose leads to

  • Obesity –Fructose leads to 30 TIMES the fat accumulation as an equivalent amount of table sugar. That means every spoonful of fructose deposits 30x the fat onto your torso as spoonful of regular table sugar. Specifically, it is most likely to add fat around the midsection.
  • Dyslipidemia –This is a fancy medical term for high trglycerides and elevated cholesterol. Fructose is a cause behind the effect of high cholesterol.
  • Gout –Fructose has been shown to increase uric acid leading to gout.
  • High Blood Pressure –Also a result of fructose raising uric acid levels in the body.
  • Leptin Resistance –Leptin is the hormone that tells you you are full. Fructose stops the body from hearing that signal, leading you to eat more and more
  • Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease –Leading to all the typically degenerative changes in the liver of an alcoholic, without 30 years of drinking.

We would all do well to limit our fructose consumption, but if you have any of the above conditions, it would be especially important for your to limit your fructose consumption.

Does this mean fruit, the major source of fructose is bad? No. When we find fructose in nature, it is always found with an equivalent amount of fiber, naturally balancing out the detrimental effects on the body.

However, when we consume products with high fructose corn syrup, like soda, or store bought apple juice sweetened with “all natural fruit sugar”, we are getting all the fructose without the 50-200 grams of fiber that would normally mitigate the effects of this.

How to Apply

In orders of importance,

  1. Avoid Sodaand other High Fructose Corn Syrup containing drinks and foods
  2. Avoid store bought fruit juice, also extremely high in fructose levels
  3. Avoid Agave nectarwhich is 60-70% fructose, instead opt for a more natural, healthier sweetener such as Stevia
  4. Limit (not eliminate) fruits high in Fructose(figs, dates, apricots, mangos raisins and grapes) and aim to keep total fructose consumption between 15-25 grams per day.

Addition by Subtraction

In my practice, I have seen results that back up this research. Even patients who eat organic, exercise and are very conscientious with their diet, still benefited from limiting fructose. Benefits included, they lost fat, and improved their health, quite quickly.

May your day be filled with non-sugary sweetness 

Sources / References
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/06/19/richard-johnson-interview-may-18-2010.aspx
http://www.cspinet.org/new/201302131.html
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-fructose-bad-for-you-201104262425
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/4/895.full
http://www.drjockers.com/2012/07/fructose-consumption-modern-disease/