Fructose (Sugar) May Be Almost as Hazardous to Your Health as Soda

(Findings have shown...
natural Fruit Juice albeit better in natural terms vs Soda,
may also be quite harmful for the body.)

Straight to the Source
June 19, 2010

> Dr. Mercola today shared his article, "This Popular Drink May Be Almost as Hazardous to Your Health as Soda". The "popular drink" he is referring to is fruit juice... au natural keep in mind- sans added sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

All natural is the better choice generally across the board- I am not in any way shape or form suggesting you drink soda. What I do want everyone to be clear on is just because it is natural, it doesn't mean it's good for you (sucks I know)... but all it means: it is natural. Remember one size does not fit all. This is where I found fault with the 100% raw diet and and any other that claims to be the end all be all. It's loaded, and that is precisely why you have to dig deeper.

In my post: Insulin Sugar + Fat we found that dates, bananas, and figs for example are high in sugar. Am I saying don't eat them? Not at all, but you should be aware that they are quite high on the glycemic index and you need watch your intake just as you do with any other sweetener. This is precisely what Dr. Mercola is exploring and explaining in his video interview with Dr. Richard Johnson.

Natural does not mean it's untouchable and you need not worry about it. You may have to worry about it less overall, but sugar/sweeteners in general are probably the most dangerous thing to our health diet wise (ahem high blood pressure, obesity, cancer, and diabetes). It really has negative effects on our metabolic syndrome.

Some Tidbits:

- Fructose has become one of my newest health passions for a number of reasons. It is really not well understood how pervasive a negative influence this sugar has on people’s health, but even more importantly, it is something that we can easily change, by influencing the food industry to replace it with something healthier.

- Fructose has a detrimental impact on your uric acid levels. It appears as though that process is essential to the damage that fructose causes, and it’s actually an excellent marker for toxicity from fructose.

- According to the latest research in this area, the safest range of uric acid is between 3 and 5.5 milligrams per deciliter, and there appears to be a steady relationship between uric acid levels and blood pressure and cardiovascular risk, even down to the range of 3 to 4 mg/dl.

- Dr. Johnson suggests that the ideal uric acid level is probably around 4 mg/dl for men and 3.5 mg/dl for women.

- If you’re passionate about fruit and typically eat large amounts of fruit, but have a uric acid level above 5 (or better yet, 4 if you’re a man, and 3.5 if you’re a woman), then you may want to consider lowering your fruit consumption until you’re able to optimize your uric acid levels.

Want to read more about sugar? Check out my post on Sugar Ills.