Fructose just has to be the best bit, it is what everyone
(except me) is after, and it is the taste they chase. Common sugar sucrose is
one molecule of fructose bound to another molecule of glucose, whilst the body
is fuelled by glucose, it is boring stuff and doesn’t taste sweet all!
Our primal hunter gatherer ancestors evolved to make the
best use of fructose, it is thought their diet was mainly animal fat and
protein and plant material, recent examination of fossil teeth residues implies
that the plant materials were actually partially digested prey animal stomach
contents. Inevitably, their diet, being low in carbohydrate, would have been
ketogenic, they would have gained energy from endogenous (liver produced)
glucose from gluconeogenesis of animal fat and protein. The problem here is, it
is very difficult to lay down fat on such a diet.
Fructose on the other hand cannot directly be processed into
energy in the human body; the liver has to convert fructose into fat! Ideal for
our primal ancestors, during summer and autumn, berries and wild fruits would
have abounded. Enticed by the, relative, sweetness our ancestors would have had
a field day scoffing this bounty, nicely fattening themselves up in preparation
for a long and meagre winter.
Our inability to convert fructose directly into energy
conferred an evolutionary survival advantage.
Having survived this far, and having modern advantages for
survival, such as central heating and an inexhaustible food supply, we should
leave the sweet stuff alone. The survival advantage has turned into a threat to
our survival.
Refined sugar is completely unnatural and in our modern
world should be completely avoided at all costs. Imagine how much yardage of
sugar cane you would have to chew, to get the equivalent of a Mars bar!
If it tastes sweet, its purpose is to fatten you up, that of
course includes fruit. The problems with endogenous fat are; 1, it makes your
liver fatty. 2, it makes you fatty, 3,
The Very Low Density Lipid particles that the liver produces from fructose
raise triglycerides and risk of Coronary Heart Disease, and finally end up as
LDL cholesterol.
Fattening up for winter is good (if you are a caveman) - Fattening up for a lifetime is bad, very
bad!
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