Fructose is a simple carbohydrate and one of the three basic forms of sugar that the human body needs to get energy. The need to replace it with ordinary sugar arose when humanity was looking for ways to treat diabetes. Today fructose is replaced by healthy people instead of sugar, but its usefulness and harm can be learned from this article.
Use of fructose instead of sugar
Despite approximately the same calorie content of sugar and fructose - about 400 Kcal per 100 g, the second is twice as sweet. That is, instead of the usual two spoonfuls of sugar, you can put in a cup of tea one spoonful of fructose and do not notice the difference, but the amount of calories consumed will be halved. That is why it is more expedient to use fructose instead of sugar when losing weight. In addition, glucose absorbs stimulation of insulin production, and fructose, because of its characteristics, is absorbed rather slowly, not so heavily loading the pancreas and without causing strong fluctuations in the glycemic curve.
Thanks to this property, fructose can be used without fear of diabetes in lieu of sugar. And let it be absorbed into the blood for a longer time, not allowing a person to feel saturation immediately, but the feeling of hunger does not come so quickly and dramatically. Now it is clear whether fructose is useful instead of sugar, and here are a number of its positive properties:
- The possibility of using in the diet of people with obesity and diabetes.
- This is an excellent source of energy for prolonged mental and physical exertion.
- The ability to exert a tonic effect, to relieve fatigue.
- Reducing the risk of caries.
Harm of fructose
Those who are interested in whether it is possible to use fructose instead of sugar should answer that it is possible, but it should be remembered that this is a pure fructose, obtained from fruits and berries, and not the popular sweetener - corn syrup, which today is called the main culprit the development of obesity and many diseases in US residents. In addition, the composition of this syrup is often added to the genetically modified corn, which is an even greater threat to health. It is best to get fructose from fruit and berries, using them as a snack, but remember that they can not cause sharp saturation, as they are not able to cope with hypoglycemia, that is, a drop in the level of glucose in the blood. In this case, it is more expedient to eat something sweet, for example, a candy.
Among the harmful properties of fructose can be identified:
- Increased levels of uric acid in the blood and, as a result, increased risk of developing gout and hypertension.
- Development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The fact is that glucose after absorption into the blood under the action of insulin is sent to the tissues, where the most insulin receptors are in muscles, adipose tissue and others, and fructose goes only to the liver. Because of this, this body loses its amino acid reserves during processing, which leads to the development of fatty dystrophy.
- Development of leptin resistance. That is, the susceptibility to the hormone that regulates the feeling of hunger drops, which provokes a "brutal" appetite and all the attendant problems. In addition, the feeling of satiety, which appears immediately after consuming products with sucrose, "lags" in the case of eating foods with fructose, provoking a person to eat more.
- Increased concentration of triglycerides and "bad" cholesterol in the blood.
- Insulin resistance, which is a factor in the development of obesity, type 2 diabetes and even cancer.
Therefore, even replacing sugar with fructose, it is necessary to remember that everything is good in moderation.