Fructose is sometimes seen as a milder form of sugar. Highly associated with fruit, many people don't realize that consuming excessive amounts of fructose can be very harmful for the body, most specifically the liver. Sure an apple has fructose and it's good for you. But that apple comes with fiber to help slow down how the body processes the sugar in the first place. When we open it up into unbound forms (such as high fructose corn syrup or crystalline fructose) we start to get into trouble. Especially when delivered in a liquid, easily consumable, non-nutritive form such as a soda. There's no fiber, minerals, or other nutrients to slow down how quickly our body processes it. That soda, in effect, becomes a liquid candy bar.
Sadly sugar has become overwhelmingly pervasive in our modern diet. We're actually conditioned to seek it out. This is because it used to be so difficult to find and it's a quick source of fuel and energy. Unfortunately our bodies were designed to operate in a state of famine when it came to sugar. These days we live with an abundant feast, but we still have our original genetic programming to seek it out.
Unfortunately food producers know this and take advantage of this innate desire. Because it's so addictive they hide it in many different foods in order to trick us into thinking these foods taste better. And example would be adding sugars (such as high fructose corn syrup) to something like applesauce. It's so sweet already that adding extra sweetness in mind-boggling. Unfortunately once we get used to the taste of the sweetened applesauce (or any other product) it starts to blunt our sensitivity, leading us to eventually crave more and more.
Fructose is one of the most harmful, most common added sweeteners. Adding to the growing number of those affected by heart disease, diabetes, metabolic resistance and other illnesses it appears in more foods than many realize. Learn the harmful effects of fructose and where it tends to hide (where manufacturers have hidden it) in the diet in order to avoid consuming this health-damaging sweetener. Read the label as your best defense.
