fructose (was: Re: Healthy sports drinks)

[Guest guest]

> -

>

> >I may be

> >going off the deep end on this, but IMO fructose is bad stuff, at

> >least in excess.

>

> Not at all. Isolated fructose is a Very Bad Thing. Some good

references

> are available on Mercola's site, as I recall.

thanks, I'll have to check out his site.

> >My gut feeling is that sugar does cause diabetes.

>

> No gut feeling required. I'm not sure I understand why you're

puzzled or

> uncertain. There's abundant evidence that high-carb diets and

sugar are

> bad and cause and contribute to the whole constellation of symptoms

of

> Syndrome X.

I would disagree with this - its a lot like cholesterol and heart

disease. A lot of surrogate endpoints and speculation. High carb

diets do cause high triglycerides, but we shouldn't go regarding high

triglycerides as being causal. A lot of researchers think that

saturated fat causes diabetes because it makes it harder to transport

insulin across cellular membranes, at least in vitro. At this point

all we have is speculation.

>

> >A common nutrition myth is that sugar spikes the blood sugar, but

it

> >does not.

>

> Ehh, now I'm starting to think I'm wasting my time with this post

if you

> believe sugar doesn't spike blood sugar. Granted, different forms

of sugar

> have different effects on blood sugar levels, fructose tending to

elevate

> it the least, but what do you think a glucose tolerance test

> accomplishes? Nothing?

That measures your own bodies ability to regulate blood sugar levels.

The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly blood sugar spikes in

response to feeding a fixed amount of carbohydrate. Here is a URL to

common foods, you'll not that sugars, particularly fructose, are

lower than starches as a group:

http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dds8ubc/info/nutrition/glyindex1.htm

> The fact that you're lean and fit is good, but it

> doesn't mean you're immune.

>

> Since you're interested in sports, check out

> http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/athletic_diet.html -- there are a

few

> references, though I've come across many more on the subject over

the last

> few years.

Cool article, thanks! I tried to find it after Bianca mentioned it,

but had no luck.