A diet high in fructose can raise your triglycerides, a type of fat that can affect your arteries. Some foods naturally contain triglycerides — meat and cheese, for example — and your body also makes triglycerides from sugar and alcohol in your diet. Fruits and vegetables provide healthy sources of fructose, but sources such as table sugar and high fructose corn syrup put your heart health at risk while providing scant nutrition.
Recommended Fructose Intake
The amount of fructose you should include in your diet depends on your weight and triglyceride levels. Restrict fructose and all types of added sugar if you need to lose weight. If your triglycerides put you at borderline risk for a heart attack or stroke, limit fructose consumption to no more than 100 g daily. Keep fructose intake at 50 g or less per day if your triglyceride levels put you at high or very high risk for heart attacks and strokes. You are at borderline risk if your triglycerides measure more than 150 mg/dl — milligrams per deciliter of blood. You are at high risk if your triglycerides top 200 mg/dl and at very high risk if your triglycerides exceed 500 mg/dl.
High Fructose
To keep your fructose within artery-friendly guidelines, limit your consumption of regular soda. A 12-oz. can of cola, if sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, provides 22.5 g of fructose. A 12-oz. can of ginger ale contains less — 13.5 g — but still provides up to 27 percent of your daily allotment of fructose. Also, limit your intake of commercially-baked goods and snacks, including granola bars. They contain sucrose, comprised of 50 percent fructose. Dried fruit also contains high amounts of fructose. A cup of dried apricots, for example, contains 16 g of fructose, and a 1 1/2 oz. box of raisins contains 13 g.
Fruit
You should eat 1 1/2 cups to 2 cups daily of fruit, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA. You can eat this amount of fresh fruit without negatively affecting your arteries. Limit the amount of canned fruit, especially varieties in packed in syrup. A fresh peach contains 2.3 g of fructose, compared to a cup of canned peaches in heavy syrup, which contains 7.7 g of fructose and nearly 33 g of total sugar. Some good fruit choices and their fructose content per 1 cup serving include cantaloupe, 2.9 g; raspberries, 2.9 g and blueberries, 7.4 g. A medium apple contains 10.7 g of fructose and a medium banana contains 5.7 g.
Considerations
The health of your arteries depends on factors other than your fructose consumption. To help reduce triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein — LDL or "bad" cholesterol — follow a diet low in saturated fat, trans fat and sugar. The American Heart Association recommends limiting all types of sugar, including fructose, to 100 calories if you're a woman and 150 calories if you're a man. It also helps to quit smoking, limit alcohol consumption to one or two drinks a day, lose weight and exercise most days of the week.
References
- United States Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database
- "Circulation"; Triglycerides and Cardiovascular Disease A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association; Michael Miller, et al.; April 2011
- United States Department of Agriculture, Choose My Plate: How Much Fruit is Needed Daily?
- MayoClinic.com; High Cholesterol -- Lifestyle and Home Remedies; June 2011
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