What Does Fructose Consist Of?

Fructose is a naturally occurring simple sugar in many fresh fruits and honey. As such, it is made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, manufactured by one of nature's best known processes-- photosynthesis. In fact, it's commonly referred to as "fruit sugar." When you eat fructose as a natural part of an apple or a pear, there are no health concerns. However, after a massive increase in fructose consumption in the past few decades, in the form of high fructose corn syrup, scientists are beginning to raise some pretty important questions about pure fructose's effects on our health.

Origin

George A Bray, a professor at the Pennnington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA points out that, "Before the European encounter with the new world 500 years ago and the development of the worldwide sugar industry, fructose in the human diet was limited to a few items." Meat, vegetables and grains have almost no fructose, which from a historical perspective, suggests that humans are not used to dealing with high loads of this sugar.

Digestion

Fructose is not broken down in the body the same way as other sugars such as glucose or sucrose (table sugar). In fact, there isn't even a biological need for fructose and, unlike glucose, most cells don't have the ability to use it for energy. Instead, most fructose is dealt with by the liver. The liver favors lipogenesis, the process of making fat cells out of the food you eat.

Health Effects

High fructose corn syrup raises concerns over cardiovascular disease, obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, insulin response and mercury contamination. Several studies have found that large amounts of fructose consumption raises LDL "bad" cholesterol and fats. Isabelle Aeberli, et al. published a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition linking dietary fructose in young children with greater total body fat percentage. Additionally, consuming high fructose corn syrup was related to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in a study published in the June 2008 Journal of Hepatology.

Uses

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) dominates ingredient lists on grocery store shelves. Juice, soda, candy, sauces, snack foods, cereals and many other foods contain HFCS. The syrup is made by converting the glucose in corn starch to fructose using enzymes. In the U.S., this is advantageous because of relatively low prices of subsidized corn crops. In the past few decades, fructose has also been isolated and concentrated to be sold as a white powder.

Considerations

While marketing claims pushing isolated fructose as a natural product are true, (fructose does occur naturally in fresh fruits) it does not appear in concentrated quantities such as high fructose corn syrup or powdered sweeteners. Keeping your consumption of fructose enhanced products to moderate amounts may be the best way to avoid its associated ill health effects. Consider swapping soda with natural fruit juice (without HFCS) or water, and strive to meet the recommended three to five servings of fresh fruits a day.