We all know that excess sugar consumption leads us to put on weight, here Dr Ken Sikaris presentation provides a good explanation of the mechanism.
He focuses on the problems of fructose the sugar found in fruit and which is now being delivered to us on industrial scale through high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which typically contains 55% fructose and is included in many processed foods.
The amount fructose we are consuming is very dangerous to our bodies is directly converted to fat, unlike glucose which is used for energy. While we have glucose in our bodies any fructose will be turned to fat.
Table sugar or sucrose is converted in our bodies to glucose and fructose.
In his presentation he notes that in the past fructose was only available at particular seasons and so we did not consume it all year. In the past when we ate the fruit the fructose was converted to fat stores for the winter months.
He also states that a decline in Vitamin D, mainly obtained from sunlight, triggers our bodies to store fat. For those of us living in locations with 4 seasons and long winters may be using a sun beds is not just about vanity.
He notes that by eating whole fruit we are not so likely to overload on fructose as it is difficult to eat a lot of apples plus the fibre regulates the fructose absorption. However, with juicing fruits we are stripping out fibre and consuming too much fructose.
It is worse than just weight gain the stored fat is causing metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
He also addresses the "high cholesterol" issue and advises that it is not the problem. The problem is the triglycerides or fats floating about in our blood stream caused by excessive sugar consumption and that is what causes heart disease.
It looks like he could follow his own advice and he does admit that he is a sugar addict.
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