The new “F” word: FRUCTOSE! Dr Bill Nielsen has been practising in Duncan for thirty years
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et’s see, last month we had isolating floods in the valley, a meteor in Copper Canyon, a Saltspring Island earthquake and mini-tsunami in Maple Bay. We was rocked in Biblical proportions. But it didn’t prevent the holiday festivities - because we survived! The baking and barbecues and quaffing and consuming has abated, so now comes the caloric reckoning. How shall we best prepare for February, the heart health awareness month? We start with Satis. Satis is a Latin word that means “enough!” Satisfaction, sated, satiety stem from satis. The satiety centre in your hypothalamus is a potent mechanism for turning right off any desire to eat. It is the “No thank-you, two is my limit” unit designed to maintain normal bodyweight no matter what your activity levels are. As the stomach fills, stretch receptors initially shut down hunger. The intestines and liver then work together to give a long lasting No More! Messenger molecules with expensive names like Leptin and Cholecystokinin and of course our Canadian
contribution, Insulin, influence the brain to completely eradicate food cravings. You will feel full for hours and not even want to look at another morsel….. unless a tricky little sugar, Fructose, the chemical second cousin of glucose, weasels its way into the equation. Decades ago a scientist at Yale University fed people different sugars. Then he offered them a choice: another cookie now, or $20 next month. Those subjects who had filled up on natural Glucose took the money. Those who ate its evil twin, modified Fructose, craved and craved and took immediate junk food, forsaking a future benefit. Unfortunately, it seems big food producers must have read that or similar studies and guess what? A dash of Fructose is pumped into all kinds of foods specifically to shut off the satiety centre so, contrary to natural proportions, your brain and body crave weigh too much. So, as you re-establish nutritional order to the Holiday chaos and bring back balanced diets, exercise and H2O, read those labels carefully. Be fructose savvy. Whether it’s in baking or juice, canned goods or snacks, if you see the “F” word in the product, your coronaries are begging you to put it back on the shelf.
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