 Pittsburg, Kansas | I have came down pretty hard on fructose for several years now. For reference sucrose (table sugar) is about half fructose and half glucose with high fructose corn syrup (used in a lot of beverages) is slightly higher in fructose though metabolically about equivalent. I have linked in the past to several videos with Dr Gary Fetke from Tasmania who comes down particularly hard on anything containing fructose. I will include some of his content further down below just for reference.
Nick Norwitz brings about nuance that makes tremendous sense to me. He does not say it in these words, but essentially the dose makes the poison. In other words our body has the ability to utilize a certain amount of fructose and process it in such a way that the negative health associated with it is minimal or maybe nothing. But beyond that "dose" the body has to send the fructose on via the portal vein for the liver to process which in excess amounts can eventually cause fatty liver and raised uric acid levels. 16 minutes long.
Anyway this presentation by Nick makes me feel better about my daily desert topping of a half dozen blueberries or a couple of strawberries (on top of a low carb fat laden desert). Also I allow myself one apple or pear fresh off the tree in season. So if Nick is correct, this level of fruit consumption should be low enough my ordinary digestion can convert the fructose into glucose (which I still have to watch because of my diabetes type II and blood sugar levels) and not contribute to liver fat and high uric acid as fructose can. I think this is a pretty good presentation and food for thought (pun intended). (note: my needs at limiting fructose as a long term diabetic may be different than someone who is metabolically healthy)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjJr5qvRkBk #mce_temp_url#
For reference of the past here is a search for some of Gary Fetke's presentations. Do I now think he is wrong??? No. I think he is right, but with the caveat of the dose makes a difference. At low doses our body is designed to handle it in a healthy way. In high doses seasonally it also provides a metabolic switch to help survival (in the fall when seasonally fruit is ripe we could eat excess and gain fat for better winter survival - we no longer have a need for that switch with food abundant year round). Anyway for anyone wanting to go down the rabbit hole of why excess fructose consumption is bad I will put a couple of links to a couple of doctors I think have useful information.
Gary Fetke.. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gary+fetke+fruit+fructose #mce_temp_url# Here is one of his latest which should have his latest ideas. It is Looooong at almost an hour and a half. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRfhHjqzgkg #mce_temp_url# Even if you don't have the hour and a half to listen, it might be worth listening to the first few minutes then skipping randomly through it to see what the rest is about. Maybe ten minutes time. Fetke is of the belief that a little bit of poison is still poison, while a little bit is better than a lot, none is better than a little bit. Well worth the hour and a half to watch it (in my twisted mind opinion who does not watch professional sports or other TV entertainment). A person just has to balance living a life considered worth living vs living a life perfectly healthy as best possible. Striking some sort of balance.
Fructose https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fructose #mce_temp_url#
I am not a doctor (don't even own a white coat although I do own a couple of stethoscopes to check for noisy bearings), nor a nutritionist so use the above information at your own risk. I am just a retired dirt farmer interested in this subject.
Edit: wife and I do eat a significant amount of avocado and olives, which are also fruit but low in sugars.
Edited by John Burns 3/19/2025 11:21
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