Fructose (monosaccharide) is one of the two components of regular sugar or sucrose. How does the substitution of sugar for fructose in the diet affect health and why experienced diabetics prefer not to use products on fructose?
Products on fructose have a significantly lower glycemic index (slower absorbed by the body) than sugar. Special value has fructose in diabetes – its use does not cause a jump in the level of sugar in the blood and does not affect the level of insulin. However, sweets on fructose simultaneously carry a real threat to human health. Their caloric value is equal to the energy value of similar products on sugar, but psychologically this is perceived as a “dietary product”. People who have problems with carbohydrate metabolism should know all about fructose, its benefits, harms and peculiarities.
Industrial fructose is a crystalline powder with a sweeter taste than sugar. It should be understood that for the dietary food a substitute should be consumed two times less than the usual measure of sugar.Industrial fructose molecules and natural molecules are isomers, which suggests their incomplete similarity. Fructose is not absorbed into the blood from the stomach as glucose, but from the intestine enters the liver, where it is processed into glycogen or fat, depending on the amount received.
How to use fructose with benefit?
Natural fructose is a substance that gives a sweet taste to fruit. Dietary restrictions for diabetics and people suffering from obesity (namely, they are the main consumers of sugar substitutes) suggest a restriction in the menu of sweet fruits and the complete exclusion of sugar. The food industry offers such people a large selection of products on sugar substitutes. Experts recommend fructose for diabetes and obesity as an alternative to regular sweets.
Useful properties of fructose:
- Does not cause a sharp increase in blood sugar levels.
- Reduces risk of caries by half.
- It is twice as sweet as sugar, which, while maintaining the sweet taste, can significantly reduce the caloric content of the usual delicacies.
- The process of assimilation is without the “attraction” of insulin.
- Its use will provide the necessary nutrition to the brain and muscles during mental or physical work.
It should be understood that fructose in healthy and dietary nutrition can be very useful only if:
To use it very moderately, with the obligatory account of its total amount in finished products – juices, drinks, confectionery. The total amount should not exceed 30 g per day. For children, the rate is calculated based on the proportion of 0.5 g per kg of child weight. With diabetes, the rate of fructose in adults per 1 kg of body weight is 0.75 g.
The use of natural fructose (in honey, vegetables and fruits) strengthens the immune system, tones the body.
The danger of entrainment with this sugar substitute is the false confidence that a “dietary” product is used.
Harm from fructose
To use fructose instead of sugar means to eliminate the intake of “harmful” glucose. “Just in case,” people who watch over their food and want to make it exceptionally healthy replace sugar with analogues. Is it possible to use a substitute for healthy people who are not harmed by glucose?
Large amounts of fructose:
- Causes fatty degeneration of the liver.
- Promotes weight gain, which “leaves” with great difficulty.
- Causes a feeling of hunger due to blocking the production of the hormone “fullness” of leptin.
- It increases the level of cholesterol, which in the future is fraught with cardiovascular diseases and hypertension.
The meaning here is simple – everything that is used in moderation is useful. Read the composition of finished products and consider the daily consumption rate. Remember that fructose is “served” by producers as a natural product. Be aware that using sugar substitutes is extremely cost-effective and do not fall for promotional tricks.
Fructose Chocolate
Chocolate is the product that both adults and children love. Complete rejection of it for some significantly reduces the quality of life. Fructose chocolate is permitted for diabetes, obesity and people who lead a healthy lifestyle.
Diet chocolate makers produce two types of product:
- Chocolate for diabetics.
- Chocolate for people who watch the figure.
Fructose in chocolate for diabetics is found in large quantities, which makes the product very high in calories. In a hundred gram of such chocolate contains up to 700 kcal. Its main advantage is that it does not cause an insulin response. You will have to come to terms with the specific sourish taste and strange bluish tinge of the tile, which will give the product thermally processed fructose.
Slimming chocolate is much less sweet and high in calories (about 100 kcal per 100 g). Its taste is far from the usual. This product is allowed to use those who are dependent on chocolate and people with very high weight.
Is it possible to eat chocolate on fructose – the benefits and harm are assessed individually:
- Healthy people, it does not hurt, but will not bring the expected pleasure.
- Those who have liver problems such chocolate (like any other) should be excluded from the diet.
- Possible “overdose” calories, if the “diabetic” tile replace the “diet”.
- This chocolate will not work in home cooking – it will give products an unpleasant taste.
The use of products on fructose in the recommended doses is useful in type 1 diabetes. It is desirable for healthy people to reduce it in nutrition to a minimum; for people with impaired carbohydrate metabolism, fruits and vegetables should be eaten to replenish glycogen stores.