Hello! Today I'm going to talk about a carbohydrate that is worse than the table sugar you have in your house. It's more dangerous, it's more addictive, it causes belly fat and inflammation in your body and recent research shows that it is perhaps the main factor in the explosion of obesity, diabetes and several chronic diseases including heart disease and cancer.
In other words, it is the root of several problems in the modern world. If you've ever wondered why, despite trying to eat less and exercise more, many of us still struggle with the scales, the answer may be hidden in this video! Can you guess which carbohydrate I'm talking about?
You can write below. You can kick. You'll get it right!
And let me tell you a secret - you've probably been eating and drinking it for a long time without knowing that it's so harmful to your health, because it's hidden in many products you buy in the supermarket. And look, the food industry swears it 's safe. But I'm going to show you that the excess that we are consuming is only good for the industry itself, because it makes us eat more, at the same time that it destroys everyone's health.
What carbohydrate is this? Fructose. .
. But don't worry, I'm not telling you to stop eating fruit, that's not it. In this video I will explain to you how fructose is worse than all other types of sugar, what the long-term effects of excessive fructose consumption are and what signs you can see in your body or in your tests that you may be consuming it.
too much fructose. You'll dive deep into the fructose trap with me and we'll uncover together how this seemingly harmless sugar is secretly fueling an epidemic of obesity and chronic diseases like cancer. I consider this video to be the most important of the year.
. . So stay until the end, because I guarantee you will learn a lot of new things from it.
And of course, enjoy the video, subscribe to the channel if you are not already subscribed and activate the bell so that YouTube sends our content to you. And tell me? Did you imagine that fructose could be such an evil carbohydrate?
What part of Brazil or the world are you from? Write it down below. Let's go.
You must have been surprised when I said that fructose is so bad for your health as well as global health. A review has just been published in October 2023 in the journal “obesity” in which the authors indicated that fructose was the glue that unified the various obesity hypotheses. And I'll explain to you why I think they're right.
First of all, what is fructose? When I think of fructose I think of the sugar in fruits and honey. But it doesn't just come from these sources.
Table sugar itself, sucrose, is a combination of two sugar molecules: one glucose and the other fructose. However, in ultra-processed foods, fructose is derived from corn and not fruits and is called high-fructose corn syrup. This is a huge, silent and powerful villain that causes obesity.
Syrup is a little sweeter than sugar, as it has more fructose. And it is placed, by the food industry, in almost everything that is industrialized. But you may ask me - Are fruits, because they contain fructose, not harmful to health?
No! I have to make this very clear. When you eat whole fruits, despite having fructose, they have fibers that delay the absorption of this sugar by the intestine, that is, your blood glucose and insulin will not have spikes, in addition to the fibers making you feel satiated.
Fruits also contain micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants that will be good for your body. This is why fruits REDUCE the risk of several chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancer. Very different from high-fructose corn syrup, which increases all of this and much more, as you will see in a moment.
And another point: if you compare the amount of fructose in a fruit with the fructose added to soda, it is much, much lower. . .
A parenthesis here - fruit juice may not be interesting if it is strained and you add an excess of fruit… You might be thinking, I don't even like sweet things. I shouldn't be eating too much fructose. .
. I'll show you that you probably are, and you're eating and drinking a lot, even though you like salty foods more than sweets. Where is the food industry putting fructose from corn?
In frozen foods: in pizzas, in frozen snacks, in those ready meals and frozen dinners, but also in breads, pies, breadings, salad sauces, ketchup, ice creams, cereal bars, flavored yogurts, those with fruits , in breakfast cereals, in biscuits, in snacks, in tomato sauces, in preserved fruits and mainly in soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and industrialized fruit juices. . .
It's a lot. Have you ever wondered why fructose is added to so many processed foods? First, fructose is sweeter than glucose, so they need to use less to get the same sweetness.
Second, it's cheaper! It also increases shelf life, gives a softer texture and good appearance, a golden color to the breads. And, the main thing, is that when you add sugar, including fructose, to food, it makes you want to eat more and keep eating.
The food industry knows this. It spends billions on research and designs ultra-processed foods to be irresistible, delicious, and as addictive as illicit drugs like cocaine and heroin. Adding fructose to processed food does not make your products tastier, but it also interferes with our body's satiety signals, leading to what?
Eating more, of course. And there you go! Bingo!
The food industry's goal has been achieved: which is to get people to eat more of its products. I don't care about your health, no. When did the industry start switching from sugar to corn syrup?
In the 70s. There was the sugar crisis, where the international price of sucrose rose, at the same time that the American government subsidized corn production, which led to an overproduction of corn and a desperate search for new markets for that excess. of corn.
Turning into what? In high-fructose corn syrup, which has become a much cheaper option than sugar. In 1984, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi publicly announced that they had made the switch from sucrose to corn syrup and fructose in their soft drinks, which turned the key, becoming the standard sweetener for the food and beverage industry.
And along with fructose came obesity! In this graph you can see how obesity rates increased dramatically in the United States between 1970 and 2000. During this period, syrup consumption increased by 1000%, much more than any other food product.
See, this graph goes back to the 2000s. It even seems that obesity had stabilized in the USA. But not.
Today, about 42% of adults in the US are obese. And in Brazil, it is also accelerating. .
. Diabetes. .
. In 1980, 108 million people in the world had diabetes. Today there are more than 537 million people.
In other words, it increased by 5x, with the population not even doubling in 40 years. But people are living longer, right. .
. That's wrong too. In the United States there is a life expectancy crisis.
People are living less than in the past. And they are much sicker. It's the food industry's fault, with ultra-processed foods, junk foods, corn syrup, excess salt and fat.
. . They are literally killing us.
What does fructose do in our body? What is the difference between it and glucose? The difference is that Fructose Tricks Your Body.
And it is linked to our biology and our genes. We have saving genes that help when there is not enough food. They are the ones who made our ancestors bring us here.
But today we have an abundance of food, but we still carry these sparing genes, which increase the risk of obesity and diabetes. The main function of glucose is to provide immediate fuel for your cells. And the main function of fructose is in fuel storage.
See what I said: in storage! Did you know that our own body can produce fructose? And truth.
When does the body produce fructose? When we have excess glucose (for example, the person is pre-diabetic or diabetic) when we eat carbohydrates with a high glycemic load - ate pasta, bread, a donut without fiber or protein. .
. When we eat foods that are very salty or contain glutamate monosodium, when we drink excess alcohol and also when we have high uric acid, all of this stimulates the production of fructose in our body. Fructose turns on our thrifty genes.
She turns on the save button. And you're trying to burn off that fat on your body. .
. And what are you going to do? It will reduce cellular energy (reduces intracellular ATP), and at the same time prevents you from burning fat, blocking the replacement of ATP from our fat reserves.
As I said, fructose is sparing. And there's another little thing that fructose causes. It makes your body resistant to leptin.
And leptin is the satiety hormone. In other words, you won't be satiated, you 'll want to keep eating. Result: you will burn less and eat more.
Now you understand why you can't lose weight. See how interesting it is, when animals go into hibernation they use this same button, this same mechanism, they start to eat more at the same time they accumulate fat in their bodies. When researchers place animals on a diet rich in high- fructose corn syrup, it quickly leads to metabolic syndrome: weight gain, belly fat (visceral adiposity), insulin resistance, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure (will cause hypertension because fructose stimulates the production of vasopressin and sodium absorption), and fatty liver.
Their kidney begins to lose albumin, microalbuminuria and retain uric acid (hyperuricemia) and markers of inflammation are activated- such as high c-reactive protein. This encompasses more than 80% of my patients that I see in my office. And fructose also acts on the brain, stimulating impulsivity and increasing locomotor activity (so the animal can try to find more food before hibernating).
The intestine will also be modified. Fructose increases the length of intestinal microvilli, facilitating the absorption of food. So excess fructose affects your entire body.
So it's no coincidence that obesity and diabetes spiked when high-fructose corn syrup became the food industry's standard sweetener. And when it is added to drinks, soft drinks, chocolate drinks, boxed juices, the speed at which your liver is exposed to fructose is much greater. Could fructose be the cause of the exponential increase in obesity, diabetes, heart problems and cancer in the world today?
I think so. Let's connect the dots. These changes in the body triggered by fructose not only make us gain weight faster, but they also create an environment ripe for the development of chronic diseases, such as fatty plaques in our arteries—see, it increases inflammation, increases blood pressure, worsens cholesterol, increases uric acid.
. . all of this leads to atherosclerosis Diabetes- obesity and insulin resistance lead to pre-diabetes and soon after, diabetes.
Fatty liver- I made a video about fatty liver recently, in which I said that fatty liver disease was rare before 1980. Rare. It is now a leading cause of liver transplantation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Memory Disorders: fructose may also be sabotaging your brain and may negatively affect memory and learning, harming brain development, especially in children and adolescents. Concentration, that lot of ADHD out there. .
. Studies show that excessive fructose consumption can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in the hippocampus, a vital area of the brain for learning and memory. And most worryingly: these effects can increase the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's.
And cancer? Also- chronic inflammation of the body can be a trigger for the formation of cancer, as inflammation damages DNA leading to genetic mutations. There is a link between excessive consumption of added sugars (the type found in cookies, cakes and soft drinks—that is, fructose) and cancer.
A major 2018 review cited several studies that linked the consumption of added sugar and sugary drinks to an increased risk of cancer. Excessive consumption of added sugars has also been shown to reduce immunity, which may allow cancer cells to spread more easily. What are the signs and symptoms that you may be consuming too much fructose?
-Unexplained Weight Gain: as I said, it makes you store more fat and burn less -Constant Sensation of Hunger: resistance to leptin, which helps regulate appetite and satiety. -Fatigue and Lack of Energy: -Digestive problems -Increased Triglycerides: Pre-diabetes or diabetes HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) low increase in visceral fat Mood Changes and Irritability Cravings for Sweets and Carbohydrates Skin Problems: such as acne, Fat in the liver High blood pressure How can we improve this, avoid this excess fructose in our diet and become healthy again? You have already taken the first step - which is awareness - information is power!
By understanding the impact our food choices have on our health, we can begin to make positive changes. This doesn't mean you can never enjoy your favorite cookie or Doritos again . It's about balance and healthier choices as a rule.
And, if you haven't shared the video yet, share it with your WhatsApp groups. Or do you want to keep this knowledge all to yourself? Another valuable piece of advice comes from writer Michael Pollan: Eat food.
Not too much. Mostly plants. Eat food—not junk food.
No exaggeration. Mainly plants (fruits and vegetables). With this advice you will go far.
Read the labels I don't know if you noticed that foods now carry a warning - high content of added sugar or saturated fat or sodium. Very cool this! Pay attention to them!
Appreciate it. Don't let this be extra information that's there, and you don't even care. If you buy foods in your daily life that are rich in sugar, sodium and saturated fat, think again.
Can't you choose healthier foods? Now, if it's once in a while, then it's fine. .
. And, if you can, read the ingredients that are in that product. We often don't even realize how much fructose we are consuming, as it is hidden in so many ultra-processed products.
And try to open other people's eyes. I'm trying to do my part. We are all in the same boat, fighting against the tactics of the food industry that seeks profits and not our well-being and our health.
Making videos for so many years, I've read incredible feedback about losing weight and improving health with small changes in habits and lifestyle! I hope you can also share your experience below, and that this video is a game-changer for you, to be more aware both when putting food in your supermarket cart but also when putting food in the your mouth. Did you like the video?
Don't forget to like, share and subscribe for more important content like this. And what will be the next video you will watch? I'll leave 3 recommendations here.
My video about ultra-processed foods. Which is complementary to this one. My video about fatty liver E, symptoms of lack of vitamin b12?
Do you have it? My name is André Wambier, cardiologist, and this is cardiodf. com.
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