Ever since my doctor recommended decreasing Sugar in my diet to manage a high triglyceride level. I've been fascinated by the link between Sugar and "Blood fats". I'm by no means overweight today. Typical BMI is 19.8 for me,14% bodyfat. I could stand to loose a little fat but not a lot.
Table Sugar is Sucrose, which is a mixture of Glucose and Fructose close to 50/50. Glucose is used by every cell of the body. Fructose is akin to Embalming fluid in that it must be processed first by the Liver and contributes to all sorts of secondary reactions that ultimately can lead to fat deposits in the Liver and higher Blood fats.
Fructose or "fruit sugar" messes with hunger signals and insulin levels as well as Blood fat levels and can contribute to weight gain in a very efficient, if unhealthy, way. Some doctors say its just like Alcohol without the "buzz", all the same "damage" it just doesn't depress the central nervous system and tends to stimulate appetite. In a lot of ways its just plain "not good" for you. But it is addictive.
Robert Lustig compared an 8 oz can of cola to an 8 oz can of beer, same detrimental effects. You don't have to be 18 yrs old to drink a can of cola.
Shifting the ratio of Sugar syrups towards "High Fructose" tends to drive appetite higher, makes you want to eat more and some would argue makes it even less healthy for people who cannot resist the artificial increase in their appetite.
Kind of funny when you think about it, would overweight people voluntarily take an "appetite stimulant" if it were labeled as such?
On the other hand Glucose is used by every cell in the body, and actually "depresses" appetite, regulating it so that consumption is stopped when the body is "full" or the blood carrier system is "saturated".
You can buy pure Glucose sweetener, its not hard to find.. but because of a funny labeling system its called "Dextrose". Its called that because of the stereo-isomer or Left and Right handedness of the molecule.
When polarized light is shined through a solution of the stuff, it tends to rotate its axis Left or Right. The Latin or Greek for one or the other is the "Dex" part indicating its "this type" of sugar and not the other type. Hence its called "Dextrose".
The thing about Glucose however is its not perceived as "sweet" as Table Sugar, so you might end up using more of it, and then eating less of whatever is made with it.. because your body would then dampen your appetite quicker. Leading to less calories consumed and less purchases and less spending.
Think about it this way. A Brownie made with Dextrose would be 50 percent more likely to satisfy your hunger than a Brownie made with Table Sugar. And you'd likely eat 50 percent "less".
The really odd thing about Blood fats are they are mostly made from the Glucose or Fructose molecules strung together like beads in a chain in our blood. But there are some fats our body can't make, no matter how much sugar you consume. The essential fats or Omega-6 or Omega-3 fatty acids.
We get these from our diet too.. but if our blood is already filled with all the fat chains "we can make from sugars" versus the ones that we cannot make (ever).. we end up literally starving ourselves to death.
The "Sugar fats" crowd out the "Essential fats" we cannot (ever) make..
The lining of our blood vessels, the thin film of cells at the back of our eyes that allows us to see.. all fall into a state of disrepair.. and we age faster.. until something catastrophic happens.
Table Sugar scares me, and not in a minor way.
Its pervasive in most of the things that we buy.
Its hard to avoid.
