FEBRUARY 2009 GENERAL HEALTH NEWSLETTER
Before you know it February will be over and
we’ll be drifting into autumn. Strengthen your
immunity this month and then maintain it
throughout autumn and winter, by taking 2g Ester
C daily, 1 olive leaf and 3g ultra-refined fish
oil. Add a green powder to this and it’s likely
that you will go through the entire year without
a single respiratory ‘event’. Eat loads of
garlic and onions daily too – they play a major
role in immunity, and act as a prebiotic
assisting proliferation of probiotics.
We’ll concentrate on just one thing this month
which affects us all. Read on and find out how
to avoid putting a dangerous toxin into your
body, or those you love.
Breaking News: Fructose Contains Mercury!
High levels of mercury have been found in
popular drinks, breads, cereals, breakfast bars,
yogurts and soups. More than half of all
popular brands contain the dangerous chemical in
the form of high-fructose corn syrup or HFCS (otherwise
known as fructose, the artificial, man-made
sweetener which parades as a health product)
from which crystalline fructose is produced.
America’s Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy (IATP) is calling for an immediate ban of
HFCS to stop mercury contamination of food. "Mercury
is toxic in all its forms," says IATP’s
David Wallinga. "Given how much high-fructose
corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be
a significant additional source of mercury never
before considered." (Environmental Health,
2009; 8: 2; January 31, 2009, Healthy News
Service). Don’t hold your breath though –
bans are not easily imposed where there is a lot
of money to be made, even if it is
killing us!
So what’s wrong with Fructose?
I’m astounded that people continue to believe
that fructose is a healthy alternative to sugar,
when the internet, health magazines and the
experts warn us continually of it’s dangers –
now we find it contains mercury too?
Well, in case you didn’t know, and haven’t been
following the latest research, here are just a
few of the other problems surrounding
this awful, white, disasterously unhealthy
substance: (see my website for more fructose
articles)
-
Fructose appears to interfere with copper
metabolism which causes collagen and
elastin from forming. Collagen and elastin
are connective tissue which essentially hold
the body together.1 A deficiency
in copper can also lead to bone fragility,
anemia, defects of the arteries and bone,
infertility, high cholesterol levels,
heart attacks and ironically enough an
inability to control blood sugar levels.2
-
Research suggests that fructose
actually promotes disease more readily than
glucose. This is because glucose is
metabolized by every cell in the body, and
fructose must be metabolized by the liver.3
-
Tests on animals show that the livers of
animals fed large amounts of fructose
develop fatty deposits and cirrhosis of
the liver, similar to the livers of
alcoholics.
-
“Pure” isolated fructose (that awful white
granulated stuff sold as an alternative to
sugar) contains no enzymes, vitamins or
minerals and has to rob the body of
these very nutrients in order to assimilate
itself for physiological use.4
-
Fructose may contribute to diabetic
conditions as it reduces the sensitivity
of insulin receptors. Insulin receptors are
the way glucose enters a cell to be
metabolized. As a result, the body needs to
make more insulin to handle the same amount
of glucose.5
-
Consumption of fructose has been shown to
cause a significant increase in uric acid
which can be an indicator of heart diease.6
-
Fructose consumption has been shown to
increase blood lactic acid, especially
for people with conditions such as diabetes
- extreme elevations may cause metabolic
acidosis.7
-
Consumption of fructose leads to mineral
losses, especially excretions of iron,
magnesium, calcium and zinc compared to
subjects fed sucrose.8
-
Fructose may cause accelerated ageing
through oxidative damage. Scientists found
that rats given fructose had more
cross-linking changes in the collagen of
their skin than other groups fed glucose
(think wrinkles!). These changes are
thought to be markers for ageing.9
-
Fructose can make you fat!
It is metabolized by the liver and converts
to fat more easily than any other sugar.
Fructose also raises serum triglycerides
(blood fats) significantly.10
References:
1. Fields, M, Proceedings of the Society of
Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1984,
175:530-537.
2. Klevay, Leslie, Acting Director of the U.S.
Agriculture Department’s Human Nutrition
Research Center, Grand Forks, N.D.
3. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
November 2002 Vol. 76, No. 5, 911-922.
4. Appleton, Nancy Ph.D., Fructose is No Answer
For a Sweetener,
http://www.mercola.com/2002/jan/5/fructose.htm.
5. H. Hallfrisch, et al.,The Effects of Fructose
on Blood Lipid Levels, American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, 37: 5, 1983, 740-748.
6. J. MacDonald, Anne Keyser, and Deborah Pacy,
Some Effects, in Man, of Varying the Load of
Glucose, Sucrose, Fructose, or Sorbitol on
Various Metabolites in Blood, American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition 31 (August
1978)): 1305-1311.
7. Hallfrisch, Judith, Metabolic Effects of
Dietary Fructose, FASEB Journal 4 (June
1990): 2652-2660.
8. A. E. Bergstra, A. G. Lemmens, and A. C.
Beynens, Dietary Fructose vs. Glucose Stimulates
Nephrocalcinogenesis in Female Rats, Journal
of Nutrition 123, no. 7 (July 1993):
1320-1327.
9. Roger B. Mc Donald, Influence of Dietary
Sucrose on Biological Aging, American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition 62 (suppl), (1995):
284s-293s.
10. H. Hallfrisch, et al.,The Effects of
Fructose on Blood Lipid Levels, American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 37: 5, 1983,
740-748.
11. And terrifyingly, just read how it’s made in
:
Method of producing fructose syrup from agave
plants.
February bulk purchases:
More new products this month,
Email
us
for our special Bulk Price List, and our monthly
specials.
Spiritual Health: Joy!
One thing you can be sure of – knowing Jesus as
your Lord and Saviour will bring incredible joy
into your life! I love the way Psalm 16:11 puts
it: “You
will show me the path of life; in Your presence
is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are
pleasures forevermore”. Imagine that? If you
don’t know Jesus, and would like to know Him,
and more about how to obtain this joy, please
email
us.
BYE
Not much room for anything else this month – I
felt it important enough to bring a warning on
the dangers of mercury in fructose. Hope it
helped you. Till next month, love from
Sally-Ann Creed,
Clinical Nutritionist
Dip
Clin Nutr
