Discover why high fructose corn syrup can increase the risk of heart failure. Check out the article we found over at Natural News.
The sugar fructose — formerly embraced by the food industry as a supposedly safer alternative to glucose — appears to cause molecular changes in the body that promote uncontrolled heart growth and increase the risk of heart failure, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and published in the journal Nature.
Fructose is a monosaccharide sugar, like glucose and lactose. It naturally occurs in many fruits and forms 50 percent of the disaccharide sucrose (table sugar). These naturally occurring forms of fructose do not seem to cause the same damaging effects, the researchers said. It is added fructose in processed foods that is the real cause for concern.
Fructose fuels abnormal heart growth
Unlike glucose (which the brain uses for fuel), fructose does not cause significant increases in blood sugar levels or insulin activity. For this reason, scientists have assumed that fructose would not increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in the same way as glucose would. This has led to an increased quantity of fructose in processed foods, often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.
But research has also shown that the liver converts fructose into fat more readily than it does with glucose. This can lead to a fatty liver, obesity, high blood pressure, high levels of blood fat and even insulin resistance. These are all symptoms of a condition known as metabolic syndrome… a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
The new study found that a diet high in fructose may also increase the risk of heart failure, at least in those already at risk of the disease. That’s because when a person suffers from high blood pressure, their heart starts to grow in order to be able to pump harder. This can lead to a situation in which the heart has more muscle than the body can supply with oxygen (heart muscles use enormous amounts of oxygen to fuel their continual contractions).
Next article: Sugar: 8 Times More Addictive Than Cocaine
Read full article: High-fructose corn syrup increases risk of heart failure
Recent Comments