Author: lylemcd

For decades, dietary fructose has held an odd and controversial place in the realm of nutrition.    Some see it as a perfect sugar while others see it as the dietary devil incarnate.   Who’s correct?  To address the issue I want to examine the following paper.

Madero M et. al. The effect of two energy-restricted diets, a low-fructose diet versus a moderate natural fructose diet, on weight loss and metabolic syndrome parameters: a randomized controlled trial. Metabolism. 2011 May 27. 2011 Nov;60(11):1551-9.

Background on Dietary Fructose

Dietary fructose (“fruit sugar”) is one of three simple sugars that is found in the diet, the other two being glucose (“blood sugar”) and galactose (“milk sugar”).  As its name suggests, fructose is found primarily in fruit.  However, it also makes up one-half of sucrose (“table sugar”).  It is also roughly 50% of High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), discussed below.

Throughout the decades, the attitude towards fructose has gone back and forth. … Keep Reading