What about Fructose?

Glad you asked. Fructose, found mostly in fruits and some root vegetables, is processed differently than glucose. Instead of entering your bloodstream and triggering an insulin response, fructose heads directly to your liver for processing. This is why carbohydrates with a higher percentage of its sugars in the form of fructose will naturally have a lower glycemic value. Simply put, your blood glucose levels cannot be increased if you are consuming fructose instead. This is one of many reasons why the glycemic index is of very little value.

As the liver processes fructose, multiple elements of heart disease become elevated. That is, triglyceride levels are increased and LDL particles are oxidized. The sad thing is, cholesterol gets blamed as being at fault when it is the fructose consumption that is turning the cholesterol into something harmful.

The elevated level of triglycerides also impairs the transport of leptin into your brain. Fructose is unable to enter the cells of your brain (think wrong key/lock combination). If leptin does not reach your brain, your brain will not send out the signal to stop eating. This means that fructose does not have the same satiety effect compared to that of glucose.

At the same time, the amount of leptin secreted has already been decreased because of the smaller insulin response produced by your consumption of fructose. It is the secretion of insulin which triggers leptin secretion in the first place.
Leptin is not the only hormone responsible for hunger. Ghrelin, produced in the stomach, signals hunger. Contrary to leptin, ghrelin increases before meals and decreases after meals. Fructose however does not suppress ghrelin levels as much as glucose does.

As if obesity and heart disease weren’t bad enough, fructose consumption also increases uric acid levels in the body, which in turn results in gout. Again, fructose somehow escapes all blame though and gout sufferers are instead told to refrain from red meat.

Your liver itself isn’t safe either. Having to process excessive amounts of fructose can actually lead to fatty liver disease. That’s right, your liver will look identical to that of an alcoholic if you eat enough fructose.

Not all of the fructose makes its way to your liver though. This is a problem because it is significantly more reactive in the bloodstream than glucose. In fact, fructose is 10 times more effective than glucose at inducing the cross-linking of proteins that leads to advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). AGEs are toxic and contribute to such things as atherosclerosis, asthma, arthritis, myocardial infarction, nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy. These AGEs are also more resistant to the body’s disposal mechanisms than those created by glucose.

Stay tuned for part 4 where we will discuss sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup.

Something You've Heard Before

Most carbohydrates contain some level of glucose, whether it is by itself or paired with fructose to form sucrose. When you eat or drink a glucose containing food, the glucose enters your bloodstream upon digestion. The rate at which this happens determines the glycemic value of the given food. A higher glycemic value is equal to a faster absorption rate and vice versa.
Once the glucose has entered your bloodstream, some of it will be used as energy through the process of glycolysis. This is why you may feel a rush of energy when you eat sweets. Your pancreas must then secrete enough insulin to escort the unused glucose into your cells. Think of insulin as the key needed to gain entry to your cells. At this point, you will be in a state of hypoglycemia because the insulin did its job and cleared the blood of glucose. This results in the body thinking it needs more energy and you begin to crave more of the quick-hit, simple sugars that you just consumed. This is the beginning of the sugar craving cycle.

As you give in to your cravings this downward cycle continues. Your pancreas continues to secrete insulin to clear your blood of glucose, but over time, the locks on your cells begin to jam and the keys (insulin) no longer work like they used to. It requires the help of additional insulin to be able to enter. In the mean time, the glucose is essentially locked out of your cells. This need for more and more insulin to clear the glucose from your blood is referred to as insulin resistance.

At the same time that your pancreas is working overtime to produce the insulin you need, it also begins to reduce glucagon production. Like insulin, glucagon is a hormone produced by the pancreas. Instead of letting glucose into your cells like insulin does, glucagon is responsible for the process that converts stored glycogen into glucose and lets it out of your cells to be used as energy.

You see, when your blood glucose levels are low, the pancreas secretes glucagon so that glucose can be released from your cells for energy. However, if you are insulin resistant, your blood glucose levels are consistently elevated, signaling to your pancreas that additional glucose should not be released from your cells. Thus, dramatically hindering your efforts of reducing stored body fat.

Stay tuned for Part 3 where we will discuss fructose.

Jennie and I received the ice cream maker attachment for our KitchenAid mixer and plan on making some ice cream this weekend. I have no clue what flavor we will be shooting for, but will be sure to document the process. In the meantime, here are a few recipes that I found in my cookbooks and online. If you give any of them a shot, please be sure to share your experience with the rest of us.

Chocolate Nut Butter Ice Cream (Performance Menu)

• 1/2 C coconut milk
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa or carob powder
• 1 Tbsp cashew butter
• 1 Tbsp crushed walnuts
• Few drops pure vanilla extract (optional)

Prepare the ice cream about an hour before you want to eat it. Pour the coconut milk into a coffee cup or small dish. Add the other ingredients, mix well. Place into the freezer for one hour. To get a good, ice cream-like consistency, the mixture needs to be stirred periodically to break up the portions that will get frozen hard.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream (Performance Menu)

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 C fresh fruit
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Simply place all ingredients in a blender and puree. Pour into dessert cups (coffee cups work equally well) and put in the freezer for about 1 hour or until it has chilled to an ice cream-like consistency.

Optimal Ice Cream (Hyperlipid Blog)

• 1 pint double cream
• 6 egg yolks
• 10 drops vanilla extract
• sweetener to taste

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream (KitchenAid)

• 3 C cream
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1.5 C canned pumpkin
• sweetener to taste

Scold half of the cream. In a separate bowl, whisk the 6 egg yolks. Add the vanilla and sweetener to the yolks. Slowly whisk the scolded cream into this mixture. Add the pumpkin pie spice and stir entire mixture over medium heat for about 10:00. Be sure not to boil the mixture. Add the remaining cream and the canned pumpkin and whisk. Strain the mixture to remove any egg parts that may have solidified and chill mixture in the refrigerator. Once chilled, pour into ice cream maker. Churn for 15-20 minutes until desired consistency.

What is Sugar?

All carbohydrates, otherwise known as saccharides, are a form of sugar. The simplest form of sugar is known as a monosaccharide. The two most common of which are glucose and fructose. When two monosaccharides are joined together, a disaccharide, such as sucrose (table sugar), is formed. Monosaccharides, as well as disaccharides, are referred to as simple sugars. If multiple monosaccharides or disaccharides are joined together in a long chain, polysaccharides, or complex carbs, result. Starches are a form of complex carbs and include such foods as potatoes, rice, wheat, and corn.

You need to know that you are hard-wired to crave sweetness. You come from an environment where every calorie had to be found and then dug up or killed. Concentrated sources of sugar were very rare. Therefore, the brain urges you to eat more of these calorie dense foods whenever the tongue tastes it. This has become bad news in our current world where sugar is cheap and in great abundance.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we will discuss glucose.

With the current heat, we have been stressing hydration at the Fort. Drinking plenty of water throughout the entire day is a given, but most people default to supplementing with Gatorade for the electrolytes. If you insist on using Gatorade, be sure to dilute it with water as that stuff has quite a bit of sugar (including high-fructose corn syrup). Here are a few ideas that should help you avoid the G:

• Water with fresh lemon juice
• Add Celtic or Himalayan sea celt to anything
• Increase intake of capsicum containing foods such as hot peppers and paprika
• Emergen-C Electro mix

As most of you know, Jennie and I spent our honeymoon in Costa Rica. We stayed at the Hotel Parador in Quepos for 9 days. This hotel was amazing in so many ways, but I was very impressed with their free breakfast. I can't think of anyplace, outside of my own kitchen, that I have eaten this good for breakfast. Oh, and did I mention that it was FREE!?

Here is what I loaded up on the first morning we were there:

• Bacon
• Omelette with Cheese and Mushrooms
• 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
• Small Cup of Fresh OJ
• Multiple Cups of Black Coffee

One plate of this goodness simply wasn't going to do so I went back and reloaded with this:

Same stuff as the first time, but I added a couple pieces of fresh pineapple and papaya this time.

Comments:

The bacon was fatty and greasy, just as any good bacon should be. I don't know what kind of cheese they use in Costa Rica, but it was right up my alley. It was a mellower white cheese that had the consistency of string cheese at room temperature. Perfect in an omelette if you ask me. Their coffee is very strong in flavor. I would even argue that it had more flavor than the espresso at Starbucks. Because of this, I had a minimum of 2 cups with every breakfast. As for the OJ, I decided that my honeymoon is a once in a lifetime event so I treated myself to something that I never have anymore. Oh, and it was worth it.

Katelyn has been on summer break as of last Friday. For the past 3 days she has done a wonderful job giving the Paleo way of eating a true chance. After counting my reps and cheering me through the WOD this morning at the Fort, we headed home for some breakfast. I rewarded her efforts over the past three days with this:

Forget Wheaties, this is the true "Breakfast of Champions". Before any of you get all worked up over the ice cream, it has some of the highest fat and lowest sugar without getting into the chemical sweetener stuff. Indulging in this ice cream every once in a while definitely won't kill any of us, but I still plan on putting our new ice cream maker to the test in the near future. As soon as I can get my hands on some raw cow's cream from the co-op I am a part of, I will make a fresh batch that will be guilt free.

As for what daddy ate, here it is:

I know, I know. Katelyn's breakfast is WAY more photogenic than mine. Here is what is in the bowl:

• Beef Tenderloin (526g)
• Beef Tallow (52g)
• Red Onion (40g)
• Red Bell Pepper (40g)
• Garlic Powder (loads!)
• Chipotle Chili Powder (a solid dusting)

This was actually really tasty and I did a great job this time not overcooking the steak...left it nice and bloody! I'll admit, I too indulged in a bowl of chocolate ice cream before this meal was said and done

Post some of the meals you guys have been creating to the comments. Let's get some discussion going to help each other discover some tasty new dishes.