the Sugar Fix

[thewigglesrule]

There is a new book out this year called "The Sugar Fix" (sorry I don't have the authors name right now) and it is all about how corn and the sugar derivatives have affected our diets. It includes recipes and lots of different info. Right now it is only hard cover but it will be out in soft cover in the spring. Check your local library or request they buy it - Nadine

[esmee]

Dr. Richard Johnson is the author and it is an excellent book for the general public. He explains why too much fructose is bad for EVERYONE because, even when everything is working correctly (no genetic mutations like exist with HFI-ers), uric acid is produced as a by-product of normal fructose metabolism. I highly recommend this book. Lot of science in it, yet very accessible in my opinion.

Here is the link to order it from Amazon:
www.amazon.com/Sugar-Fix-High-Fructose-Fallout-Making/dp/1439101671

[buddhasbelly]

After seeing this post I ordered this book and started reading it. I have to say, even for a not native speaker of English it is very understandably written. I like it a lot to find out a little bit more about fructose in general, since I still find it to be a very mysterious phenomenon. :-)

[esmee]

You should also watch the video i posted in the links section titled:

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

It is 1.5 hours long and very eye opening.

However, you must keep in mind that the doctors are talking about what happens to people with NORMAL fructose metabolism, not people with HFI.

As it turns out, too much fructose is not good for anyone, but it can be down-right lethal for people with HFI.

[buddhasbelly]

Thanks for the tip. I found it and bookmarked it, am going to watch it later this week (first should get some work done on my thesis, movies are all too appealing these days haha).

[buddhasbelly]

So I finished The Sugar Fix. I have mixed feelings about it. For example, it was very interesting to learn more about different bodily processes and also about the different kinds of sugar that exist and how they are metabolized (by normal people). For example, I finally understand a bit more about artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols.

But I have to say too, that mr. Johnson at some stages in the book maybe writes too much about one side of proof he found and too little about the other side of proof that has been found. He is so certain about his theory, but in a few years, knowledge could be different and people could be hurt. Maybe I missed it earlier, but for example, his whole book is about the importance of lowering your uric acid. It is only in the Q&A part at the back of the book (page 283) that he writes about low uric acid levels being associated with mutiple sclerosis in young women and Parkinson's disease. For some readers it might have been necessary information to learn about earlier in the book. What if it runs in your family and you didn't finish the Q&A part of the book? I find that dr. Johnson could have been a little more careful with some of his statements. (although it is also fair to say, that he is an advocate for much more research in the fructose area)

And I am flabbergasted about some of his estimates of the fructose contents of some foods. For example, he writes that grains do not contain fructose (page 168). The same goes for some of his recipies, for example he thinks that a meal with endive, bacon, walnuts and chives contains zero fructose. How I wish that was true!

But over all I am glad to have read it!

BTW The page numbers refer to the paperback edition

[tikitavi]

Haha, endive, bacon, walnuts plus chives=zero fructose!!?? Wow, he must not have had anyone proofread his book?