Sustained high blood pressure leads to cardiovascular disorders. A high-sodium diet can also disrupted the oral microbiome and lead to cavities and gum disease by allowing harmful, acid-producing bacteria to dominate. Excessive acid will damage a tooth’s protective enamel, via demineralization. A weakened enamel eventually leads to cavities if high sodium intake is left unchecked. For more on Sodium.
Poison in the Guise of Sugar
Fructose is fruit sugar and is also part of the following: honey (21-43% fructose), maple syrup (50% fructose), agave syrup (70-90% fructose), white and brown table sugar (50% fructose), high-fructose corn syrup (55% fructose) and invert sugar syrup (50% fructose). Invert sugar syrup is an added ingredient in almost all syrups. Yet, for some strange reason, it is most often not listed as an ingredient.
Fructose is useless to the body and the cause of chronic and acute inflammation. It’s a poison in the guise of a simple sugar. The major sources of fructose in our daily diet are sugar-sweetened beverages, fruits, UPFs and QSR foods.
You can indulge in dried or fresh fruits that are part of the main course at events like birthdays, weddings, holidays etc… – avoid between events. Do not eat dried or fresh fruits separately as a snack anytime.
To my knowledge, there are two food sources of sugar that are fructose-free. They are corn sugar and brown rice syrup, both easily accessible online. All vegetables contain fructose, but in comparison to fruits the amount is minimal, so vegetables are okay anytime.
Fructose can only be broken down by your liver cells. The breakdown of fructose stimulates the overproduction of purines by the liver cells. A purine is a critical base molecule of a nucleotide and nucleotides are the essential building blocks of DNA and RNA, which play a crucial role in forming our genetic code. Okay.
Fructose in combination with eating high purine foods both contribute to high levels of uric acid in your blood. You might want to limit your intake of high purine foods (red meat, fish, poultry) to 3.5 ounces (100g) daily. To dispose of excess purine molecules, liver cells will break down the purines to produce a waste product called uric acid (UA).
Uric acid is then released into your bloodstream to be filtered by the kidneys and excreted in the urine. UA is normally released by the liver into your blood in low and controlled amounts.
Now, even though UA is a waste, as long as the levels in your blood remain low, that isn’t a bad thing. Because uric acid is a powerful antioxidant and a scavenger of free radicals in our body. Free radicals cause the body to prematurely age.
So, the problem starts when that controlled amount gets out of control due to excess fructose consumption. Fructose starts a chain reaction in your liver that ends in the buildup of high levels of UA in your blood. High levels of uric acid in the blood tend to crystalize and form needle-shaped crystals called urate crystals.
Urate crystals will deposit in your joints and lead to pain and inflammation. That should more than ring a bell. Urate crystals may also deposit in your cornea, sclera and iris of your eyes and IMO, cause vision problems like nearsightedness or farsightedness.
When Urate crystals are in high concentrations, they usually clump together to form visible lumps called tophi. They will form just under your skin, in or on your joints and eyes. Tophi (plural for tophus) appears to onlookers as a physical deformity and is sometimes mistaken for tumors.
That said, your body can and will heal itself if you stop self-poisoning. This healing process involves both preventing and dissolving. Preventing involves cutting the uric acid supply lines – this means eliminating fructose and consuming high-purine food in moderation or avoiding.
Dissolving involves no action on your part. Your preventive action will provide/allow your body the time it needs to gradually dissolve existing urate crystals and tophi from its joints and tissues. It can take several months or even years for your body to fully cleanse itself.