‘Free Sugar’ Comes With a Cost
By Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen, MDs
You know that added sugars and syrups are health bombs that fuel obesity, inflammation, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. They pop up everywhere, with names like corn syrup, fructose, sucrose, maltose, and lactose.
By contrast, natural sugars, found in fiber-rich veggies and fruits, are not health risks for most people. When you eat five to nine servings a day of fruits and vegetables, you are getting the nutrients you need, including vitamin C, beta carotene and vitamin A, potassium, magnesium, and folate.
However, when those good-for-you foods containing natural sugars are stripped of their fiber, you can get in trouble. That’s because fiber slows digestion of the sugars, preventing your glucose levels from spiking. Without that protection, you're zapping your body with what’s called “free sugar,” which is as harmful as added sweeteners.
Special: Can Eating 2 Veggies for Breakfast Balance Blood Sugar All Day?
According to Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy: “Recent evidence suggests these ‘free sugars’ are similar to added sugars in influencing blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, and that reducing intake may lower risk for cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization recommends limiting free sugars to less than 10% of calories.” We say go for zero.
Commercial smoothies that are made from juice not whole fruits, all fruit juices (with or without pulp), and yogurt flavored with juice are disguised as “healthful,” but really aren’t.
One study in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition found that when you use whole fruits and veggies to make a smoothie, around 17% of the cellular material in the foods remains, and that is enough to earn the smoothie a low glycemic index and a low or medium glycemic load.
That means it’s unlikely to spike your blood sugar level or contribute to dysregulation of your gut biome.
Try the Vitality Smoothie recipe, with 5 grams of fiber, and the Grape Escape smoothie, with 2.1 grams of fiber and frozen grapes, in Dr. Mike's “What to Eat When Cookbook.”