The essential fatty acid called DHA, found in fish oil mitigates some of the harm caused by a high fructose intake.

We all know eating too much sugar is bad for our health. It can cause your waistline to expand, increase your risk of tooth disease and also type 2 diabetes. Not everyone realizes how harmful excess sugar is to the brain though.

Fructose is the most harmful form of sugar when consumed in excess. Fructose is found in fruit, but in relatively low levels that do not pose a problem to the health of most people. Fructose is found in very large quantities in processed foods like soda, candy, cookies, ice-cream and cake. These foods mostly contain high fructose corn syrup, or sucrose. (Fructose is a component of sucrose). Humans never evolved to be able to handle such a high fructose intake.

Recent research has shown that fructose is capable of altering hundreds of brain genes that are linked to many serious diseases. Essentially, fructose turns on the bad genes that raise your risk of developing health problems. Many doctors blame most modern health conditions on genetics. This explanation does not stand up to science because in just one generation diseases like obesity, diabetes, dementia and cancer have increased astronomically. Genes don’t change that quickly, so obviously other factors are to blame. We now know that the kind of food you eat determines how your genes behave. Eating sugar increases the activity of the bad genes.

A fascinating study conducted by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), found that DHA can reverse the harmful changes to hundreds of genes resulting from excessive fructose consumption. DHA and EPA are the omega 3 essential fatty acids that are found in fish oil. DHA is also found in certain species of algae and is a wonderful supplement for vegetarians and vegans who may be lacking this nutrient.

How do you know if you’re eating too much fructose? Well if you are carrying excess weight around your torso, have polycystic ovarian syndrome, a fatty liver, elevated triglycerides, insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes, chances are you’re consuming more fructose than your body can tolerate.

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