Fructose, Aldehydes and Blood Pressure

What do these 3 things have to do with each other? To answer this we turn to the fascinating world of biochemistry.  Fructose is a common sugar found in fruit and chemically enhanced into something called high fructose corn syrup.  Fructose (and to a certain extent glucose) is processed by the liver into an intermediary chemical called an aldehyde.  I won't go into the nitty gritty on this one, in the interest of keeping everyone sane but aldehydes in excess make blood pressure go up. 

Other disturbing ways to get aldehydes into the body is through the inhalation or consumption of formaldehyde containing products, as a by-product of alcohol consumption, as a by-product of yeast overgrowth or ingesting the artificial sweetener aspartame aka Nutrasweet.  Formaldehydes are found in car exhaust fumes, smog, cigarette smoke and forest fires.  It is also used industrially as a chemical fixative and preservative as a by-product of new clothing manufacturing and furniture manufacturing.  Here is a list of common formaldehyde sources.

So if you are concerned about high blood pressure, you would do your health a great favor to isolate and remove sources of aldehydes from your diet and environment and reduce fructose (especially high fructose corn syrup) in your diet.  More concerning than fruit juices (of which fructose is the main sugar), high fructose corn syrup in many packaged foods are a major concern for hypertension, diabetes and obesity in Americans.  In addition, we have spoken in the past of high fructose corn syrup containing uncomfortable amounts of mercury.  A long time ago it was thought that fructose was beneficial to diabetics since it was absorbed more slowly and had less of a blood sugar spike than glucose.  Later they found that every cell in the body could metabolize glucose but only the liver could metabolize fructose leading to the production of an aldehyde molecule during the metabolism process.  Many people who have livers that don't have enough resources to break down aldehydes can have resulting inflammation, brain fog, muscle aches and blood pressure problems.  Fructose also seems to interfere with the heart's usage of magnesium, copper and chromium which can make worse the blood pressure problem, risk of heart disease and blood sugar control.

A simple nutrient that can help the body break down aldehyde accumulation is N-acetyl Cysteine which helps the body produce glutathione, a high powered anti-oxidant.  Other things that I often use to help the body produce glutathione is Amino ICG, a purified whey protein and Liquid Life which helps the cells deal with the depleted glutathione levels.

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