Ever wondered why, despite your best efforts, the scale refuses to budge during menopause? Could it be that some of the foods we think are healthy aren't actually so?
In our candid discussion today, we dissect the science behind sugar consumption - specifically, the fructose in fruit juice versus the glucose in other carbs - and how it could be sabotaging your health goals.
Join us as we share eye-opening insights into the metabolic pathways of our liver and the pivotal role they play in our body's energy balance.
Learn why reaching for that glass of orange juice could be counterintuitive to your weight loss efforts, and why whole fruits are the better choice for those of us navigating the tides of menopause.
This episode goes beyond the 'what' and into the 'how', offering practical, easy-to-implement nutrition advice that could make all the difference in your journey toward a healthier, happier you.
Let's move towards our healthiest and happiest selves, together!
Ever wondered why, despite your best efforts, the scale refuses to budge during menopause? Could it be that some of the foods we think are healthy aren't actually so?
In our candid discussion today, we dissect the science behind sugar consumption - specifically, the fructose in fruit juice versus the glucose in other carbs - and how it could be sabotaging your health goals.
Join us as we share eye-opening insights into the metabolic pathways of our liver and the pivotal role they play in our body's energy balance.
Learn why reaching for that glass of orange juice could be counterintuitive to your weight loss efforts, and why whole fruits are the better choice for those of us navigating the tides of menopause.
This episode goes beyond the 'what' and into the 'how', offering practical, easy-to-implement nutrition advice that could make all the difference in your journey toward a healthier, happier you.
Let's move towards our healthiest and happiest selves, together!
My friends, welcome, welcome, welcome to my channel. Today I'm going to explain to you why fruit juice for those of us who are struggling with belly fat, why fruit juice? We need to avoid fruit juice and consume the whole fruit instead. Fruits are natural and they are healthy. Fruit juice is also natural, but there's a difference in the amount of sugar content in fruit juice versus whole fruit. So the sugar in fruit as well as in fruit juice, is called fructose. It is a source of energy. Yes, now your body utilizes a form of energy in foods called glucose. Fructose is the natural form of sugar that's found in fruit. However, your body uses it slightly different. The biggest difference is that all your body's cells the biggest difference is that all your body cells, like your muscles, your brain, all the body cells can use the form of energy in glucose. However, fructose is different. It's only metabolized by your liver. So it's up to your liver to take the energy in fructose and convert it into a form that can be used by your whole body. That's the biggest difference.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to the Thriving Through Menopause podcast. Dr Inaka Yembe, your host, is dedicated to helping you navigate the transformative journey of menopause and perimenopause, particularly focused on achieving menopausal weight loss and reducing belly fat. As a post-menopausal physician herself who has helped thousands of women experiencing the significant life stage, she understands the unique challenges you face. Listen in as we explore a wide range of topics aimed at supporting you in your health and wellness journey. Hopefully, the practical tips and strategies offered potentially help you adopt an empowering approach towards menopausal weight loss and belly fat reduction. And now here's your host, dr Inaka Yembe.
Speaker 1:
So when you consume like bread, your body takes the carbohydrate in bread, breaks it down into glucose that can be used by your whole body, your muscles, your brain, everything that's working. Fructose is different. It's only metabolized in the liver and it is up to your liver to break that down into a form that can be used by your body. Now the difference comes in how much fructose Some of us, our liver is already overloaded. Why? Because we're overweight. We have consumed enough glucose, enough carbohydrate that the storage form of carbohydrate in the liver, called glycogen, is already saturated. So now you have an overflow and that excess energy has to go somewhere. Now, if you consume too much fructose on top of the glucose that you are consuming, your liver is already overwhelmed. There's no way to store anything. So it takes that now and goes through a process called lipolysis, lipogenesis, and now it converts that fructose into fat that is stored. So let me give you just a few examples, and I'm going to look here at my notes. One lemon, so one serving of lemon. A whole lemon has 1.5 grams of natural sugar or fructose. A small apricot has 3.2 grams of fructose. Now you go to raspberries, for example. One cup of raspberries have five grams of fructose. Now one date, so a date. One of it has 5.3 grams, and so on. A small orange has 12 grams. However, let's look at the fruit juice. So if you take a fruit juice, so take the orange and juice it. You will need about six or seven oranges to make a cup of orange juice. You're already talking about I don't know, maybe this is instead of 12 grams of sugar in the whole orange. You're talking maybe about 30 grams of fructose in a glass of orange juice. That's the biggest difference. You need a lot of whole fruit to make the fruit juice. I'm not saying it's not the natural sugar, it's just too much. Now, I mean, whether you purchase the fruit juice in the store or you juice it at home, it is the same amount of too much concentrated sugar that you have in the fruit juice compared to the whole fruit. Another thing to think about is that when you juice your fruit, you're taking away the fiber. You're removing the fiber, you're removing the pulp, you're removing all the other good things that are found in whole fruit. When you juice it, another thing that happens is how full you get. So if you drink a glass of orange juice, it's quickly absorbed. That fructose is absorbed by your liver and maybe it's too much. Now your liver converts that into fat. But if you eat the whole fruit, you're not going to sit down and eat, say, seven or eight apples. Instead, you need seven or eight apples or more to make the fruit juice. So what I'm trying to say is that the fruit juice is too much concentrated amount of natural sugar compared to just eating the whole fruit, especially for those of us who are struggling with belly fat. Eat the whole fruit, it's better for you, it's healthier, it has all the vitamins and the fiber and you get full, unless amount of natural sugar, okay.
Speaker 1:
So I also got the question of some people who say, hey, I did a juice cleanse and I lost so much weight, one of the problems with the juice cleanses of course you're going to be losing weight if you're drinking just juice because those cleansing formulas or programs they compel you to consume a restricted amount of energy per day. It can get a little bit dangerous if you do this for too long because you run into deficiencies, you are not consuming your protein, you're not consuming healthy fats and you're not consuming other sources of things that you need nutrients that you need really for your body to come into balance. Your body always needs to get into balance for you to be in good health. So if you consume only juice for, say, 30 days, you're missing everything else. You're going to lose the weight. Of course you will, because the amount of calories, the amount of energy that you're consuming is so restricted. However, after 30 days, now what do you do? If you go back into your natural or normal healthy eating, then you're slowly going to gain the weight back.
Speaker 1:
This is the reason why you don't really need to do any cleansing or detoxing it's another word that I hear often why your body has natural cleansing or detox systems. Your skin is one, your lungs, your kidney and your bowel these organs are naturally here to put in place, to get rid of substances that we don't need. Detox simply means I'm going to remove certain things that I don't want or I don't need. So if you consume the healthy things, like your vegetables, your fruit, your proteins and healthy fats, your body will naturally remove the excess things that it doesn't need. You don't need to go out there and purchase any cleansing or detoxing systems. In fact, some of these cleanses contain things that we don't know and contain substances that our bodies do not need. But back to the original topic, please. The message here is you're better off eating whole fruit because you have less amount of natural sugar consumption. You consume less fructose compared to drinking fruit juice that has a whole lot more fructose natural sugar, whether you make it at home or whether you purchase it from the store.
Speaker 2:
The biggest thing to remember is.
Speaker 1:
All your body's cells can use glucose as a source of energy. However, only your liver uses fructose in whole fruit and in fruit juice. Only your liver uses that form of energy to convert it into a source that can be used by your other organ systems. And if it is too much, what your liver is going to do is to take that fructose and convert it into fat. All right, so that's the end of my story. I hope this information helps you and it makes you understand.
Speaker 1:
Let's focus on consuming whole fruits and not fruit juice. Now, for those of you who juice at home, here's a better solution for you Don't stop juicing. If you love juicing, continue. However, this is where you can add more vegetables. Now Make your juice at home with more vegetables and then one serving of fruit you can add it.
Speaker 1:
A better solution for me personally, because I don't want to waste my money making all this juice and throwing it away half of the good food throwing it away. I prefer to make a smoothie. Throw the vegetables in, add one fruit, blend it all into a smoothie, don't throw any part of it and then you can consume whole fruit that's blended together with vegetables and, if you want, to make it into a meal. You can add your protein to that and you can add a healthy fat source, as in nuts or not butter. So now you've got your carbohydrate healthy, you've got your protein in there, and then you've got a healthy fat and that's a whole meal. I think it's a better way to go compared to extracting just the juice. All right, my friends, I hope this information helps you. My goal is to help you lose overall, to lose belly fat, very, very important for your health. To get rid of the belly fat. Thank you. Thank you and have a fantastic day ahead. Bye.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Thriving Through Menopause. We hope you found valuable insights and practical advice to support your journey. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast, share it and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Remember, menopause doesn't have to be a challenge. It can be an opportunity for growth, renewal and self-care. Connect with us on social media, where we share additional resources, tips and advice to help you along your path. Once again, thanks for listening in and we hope you'll join us again on the next episode of Thriving Through Menopause. Until then,
