Jeremiah Farias (00:00.046)
There are individuals in the functional medicine space who say that eating fructose will increase a marker called uric acid. Therefore, we should avoid eating foods that contain fructose, including fruits, so we do not increase uric acid. Today we will briefly discuss what is uric acid and whether we should worry about fructose from fruits increasing the levels of uric acid. Hi, my name is Jeremiah Farias. I’m a functional regio dietitian and I help adults suffering from blood sugar dysregulation issues, conditions like diabetes and pre -diabetes.

using a bio -energetic approach to support cellular energy production. I dive into the science and mechanisms involved in improving health and blood sugar metabolism while also providing you with practical takeaways. I hope you enjoy today’s content. So what is uric acid? Uric acid is a breakdown product of ingested and endogenously synthesized purines. And purines include nucleobases like guanine and adenine. Purines are also found in organ meats, other meats, seafood, and alcohol. When uric acid levels are too high, this can contribute to gout.

This is a type of arthritis where uric acid crystals are building up in one’s joints. In normal healthy levels, however, uric acid is an antioxidant that specializes in protecting everything circulating in our blood from wear and tear, especially in the central nervous system. As I previously mentioned, elevated uric acid levels, also known as hyperuricemia, can contribute to gout, but they’re also associated with

with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease. Because of these associations with uric acid and other chronic conditions, chronic health conditions, this is where the demonization of fructose -containing foods begin. One prominent functional medicine doctor stated in an article of his that, the metabolism of fructose leads to the production of uric acid, and it is the end product, uric acid, that is in many ways why fructose consumption is such a powerful health threat.

Uric acid directly compromises the delivery of insulin to muscle cells and this elevates blood sugar. Unfortunately, this statement is general and doesn’t specify the dose or the source of where this fructose is coming from. Instead, this person states that the consumption of fructose will lead to the production of uric acid and uric acid is bad for blood sugar health but also overall health. I believe there’s a lot of missing context and I argue this is why there’s a lot of confusion when it comes to fruits role in our diet.

Jeremiah Farias (02:13.518)
I agree, elevated uric acid levels or hyperuricemia is problematic. However, will including fruit in the context of a balanced meal or diet increase uric acid levels that should warrant concern? Before we dive into the research, let me know in the comments if I’m missing any pieces of the argument. If you’re enjoying this video so far, please be sure to hit that like button. If you’re looking for practical information that you can begin applying today to start improving your blood sugar metabolism and reverse your diabetes, you’ll want to download my free guides. They include,

five steps for improving your blood sugar metabolism and my macronutrient guide. Both of those can be found in the description below. Now let’s see what the research says. Let’s start by discussing a systematic review and meta -analysis of controlled feeding trials. They looked at several studies, including studies that gave high dose fructose to those without diabetes. One of the high dose fructose feeding studies gave subjects an extra 35 % of their calories from pure fructose. So if an individual’s baseline calories were 2 ,500 per day,

This means they added an additional 875 calories from pure fructose. What did they find when they did this? It shouldn’t be surprising, but this significantly increased serum uric acid levels when compared to the control diet. Now 875 calories from fructose equates to about 218 grams of additional fructose in the diet on top of their baseline calories. What would this equate to if we were getting this from real food though? Based on USDA data,

This would be the equivalent of drinking 16 or almost 17 cups of orange juice on top of your already baseline calories or eating 66 oranges on top of your baseline calories. Understandably, this would significantly increase your acid levels. However, what are the odds of someone actually doing this and who would argue this is healthy? As you can see, the results of this study are not relevant in the context of whole fruit consumption. Another study.

gave obese and overweight males and females for 10 weeks either 25 % of their calories from a glucose sweetened beverage or a fructose sweetened beverage. The diets were isocaloric, meaning they weren’t meant to decrease one’s body weight or increase one’s body weight, but instead maintain someone’s body weight. They found that when fructose was providing 25 % of calories, this significantly increased uric acid and negatively impacted other metabolic health markers to a greater degree than the glucose sweetened beverage group. But again,

Jeremiah Farias (04:33.101)
what does providing 25 % of calories from fructose practically look like? So if subjects were eating a 2000 calorie diet, this means that 500 of those calories would be coming from a either glucose or fructose sweetened beverage. 500 calories of fructose equates to about 125 grams of pure fructose. What does 125 grams of fructose look like? Let’s use the same example with orange juice and oranges. 125 grams of

Fructose would be equivalent to 9 .7, almost 10 cups of orange juice or 37 to 38 oranges. Unless you’re a fruitarian, the doses of fructose used in these studies are not representative of people’s actual fructose consumption, especially when one is prioritizing whole foods and minimally processed foods. Finally, when the systematic review and meta -analysis of the controlled feeding trials looked at isocaloric diets,

meaning they exchanged equal amounts of fructose for other carbohydrates. There was not a significant impact on serum uric acid levels in non -diabetic, diabetic, and pre -diabetic individuals. As I previously mentioned, elevated uric acid is a problem. However, the point I intended to make with this video is that whole fruits in one’s diet are not something we should be concerned about. The studies showing significant increases in uric acid are using fructose doses that are extremely high.

Doses that are more likely to be seen in individuals consuming a lot of soft drinks, agave sweetened beverages, and maybe even certain fruit juices. In those that I work with, we are often prioritizing whole fruits and other whole food carbohydrate sources as we’re improving blood sugar metabolism. Then we are pairing sufficient protein, fat, and non -starchy vegetables along with the fruits or other carbohydrates as this is going to result in much better blood sugar control.

This is how I see the research, but I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. If you’re confused how to start reversing your diabetes or pre -diabetes, you can schedule a free 30 -minute discovery call that I offer where we’ll discuss how I can help you reach your absolute best health. The link for that will be in the description below. Hopefully you’re now less worried about incorporating fruits into your diet. Fruits and other whole food carbohydrates are rich sources of micronutrients that play a role in optimizing blood sugar metabolism.

Jeremiah Farias (06:38.637)
but also our overall health. I even created a video that reviews how fruits contain a certain mineral that will improve diabetes and high blood pressure. I’ll link to that right here so you can watch that next. If you enjoyed today’s video, please be sure to hit that like button, subscribe, and turn on notifications so you don’t miss any future videos. Take care and I’ll see you next week.