Is there a Connection Between Sweets and Migraines?
Indeed there is — as I too found out over the holidays this year. As most of you who read my blog and have read my book probably know I have had migraines for well over 20 years (30 years is more like it) before I realized what caused it. Since then I have been migraine free except for this holiday season. So what is different?
Let me recap the cause of migraine, which is preventable and treatable without any medicines. The details of how and what are in my book Fighting the Migraine Epidemic (shop around for prices if you buy it!) and in several articles at HormonesMatter but here I would like to give a little summary and some additional information about how sweets connect to pain in the head–any pain, be it headache or migraine.
Migraine in Brief
Migraine is not necessarily pain. Migraine is a chemical chain of events that in about 80% of the time culminate in pain but there are silent migraines and many aura migraines that are not followed by pain. The events that lead to migraine are also chemical chain of events that start by ionic imbalance of the brain. In the body everything we eat breaks down into molecules and then ions so that our cells can have their meals. Cells “eat” by having openings (pores, channels, pumps, gates) on the cell membrane through which ions can pass. But an ion by definition has a polarity, meaning it is either positive (+) or negative (-) and if you have ever taken any physics or chemistry or just know about the magnetic poles of earth, you know that “++” or “- -” repel and “+ -” attract. Thus something in ionic form may only enter a cell if it has the right polarity for affinity (attraction), otherwise it is not permitted into the cell.
There are two key ions that initiate the electrical contraction of a cell by creating voltage. Voltage difference causes a contraction that opens some of these pumps, gates, pores, channels, etc., and allows nutrients to go in and toxins to come out in particular order and ion numbers. Two responsible ions for this electricity are the key to migraine. If there is not enough of these ions on both sides of the cell membrane for the creation of voltage, the cell cannot open and depolarization (areas without the capability to create voltage) appear. Depolarized regions in the brain prevent that part of the brain from functioning which after a chain of events creates migraine. The two elements of discussion are Na+ and Cl-, which combined form salt. Thus not enough salt will cause migraines.
What Do Sweets Have to Do with It?
There are basically two kinds of sweets: sugars (sucrose, fructose, glucose) and artificial sweeteners (any kinds other than sugar).
Lets talk about real sugar first. As you can see there are 3 main types. Glucose is the same as what is in our blood so it can be called blood sugar. Lactose, sugar in milk is a type of glucose. Sucrose is sugar the body can convert to glucose. It can be found in carbohydrate foods such as rice and potato, which many people avoid as “bad carbs” but are in fact way better than the last group: fructose. How bad fructose is for your body is probably news to you since fruits have tons of fructose in them and we are told that fruits are healthy and we are told to eat them. And so they are! Fructose when you eat it as a fruit with fiber is great. There is a long explanation via video and by book titled Fat Chance by Robert Lustig, M.D. of what fructose is and what it becomes. Few actually understand the seriousness of it so let me explain in as simple way as I can what fructose is and what it does so you can understand its bad effects on the body and on migraine.
Fructose
Fructose is sugar in the fruit. If you eat a spoon of fructose (they sell fructose on its own, try it), your body will experience no change. You will not feel hot (as you would from glucose) and you will not bounce off the walls (as children do from glucose and sucrose) if you only eat fructose as powder, crystal, or liquid. The reason why not is because fructose is not seen by the body as sugar. It doesn’t make it to the brain or muscles as energy source! It goes straight into the liver, where it converts by a long chain of events into ethanol–the alcohol you put into your car to improve mileage. Eating fructose without fiber causes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and causes obesity.
See when the body does not see sugar and insulin is not released to deposit sugar into fat that later can be converted to blood glucose for the use of the brain, a hormone called leptin tells the brain that there is obviously a famine so it slows all bodily functions to the minimum to save energy, reduces metabolism, and makes you hungry for sugar. So you eat more fructose. The more fructose you eat the more lethargic and obese you will also get and will have no energy to get off the sofa. This is Fat Chance book in a very short summary.
The connection of fructose to migraine is simpler: sugar, similarly to salt, attracts water and collects it. But unlike salt, it cannot enter any cell without creating voltage, which sugar does not do. Thus instead of hydrating cells, it dehydrates via osmotic gradient by pulling water out of the cells. Eating fructose dehydrates cells, interrupts the hydration process, thereby interrupting the very thing that prevents and stops migraines: ionic balance hydration. Fructose causes migraines or headaches that are hard to combat because fructose does not leave the body easily; it is chemically tied down to become other elements, such as ethanol. How it reaches the brain for its dehydration action? Via the circulatory system. Eating fructose removes water from blood circulation via osmotic gradient and since there is less volume of blood (same number of blood cells only each dehydrated), blood pressure increases from eating fructose. You can check all of these out at home using blood pressure meter, placing fructose near water and see how it sucks it up like it had lips, etc.
Artificial Sweeteners
Less is discussed about artificial sweeteners in literature but logic prevails. By artificial sweeteners I also mean all “natural” sweeteners with zero calorie. Sugar, no matter how natural, with zero calorie is not sugar to the body. Artificial sweeteners do some really nasty stuff: they cause diabetes mellitus type II. How does that happen?
Artificial sweeteners–even zero calorie sweeteners–release insulin. The job of the insulin is to grab the sugar in the blood and convert it to fat for future use by the brain and muscles as sugar–as mentioned earlier. Insulin is in the blood in search of sugar but there is none!! Sugar was not consumed! So insulin floats in the blood for a long time in search of sugar. The constant insulin in the blood signals the body to ignore insulin and hence one develops what is called insulin resistance. This is greatly simplified here for understanding. Something floating in the blood looking for sugar and not finding any will eventually be ignored by the body. Insulin resistance is diabetes mellitus type II.
Should you ever eat or drink foods or drinks, respectively, that contain artificial sweeteners? Never.
How artificial sweeteners connect to migraines should be straight-forward based on what I wrote on fructose. Artificial sweeteners attract water exactly the same way as fructose does, thereby acting as diuretics in addition to causing diabetes mellitus type II.
Your Holiday Desserts
So what did you have for your holiday sweets? Did you eat a bunch of sweets? Cranberry sauce with the turkey, pies with whatever sweets, candies hanging on the Christmas tree if you celebrate Christmas or elsewhere if you celebrate other holidays at the end of the year. Every time you eat sweets of any kind–other than fruit with the skin on, which heads straight to the gut to feed the good bacteria–your chances for a migraine are pretty good.
I normally don’t eat sweets of any kind but this time I was invited to a party full of sweets on every table; in fact there was more sugary stuff than food. Yes, I am human and could not resist. Yep, I did get a migraine and because it was caused by sugar, the treatment of salt did not work right away. Sugar had to reach a low enough concentration in my body to allow the hydration to return to normal. It took 2 days to do that. And to me this was proof that sugar in any form is trouble! And if you are a migraineur, it is double trouble!
Your comments are welcome as always!
Angela
Clueless Doctors & Scientists 
Hallo & thx for your research & info.
Can you please comment your insights about fructose in the brain, in people who have a compromised blood brain barrier?
Thanks!
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Dear Nique,
Thanks for your question. The answer is not a simple one, because different studies have concluded different things. This means that in reality, I am not sure we understand what fructose does in the brain. Nevertheless, some articles suggests that the brain can use fructose as fuel, some suggest that it cannot. There are studies showing that fructose causes damage in the hippocampus area of the brain, some suggests that some amount of glucose converts to fructose in the brain as well. Some studies find that fructose releases a ton of inflammatory processes in the brain, causing neuroinflammation and chaos with the REDOX processes.
I cannot be sure at this point if fructose is used for anything in the brain at all. Some fructose is converted to glucose in our body; this is for certain, and some glucose is also converted to fructose. There is minor difference between fructose and glucose in terms of their molecules. Glucose and fructose are functional isomers of each other because they have same molecular formula that is C6H12O6 with a different functional group. Glucose has aldehyde group while fructose has ketone as functional group. You can see the chemical formulas of them here: https://www.nutrientsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Fructose-vs-Glucose.jpg
Fructose would cross into the brain the same way in a person with compromised or healthy blood brain barrier. Fructose uses the GLUT5 transporter and glucose GLUT1 transporters to get through the blood brain barrier, both are expressed there in both healthy and unhealthy brains.
With all these said and done, fructose is a much more dangerous substance than glucose–although glucose is dangerous enough already. Our body doesn’t need the consumption of either glucose nor fructose. The consumption of either is harmful for the body as a whole, not just the brain.
I hope you find this answer helpful,
Angela
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Excellent article. I’ve alway felt that sugar was an issue with my migraines and try to avoid it as much as possible, not eating sweets and deserts (most of the time) but I was also aware that fructose might be an issue too but didn’t want to give up fruit which is certainty part of my daily intake. As you say fruit is good for you and not eating sweets I regularly enjoy a piece of fruit but my migraines are now everyday. I don’t each much salt but it seems I should have more…!? Thank you so much for this detailed explanation.
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Dear Marilyn,
Thank you for your response to this article. Since I wrote it, in 2014, nearly 7 years of knowledge has accumulated about nutrition and what is harmful and what is beneficial. I spent these 7 years learnign as much about nutrition as I could and also biochemistry and how the human body actually uses the food that we eat. So I now have a lot more serious outlook on what we should be eating and what we shouldn’t.
I now understand that sugar is sugar, no matter what form it comes into our body. We are told that “high fiber’ is great because it reduces the speed with which the glucose enters but the outcome is, of course, the same: all the glucose from that fruit–and also fructose–end up in your body, whether you eat it with fiber or you don’t. And for migraine, how much total sugar we eat is more important than how fast the sugar enters our body–there is a slight difference but very slight.
It is now very clear to me that carbohydrates in just about any shape and form are harmful for us migraineurs. They say “the proof is in the ‘pudding'” but let me say the proof is really in my Facebook migraine group. It is there that I was able to see what works and what doesn’t work, and then I could later figure out the “why’ and “how to” later. I would like you to join my Facebook migraine group, where you can learn how and what we do now to prevent migraines: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MigraineSufferers
You can also check out the testimonials page, which contains some of the ton of testimonials that are in my Facebook group: https://stantonmigraineprotocol.com/testimonials/
In brief:
–I now restrict carbohydrates to only 2-3 fruits types: strawberries and raspberries and blackberries are OK but very high in oxalates, so not recommended.
–I now restrict all vegetables to only non-starchy veggies and limit the maximum carbohydrate amounts to various levels, depending on the way of eating the migraineur ends up eating, which is decided after a blood glucose tolerance-like test, which is a 5-hour postprandial blood glucose and blood ketones testing for 5 hours, every 30 minutes, after the first meal of the day, plus fasting and premeal blood glucose and ketones. This gives information to us about your metabolic status, after which I may recommend the carnivore diet, which has no plants in it at all.
–plants provide us with zero nutrients. You read about a lot of vitamins and minerals, but the fact is: they are great for the plants but we have no access to those nutrients because they are locked away from us by antinutrients. All plants have antinutrients, which are basically protecting the plants so they are not overgrazed by animals. Plants don’t want to be eaten any more than animals do, but since they cannot run away, they created a huge chemical arsenal to kill insects and even mammals–including humans!
So I stopped recommending plants completely. Eating a small amount is not going to cause too much harm, but eating none is better. And, of course, plants are not just what we think of as “plants” like salads and fruits, but also grains, nuts and seeds, and all vegetable and seed oils as well! So I don’t recommend ANY of these but I do recommend a major increase in salt.
You should join the group to learn how much salt and when and how to consume.
I am looking forward to seeing you in the group,
Angela
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Thank you. More of us need to speak-out to the food industry. Unfortunately the food and beverage industry is using many cheap sweeteners that trigger migraines or headaches. After years of suffering I rarely get them except from mistakingly consuming something with corn sugars such as high fructose corn syrup, maltose etc.
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Indeed Terry, it takes a microscope sometimes. I have grown the habit of zero sweeteners of any kinds. Artificials and even naturals cause an insulin spike–even without them having any calories. The sweet taste releases insulin. So for pure health and fast healing and continuous migraine prevention, I recommend going sweetener free completely.
Please join my migraine group to learn what else we do: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MigraineSufferers
Angela
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Migraines, Did you guys ever try using medicinal marijuana for severe headache or migraine? I’m really curious about this matter and wanted to ask if you guys have any experience using cannabis. I came across some article that says medicinal marijuana can help you cope with these types of problem and some other health issues. I have 0% experience using cannabis so I’m hoping some of you guys can enlighten me and give me more information about this. Thanks!
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Dear Aretha, migraineurs who tried it tell me it doesn’t help them.
Angela
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I seem to have similar intolerances to certain foods. Also took me multiple decades to figure out. It really is disabling what is in foods nowadays for people who are prone to migraines. It has impacted my personal and work life immensley over the years.
For me it seems that the processing is as important as the content, and process is not something revealed on a label (as well as other facts about food content).
Yes, I have seen a correlation in my diet between dried fruits and migraine, and most recently I ate something with invert sugar for the first time. The invert sugar gave me an even more severe reaction than dried fruits, which lasted more than 24 hours. Invert sugar is apparrently mostly processed fructose. I wish there was les misinformation about these artificial sweeteners in literature. Even when one can argue a similarity or equivalence of a compound, the understanding of every notion of how it is processed by the body is impossible to predict without well controlled studies. So, the many articles which tout how invert sugar, and high fructose corn syrup. and any other artificial sweetener is “natural” or just as safe as regular cane sugar is baloney.
I personally have never had a migraine due to solely to cane sugar. This is not to say it is completely healthy, however, my experiences with getting sick in relation to sugars (or free processed glutamates) have not so far ever been tied to cane sugar or natural maple syrup. I seem to have an issue with every other kinds of processed sugars, including malted barley (which by the way is in almost every baked good nowadays, including crackers and breads, and in many all-purpose flours). Funny, the very foods I turned to for comfort when I’m startting to feel sick nowadays contain compounds which will just make me even more sick within a few hours.
Deb
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Dear Deb,
Thanks for your response. You are very correct about processed foods–lots of chemical processes are not defined and we have little information about how they react with the body. We know more about additives, color enhancers, flavor enhancers, and similar. Regardless: they are all unhealthy and are terribly harmful for migraineurs.
I found a few things you said interesting. Cane sugar is about 50% glucose and 50% fructose. Fructose is what makes sugar sweet–if you buy just glucose (you can!) it is barely sweet at all to the taste. It is glucose though and so we call it “sugar” just like starch is “glucose” and thus a sugar, even if it is not sweet, such as the starch in bread–including whole wheat–or regular potatoes.
By contrast, high fructose corn syrup is only 5% more fructose, so 55% fructose and 45% glucose; this is all. It really isn’t all that much more fructose. Invert sugar is a hydrolyzed process of sucrose and sucrose is table sugar, so 50/50 in terms of fructose and glucose but I am sure the hydrolysis process changes some molecules–similarly to how hydrogenation changed the molecules in polyunsaturated fats to make trans-fat, the thing we call margarine and Crisco lard and other inedible fake stuff even flies know better than to land on.
Natural things, like Maple syrup or honey, are actually sweeter than cane sugar because there is more fructose in them. Fructose is not a migraine problem officially because fructose, not being a glucose of immediate nutritional value to the body, does not spike insulin. However, we need to be very careful about fructose, because it converts to alcohol (ethanol) in the liver. Not all of it since some fructose is possible to convert to glucose but limited. Most of it converts to ethanol in the liver and then to triglycerides, and it deposit in the liver itself, causing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, also referred to as NAFLD. Fructose is very high in fruit juices–even those naturally just squeezed from the tree. This is why most kids today have NAFLD at an early age: the juices. Then later, of course, all the soda pops they drink on top of or replacing the juices.
I don’t know another place on the planet where fruit juices, juicing of both fruits and vegetables, smoothies and shakes are as popular as they are in North America–perhaps UK takes an immediate 2nd place and then a huge gap.
All forms of sugar types are unhealthy for migraineurs–not all people necessarily, though they are clearly no health food for anyone!
Migraineurs have a very special physiology and genetics. The combination of the two makes migraineurs carbohydrate intolerant and glucose sensitive. This means that migraineurs are genetically predisposed to type 2 diabetes. While migraine is directly caused by electrolyte imbalance, the cause of the electrolyte imbalance itself is the glucose intolerance. Migraineurs have a HUGE reaction to eating carbohydrates. In my two migraine groups on Facebook, I encourage the carnivore diet for migraineurs. It seems to fit the best so far all who tried it. Migraines completely become history on the carnivore diet.
To show you how sensitive migraineurs are to carbs, when a migraineur on the carnivore diet decides to eat a salad–I have some ex-vegan migraineurs who want to go ketogenic diet instead of carnivore, where they can have some veggies–after a single bowl of salad they may come down with a migraine. Several have decided to move back to carnivore to safe territory and also immediately as they started to eat salads, their metabolic status (in terms of T2D) has fallen back nearly as badly as if they have indulged in eating several cakes in one sitting.
In terms of malted barley or any grain products: of all the foods (meaning not sugar, since that is not a food), grains are the biggest migraineur enemies. All of my FB groups are grain and sweetener free–this includes all sweeteners: natural, cane, maple, honey, and also substitutes–and it is all grains–including the non-glutenous ones, like rice, corn, oats, flax, in addition to the better known ones like barley, rye, wheat, etc. When a migraineur quits grains, migraines are cut in half. Just saying… you have some work to do. You are welcome to join our starter migraine group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MigraineSufferers/
Angela
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I think I have problem with dried fruit, I seem to get a headache after dried fruit often, which may or not turn into a migraine. Are you saying in your comment above that dried fruit is okay or not okay for us migrainers.
Is it possible to be sensitive to fructose and not other types of sugar? I seem to be able to eat cake ok (although I know you wouldn’t recommend it).
Unfortunately I like to snack, and I can’t see that changing. I was losing weight on weightwatchers eating alot of fruit but I can only do this on medication. (Propranalol daily). What else could I eat for snacks, are rice cakes, popcorn, okay (without added sugar of course). Are tomatoes and carrots okay as they are quite sweet. Does the fibre make them ok. I think I need a whole book on this subject.
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Hi MissSensitive,
To cut to the chase: just about everything you listed is full of both fructose and glucose. Let me show you how and why and explain why what you eat matters for migraines.
So dried fruits: even if you dry them in your own dehydrator, from your own fruit growing on your own bushes or trees, dried fruit is worse for you than fresh fruit. It becomes smaller, water removed and its chemical properties changed, the fiber is pretty much destroyed in them as well, so dried fruit is equal to eating concentrated sugar.
Now you note that you may be more sensitive to fructose than glucose. Such exists though if you can eat a cake, with sugar in it, you have no fructose problem. That is because sugar is 50% fructose and 50% glucose. It appears you are not more sensitive to fructose. With this said and done, fructose and glucose are what builds fat around our middle and makes us fat. Some of the fructose converts into glucose in our intestines but not all. What didn’t convert to glucose moves to the liver and is converted to ethanol first (same as what alcohol is converted to and which causes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD) and then to triglycerides. Triglycerides are fats that are deposited into fat cells where there is still room. When the fat cells run out of room, the fat starts to deposit in and around organs, like in your liver causing NAFLD as ectopic fat (inside organ) and visceral fat (around organs), and also in your pancreas–hampering your insulin production–and elsewhere, starting you on the road to type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
Lucky that you are a migraineur!! You get a migraine from sweets! That is a warning. Migraineurs are carbs intolerant–this as a result of various genetic variants that are specific to migraineurs and which are all described in my book “Fighting The Migraine Epidemic: A Complete Guide: How To Treat & Prevent Migraines Without Medicine” that you can find everywhere. Here is the link to it on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076BZG2V3/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
In terms of snacks: everything you listed that are not sweet are starches (grains) that convert into glucose in your mouth before you swallow them. I have not yet mentioned that glucose itself is not really sweet. It is fructose that makes sugar sweet rather than glucose. Weight Watchers serve processed foods void of any nutrition. I would not touch any processed foods with a ten foot pole. Sorry.
Fiber doesn’t make anything OK. In fact, if you eat no fruits, no vegetables, no grains, no nuts, and no seeds for the rest of your life–aka “carnivore diet” you would be totally healthy, migraine free, and would eat 0 fiber.
Since you need a whole book on the subject, start by reading mine because in addition to explaining what migraine is, it also explains what foods to eat or not eat to remain migraine free. You are welcome tojoin our migraine group on Facebook but in that group you need to commit to a lifestyle change: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MigraineSufferers/
Hope you find this helpful.
Angela
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Ya this confirms my suspicions…. I have been a migraine sufferer for the last four years and recently went on Keto diet. The only time I get a migraine now is when I go off my diet by eating fruit. I’m fine when eating stevia though, this doesn’t seem to cause problems. What would be your advice for Someone like me who gets a migraine even from fruit? What should I be eating when I have a sweet tooth if even Stevia and natural non-nutritive sweeteners are bad? I’m a woman so I definitely get a sweet tooth sometimes!
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Hi Kristen,
You are like me with fruit–I don;t get a migraine after years of keto but I instantly put weight on. Fruits (fructose I suppose) is not for us.
Unfortunately Stevia and other sugar substitutes cause problems–not with migraine but with insulin resistance that migraineurs are so incredibly predisposed to by their genetics. Stevia is also the one that is making you crave sweets, because insulin releases from the expectation of sweet flavor (the brain cannot tell if the sweet will be caloric or not. And since stevia is non-caloric, the brain gets nothing, so you build up a good dose of insulin but no glucose to use it for. This will make you crave sweets.
I am also a woman and used to be an amazing sweet tooth!! It is interesting to see how once you cut all sweeteners out of your life, within a few weeks you completely stop craving all sweet tastes. So I recommend you stop all non-caloric sweeteners as well.
In terms of no fruits, I just gave it a try for a week and I ate just one fruit a day–like a small apricot or a very small peach. I did this for 3 days and each day I gained a pound!! Eeek!! so I still have 2 peaches, one nectarine, and a box of strawberries all ending up in the trash today–even my hubby didn’t want them. He is LCHF and not keto–sort of borderline.
I moved back on the diet now that feels the best for my migraine head and body in general, and which keeps me in ultimate energy: carnivore diet, which includes and meat, any fat, any dairy. I also eat some nuts like almonds for it fiber, some sunflower seeds for a bored moment, and the only non-carnivore meal I allow a little bit from for its high fiber and nutrition is black beans that I cook from scratch so I know that only pork lard, water, and salt are in it and nothing else. I eat this with sprouted almonds added into the pressure cooker at the very end for only 1 minute. I absolutely eat no other carbs.
So a typical day starts with a 16-hour fasting minimum, so first meal is after noon. It is usually a glass of milk, a small decaf (2-3 oz) with about 5 oz heavy whipped cream (unflavored). Both of these get a dash of salt and a quarter teaspoon mix of raw cold pressed organic cacao butter that I grind up to be powder fine and mix it into unsweetened cacao powder. These give great flavor to milk and decaf and some nutrition. If I eat anything else at this time, it is pork rinds or I make 3 eggs (4-minute soft eggs) for extra protein–I work out 4 times a week so those days I eat that.
I usually don’t snack at all and for dinner I cook some major meat or seafood. I also eat organ meats, and weird stuff like chicken feet (loads of collagen).
Special notes:
I take a LOT of salt a day. I consume between 4000 and 7000 mg sodium a day. 2400 mg sodium is 1 teaspoon. I use salt capsules by Health by Principle: https://www.healthbyprinciple.com/ because I hate the taste of salt and vomit up loose salt or pressed salt. This one I designed (I am not connected to the company financially at all but I am their scientist) with iodine, which is needed in our diet. I also drink a lot of water. My formula for water calculation for women: [(your weight in pounds x 0.55)/8 ] +1. This is the minimum amount of just pure (or sparkling) water you need to drink a day. I think that keeping your electrolyte well filled reduces your cravings and I definitely recommend you stop stevia.
I now reached the point of not having any of the sensitivities migraineurs have: barometric pressure, full moon, cold, hot, noise, smell, light, etc. I seems to still be alerted by them but they no longer cause pain. It is definitely a fun diet because it is simple, satisfying, and you can get really creative with spices to get your food taste good. 🙂
Good luck!
Angela
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The fact that Fructose can cause fatty liver disease is well know now in the UK. it has been widely reported in the national press for some time. But never in such detail ,I might add. And it has also been made clear that fructose is safe when eaten as ‘whole fruit’, as part of a healthy diet for a ‘normal person’. But what about migraine sufferers ? Is it safe to eat whole fruit or should we avoid or limit the amount we eat?
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Hi Stephen–Happy New Year by the way!! Fructose eaten with insoluble fiber of the fruit (like a banana will not be sufficient for this since one removes the skin and thus the insoluble fiber) will be somewhat better because the fiber changes the metabolism of fructose to be in the gut rather than in the liver. Some portion will end up in the liver but most will head to the gut where it has the essential function of feeding the good bacteria. When choosing fruits to eat, one must consider the sugar to fiber ratio. For example, an average size apple only has 3 gr of fiber, which is very little relative to the amount of fructose and glucose it contains–equal nearly to a slice of cheesecake. Thus if one is a diabetic or is concerned about sugar in general, one should pick fruits that have a higher ratio of fiber to sugar: raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries–I personally would not pick from any other fruit. Things that appear “fibrous” as you eat the fruit itself contain more fiber than those that seem to just become a paste on your tongue–like a banana. I hope this helps!
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Yes, that’s a great help, thanks.
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I had no idea sugar was that terrible for migrainers. I had a small migraine during the holidays…must of been the chocolate, butter tart and white wine combo.
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Sounds like a delicious reason for getting a migraine though Deborah. 🙂 But yes, sugar and sugar substitutes are evil. A trick: if you eat chocolate, eat the very dark kind and eat it with salt. Dark chocolate has the least amount of sugar and salt will balance the amount of potassium in the chocolate; you will not get a migraine. Alcohol also dehydrates (in fact the best hangover cure is electrolytes!), so you must hydrate after drinking alcohol.
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