[00:02] connection between inflammation and fructose. Now, I want to say right off that's not doesn't sound very interesting." Let me rephrase that and say, let's talk about pain and loss of energy and brain fog and trouble [00:18] sleeping and chronic disease. That all is tied into inflammation and how it relates to what you eat. And one of the most dangerous things you can eat that will accelerate all those symptoms and accelerate inflammation in your body is [00:33] fructose. And I think we have a lot of confusion on fructose. So I really want What's the difference between fructose and glucose and how do you know if the different patterns in your body? And [00:48] I want to really unpack a new study that was just put out in September of 2025 that really shows that yeah, we thought high fructose corn syrup was bad, but it's worse than we even thought. And I want to explain why. In fact, I just [01:03] want to point out if you haven't heard me say this, that they identified that me say this, that they identified that high fructose corn syrup was so bad that it needed to be taken out of our food system. And this discovery was over 10 [01:18] system. And this discovery was over 10 years ago. And it they gave the food industry close to 20 years. 20 years. Who needs it? 20 years to take this harmful ingredient out because they started to see that high fructose corn [01:32] started to see that high fructose corn syrup was a major, if not the most significant contributor to cardiovascular disease. So, let's dive into this. And then I really want I'm excited to break down fructose and [01:44] wondered what that was, let's talk about it or what the difference was. So here's what the new study said. It was a study done out of the University of Vienna and they wanted to find out how high fructose affected immune cells. Okay, [01:59] this is important. I'm going to tie this into a a lot of pieces of your health here. So what they found is they they wanted to look and see if high fructose [02:11] corn syrup affected the immune cells specifically that fight off bacteria, viruses and other foreign invaders. And the study was design was really clever because the researchers split two healthy groups or two a group of healthy [02:27] pe uh people into two groups and one group drank a fructose sweetened beverage. This is important. We're going to come back to this. And the other to come back to this. And the other drank a glucose sweetened beverage. So [02:41] this would be like one group had soda pop and the other group had orange pop and the other group had orange juice. Both of them not great, but they wanted to see what the quality difference was. And afterwards, the [02:53] researchers measured the participants immune response to normal everyday bacterial toxins, the kind of things that your body would be fighting off on a regular basis. So, that was really cool. Basically, one group drinks orange [03:08] juice, one group drinks soda pop, and then they measure then they give them an exposure to a bacteria or a virus, and then they see how the immune system then they see how the immune system reacts. And here's what they found. [03:21] they didn't give them exactly orange juice. I'm just trying to make it simple for you. The glucose drinking group, there was literally no change to the immune response. But the soda group, after drinking [03:35] But the soda group, after drinking fructose, people had a much more intense fructose, people had a much more intense inflammatory response to bacteria once it came in. It was like a hyperactive, overaggitated, [03:48] highly sensitive immune system once they drank that soda pump. Now, I want to went through together, which is the pandemic. And my YouTube channel, I had [04:00] already had a really strong um uh robust million followers, something like that, when we had gotten to the pandemic. And then we all were sequestered at home. And my husband and I actually went into [04:14] trying to understand what made people more susceptible to the co virus than other people. And the one thing we saw over and over and over again was poor over and over and over again was poor metabolic health meant poor uh COVID [04:30] reaction. But this study takes us even one step deeper and says when you're drinking soda, when you're having this highly fructose sweetened drink, you are highly fructose sweetened drink, you are making your immune system more se hyper [04:45] sensitive, which means it's going to have an exaggerated immune response, which didn't we see that in COVID? We saw the cytoine storm and we saw people who went into these massive like hyperactive type immune responses where [05:01] they were like the symptoms were so bad and came on so quickly and this explains partly why because what we should have been saying is get off the soda, get off the soda and your immune outcomes if you get exposed to the virus will be so much [05:16] greater. So this study went on to say that basically fructose that is found in soda pop causes your immune systems to overreact. It drives up inflammation and [05:28] was and part of that is it's it's trying to keep itself safe as it's processing this chemical. We also see this kind of immune hyper sensitivity in autoimmune [05:40] diseases. So let's look at that for a second because autoimmune diseases affect over 80% or of autoimmune conditions are affected by or happen to women. So if we have a hyperactive immune system going on and you've got [05:55] Hashimoto's or you've got lupus or you've got something like that, then we've got to look at getting you off fructose, off this high fructose sugar soda because it's agitating your autoimmune situation. But the research [06:11] did re researchers didn't stop there. They also found that fructose actually increased the number of inflammatory receptors on your immune system. So after you had exposure to fructose, the immune cells lit literally literally [06:28] immune cells lit literally literally grew new receptors that triggered im your for inflammation. Okay, I want to put this into context of what I've taught you all about fasting. So, we talked about the 48 hour fast. In fact, [06:41] I wrote about it in fast like a girl. And I talked about how when you go without food for 48 hours, your brilliant body starts to create new dopamine receptor sites so that you are craving you you increase the motivation [06:54] to go find food. So, increasing receptor sites became a re dopamine receptor sites became a really cool tool for me sites became a really cool tool for me to be able to teach my my my patients [07:07] and my following that a 48 hour fast is going to help you lead to more happiness down the road because your whole dopamine immune or dopamine system gets reboot rebooted and you get these new receptor sites. Okay, what this study is [07:22] saying is the opposite. It's saying that this is giving you more inflammatory receptor sites. You don't want more inflammatory receptor sites and those are permanent. Those are staying there literally forever. Once you have a [07:38] receptor site doesn't like shrivel up. So you every time you're drinking So you every time you're drinking fructose in a in a sugary drink, you are conditioning and repatterning and building a body that is going to have [07:53] more chronic inflammation and forever. That's how dangerous this stuff was. And the study's lead, literally the lead of the study, Dr. Aina Burgham said that this indicates that even shortterm short-term high [08:09] that even shortterm short-term high fructose consumption in healthy people can influence the immune system and increase inflammation for years. Okay. So how much is too much fructose? What do you need to know about fructose? [08:24] So again I just want to point out she said high fructose consumption. So, in the study, they gave people a drink that was sweetened with a lot of fructose, like a soda. So, it's a lot. A soda is a lot. Um, and they were given nothing [08:37] else to eat. So, there was no fiber to slow down that that fructose. But what about moderate fructose consumption? Because some of you might be listening to this and you might be thinking like, okay, well, I don't drink sodas, so [08:50] phew, that's not me. Well, we do know that moderate fructose consumption, meaning not just soda, but maybe we're eating it in actually fruit, that fruit [09:04] because it has fiber, because it has antioxidants, because it's not highly processed, is actually really good for us. So, there has been an argument channel, it's gone around on social media, which is, oh, well, so fructose [09:18] is bad for me, so therefore, should I not eat sugar? No, that's not what we're saying. We're saying high fructose consumption, repeatedly drinking sodas over and over and over again, has this strong immune response that is leading [09:33] you to a life of inflammation. But moderate fructose consumption, primarily coming from fruit, is showing to be highly beneficial. We call them both [09:45] fructose but they but they are they come from different sources really really matters. So let me give you an example. What's moderate fructose consumption. A What's moderate fructose consumption. A 2024 study in the frontiers in nutrition [09:59] found that people who eat fruit three to four times a week are significantly less likely to die from heart disease. That's natural fructose done in moderation. A [10:11] 2018 review in nutrients found that eating more whole fruits is linked to better gut and metabolic health and lower body fat, lower cancer risk, longer life and healthy aging. Um that again moderate fruit consumption. [10:27] So we have to make sure that we don't get too obsessed with this word fructose get too obsessed with this word fructose because it keeps messing us up. Now what are the worst sources of fructose? like what do you need to avoid [10:41] right now in this moment? And here it is. The first I've already said it and I want I just if I could if I could jump through your whatever your phone or your TV or however you're uh listening to this right now and like really sit next [10:56] to you and be like come on you could save your life if you just avoid this one ingredient. Just don't ever go to it again and everything in your life will again and everything in your life will change. It's high fructose corn syrup [11:09] change. It's high fructose corn syrup and it's extremely rich in fructose and it's in all of our processed fruits, our sweet drinks, our packaged desserts, our ice creams. It's even in some of our commercial breads. So, start reading [11:22] your labels and check for high fructose corn syrup. Okay. Second, high fructose uh type food that you're going to want to avoid, and you're not going to like this one because a lot of you think it's healthy. I fell fell prey to this and [11:37] healthy. I fell fell prey to this and it's agave syrup. So agave is a tricky one. A lot of people think agave is a healthy sweetener. But the problem with it is that agave might be lower on the glycemic index. So it doesn't raise [11:54] glucose. But the reason it doesn't raise glucose is because it's mostly fructose. And fructose doesn't spike your blood sugar. So keto heads everywhere were like, "This is amazing. We should do more agave because it doesn't spike my [12:09] more agave because it doesn't spike my glucose." But if we do too much agave, where the extra excess of agave goes is around your liver. When these these sweeteners that I'm talking about right now, because they're harder for your [12:23] body to ingest, what it does is it stores it around the liver and is a number one driver of fatty liver disease. So, we we want to keep agave at a low level, at a minor level. Okay. What about fruit juices and smoothies? [12:38] Whole fruit is really great for you because it's got so much fiber in it. And that fiber slows down the glucose response. So, even though this study proved that a glass of orange juice that was just purely glucose isn't going to [12:54] create this inflammatory immune response, what we do know is that it's probably in one glass of orange juice is about 10 different oranges, which is a lot. If I asked you to sit down and eat 10 oranges, you probably couldn't, but [13:10] you could drink 10 oranges. So, the fact that it's in a a liquid, it makes it a little bit more suspect and it might actually start to over time if you're day. They didn't say how long they these [13:24] people had this, you might find that it gets harder and it creates more and more gets harder and it creates more and more of these adverse immune response. So, just be aware that one of the problems with these flavored, you know, with with [13:37] glucose. Too much in there. it would be a high glucose. Um, smoothies are the same way. I used to be a huge smoothie fan and I've become really really against smoothies because we start putting too many things in smoothies and [13:51] the glucose levels go up. I can tell you when I had uh Chef Lesie who did Eat Like a Girl, when I had her do um the the some smoothies for Eat Like a Girl, low." And so, we really work to keep that low. So, if you're looking for a [14:05] lower glucose smoothie, go check that book out. Now, the fourth one I want you to stay away from, this is my nemesis, flavored yogurts. Now, let me know, put [14:17] in the comments if you have kids, because I can tell you I worked really hard. I have a a a 25year-old girl and a 23-year-old, they're boy, man, woman, grown-up children. And when they were in uh preschool, I did in elementary [14:33] school, I was so careful to make sure that all the food that they ate was clean. And then one day, one of their friends gave them a go-gurt. Remember Go-Gurts? And they like slurp, you like slurp through this plastic like [14:47] slurp through this plastic like container, this bright blue and bright bright pink drink. And then I would pick them up from school and their lips were all pink and blue and their and their tongue was was blue. That's what's in [15:00] these flavored yogurts. It's chemicals mixed with high fructose corn syrup. So we have this like thought like orange juice is healthy. We have this belief in our culture that yogurt is healthy. But when you actually start to look at those [15:15] different food sources, we start to see like, oh, how you eat them is. And although yogurt is great for you, flavored yogurt's not because it's mostly packed with fructose and colorings and things that will damage [15:29] your health. So, it's better to stick with a non-colored one with a Greek yogurt that's full of fat, but try to get a yogurt that doesn't have flavoring in it. Okay, number five. This is a big one. It's sauces and condiments. So, [15:43] this is your ketchup, your jams, your jellies, even some of your peanut butters and your pasta sauces. So, you've got to read the ingredients and check for high fructose corn syrup because they're in salad dressings. I'll [15:56] give you a really quick recipe. One of my favorite salad dressings that I make all the time is a high qual quality olive oil, a little bit of meer lemon, and sometimes I'll just do a teaspoon of honey, like raw honey, and mix it [16:10] together in a bowl and put it into a salad. Super simple. And then you don't have to worry about all the mysterious ingredients, including high fructose corn syrup that's in your salad dressing. So, we're back at [16:23] ultrarocessed foods. And what I just wanted to bring to you all here is that how you're feeling. If you're feeling stiff, if you're feeling brain fog, if you're feeling chronic pain, if you're frustrated that your your menopause [16:36] have you have a relative that has dementia, we have to come back to some dementia, we have to come back to some basic food principles that we know are not serving us. And this junk that they are putting in our foods is causing a [16:51] chronic inflammatory situation and is changing those receptor sites and giving us an experience with our body where we have more pain, we have more weight gain, we have more brain fog. So just stay off those foods and get on to [17:05] healthy foods and mix it with a a good fasting window. And I promise it's the solution to like everything. It's that simple. I want to talk about one of my favorite foods. Um, and I'm even surprised to tell you that it's one [17:19] learned to love it because of its incredible health benefits. And it's sauerkraut. And I think it's really interesting because sauerkraut has been around forever, but the fermented food is really starting to come back in vogue [17:35] as we are seeing more and more people suffering with gut dispiosis and challenges to the gut microbiome. more and more people are leaning into fermented foods. I did a whole video here on sourdough that you all love. So, [17:49] if you if you want to lean into hearing what fermented bread the benefits of fermented bread, you can check that video out. But there are three major benefits to sauerkraut that I want to talk about in this video. I also want to [18:03] tell you that when I first found fasting, it was really interesting because a lot of my patients were suffering with leaky gut, candida, SIBO, bloating, constipation. I had a a practice full of patients dealing with [18:18] bad gut challenges. And I used to give them supplements to help solve that challenge. And I kid you not, once I found fasting and I found the power of breaking a fast with something like sauerkraut, I literally took all those [18:33] supplements and threw them away and never used a supplement to repair a gut again. So, if you take what I'm going to show you um and talk about here and you use it as part of your break fast meal, you combine it with with your fasting [18:47] deeper experience than what I'm mentioning here. But for the sake of this video, I really want you to understand how potent this sauerkraut is. So let's start with this idea. What is sauerkraut? So it's fermented [19:02] cabbage. Although as sauerkraut has become more invogue, we are seeing that it's all fermented vegetables. So when you go to your supermarket, if you're not making it, you're buying it, you'll see that sometimes there's red [19:16] sauerkraut or like a purple sauerkraut. Sometimes there's more of a white sauerkraut. Sometimes they put sauerkraut with a mixture of vegetables in there. Kimchi is a form of sauerkraut with spices and with more scallions and [19:31] green onions in there. So the fermentation of vegetables will actually start to produce different bacteria. So my first recommendation to you if you [19:43] eat sauerkraut is you want to eat a good variety of it. So there are for the the traditional sauerkraut there are really two types. There's red cabbage and there's green cabbage. Um and fermenting them is going to give you different [19:59] bacterial profile which is really cool. So make sure you diversify. Now sauerkraut goes way back in history because you have to remember that they didn't have refrigeration. So they had to figure out how to keep their food [20:15] fresh. And I found some interesting resources that showed that actually uh during construction of the Great Wall of China, builders ate fermented sauerkraut trout with rice because it was the only way they could get vegetables that [20:29] didn't spoil during the harsh winters. Um we also know historically that we can go back and look at documents that mention Roman far farmers back in ancient Rome making salt cabbage about 2,000 years ago. So, this has been [20:44] around for a while and I, you know, my belief system is when you see a food continue through the ages, there's something there. There's something we need to pay attention to. Now, what happens with sauerkraut is you chop it [20:58] up and you put salt on top of it. The salt acts like a protective layer for salt acts like a protective layer for making sure that no mold forms on top of the vegetable. So, it's really interesting, too, is that from the salt [21:14] on top of the cabbage, you'll start to see that it's like the cabbage sweats a little bit and there becomes this this layer of water and salt. And in that layer is formed all these really healthy bacteria. Like one of the main resources [21:30] or one bacteria that's formed that a lot of you know, you might see it on your yogurts. Um you might see it even in the probiotics that you're taking is lactobacilli which is a big u film of of healthy [21:46] bacteria. But it's from the salt and the water in the air that a positive bacteria is formed. And here are the three things that happen to you when you eat this. This is why it's so cool. It's [22:00] so cheap, too. You just cut up cabbage, put some salt on it. There's lots of want you to get the benefits from it. So, the three major health benefits. Ready? One, better gut health. This is why I [22:16] could throw out all of those supplements. And let me tell you what the research says. So, there was a 2024 study in nutrients that gave athletes study in nutrients that gave athletes 100 grams of sauerkraut daily for 10 [22:30] 100 grams of sauerkraut daily for 10 days. Now, 100 grams is is not much. It's a less than a half a cup of sauerkraut. And they ate it every day sauerkraut. And they ate it every day for 10 days. And here's what they saw. [22:42] An increase in good bacteria, good gut bacteria. That's really important for microbes. So, like if you've been on an stress or you've been on birth control for years and you know you need more [22:57] good bacteria, what this study shows is half a cup a day, 100 grams a day uh for 10 days can increase those good bacteria. Second thing they saw was a [23:09] decreased gut inflammation markers. So those of you that are struggling with bloatedness, constipation, it's possible that your gut is just the inner lining is inflamed and sauerkraut can bring that inflammation down. And [23:24] the third thing that this 24 study on athletes saw was stronger cell walls in their intestinal lining. So this is really important because the cell wall really important because the cell wall is like a thin saran like plastic wrap [23:38] in there that protects thing harmful things from getting into your body. And that cell wall is what all the healthy bacteria start to live on so that they [23:50] can start to make you some really powerful uh neurochemicals like neurotransmitters and they can support a healthy immune system. There's so many reasons why you want that cellular wall, that lining to be healthy. And what 100 [24:04] grams a day for 10 days and you can have one, too. It's not that difficult. Now, the reason that the sauerkraut is really an all-in-one food for the gut is it has [24:16] everything you need for better digestion. So, it's rich in a probiotic bacteria. So, you don't have to buy probiotics. In fact, how do you even know those probiotics still have any live bacteria in it? By the time it gets [24:32] to your store and it gets into your stomach, there have been uh studies that have shown there's not that many probiotics in there. But when we look at something that's alive like sauerkraut, we know even as it as it sits in your [24:47] refrigerator at many times it will the probiotic count will multiply. Second thing that is so great about this all-in-one vegetable or or fermented vegetable is that it's really high in fiber. So, I brought you all a lot of of [25:03] videos here talking about the importance of fiber. You need fiber to feed the microbes specifically to break down estrogen. So, for women, this is really important. For menopausal women, this is even more important. [25:18] even more important. You also need fiber to be able to take the food you bring in and slow down the sugar absorption, the the increase in glucose after you eat it. So really interesting study that I did way back [25:33] when we went into COVID trying to look for some immune hacks for my patients and I I brought it here on YouTube was the power of kimchi. And one thing that the power of kimchi. And one thing that they found was that when fast food went [25:47] across the whole world, came out of America and started to go to other countries um that they started to see the obesity rates go up. But in Korea, they actually in the fast food restaurants served kimchi. It had was so [26:03] restaurants served kimchi. It had was so high in fiber that it balanced out that blood sugar level and so people didn't gain the same amounts of weight in in Korea as they did in other countries because they served sauerkraut with [26:18] their Big Mac. So really interesting. And then it lowers this gut inflammation. So if you're looking for gut repair, I strongly feel that sauerkraut is a fabulous tool. But make you can even go even deeper if you go [26:33] into a longer fast like a 24-hour fast or a 17-hour fast and then you make sure that break fast meal has sauerkraut in it. That's going to be the most potent way. Okay. Second thing it does is it boosts mental health. And this one is [26:47] really exciting because sauerkraut has something in it called a psychobiotic. something in it called a psychobiotic. And psychobiotics help your microbes make neurotransmitters. And there is a 2025 review that found [27:04] that sauerkraut specifically influences two key neurotransmitters and these are the ones we lose when we go through menopause for my menopausal friends out there and they are GABA and [27:18] serotonin. So the postbiotic that is in sauerkraut can help you elevate your GABA and serotonin levels. Now, GABA, progesterone for women going [27:30] through menopause, progesterone helped you stim stimulate GABA. So, if you're low in progesterone, try adding in some and you're feeling anxious. GABA is the neurotransmitter that calms us. So, if you're feeling really anxious or maybe [27:44] you're having trouble going to sleep, what if you put start putting sauerkraut with your dinner? We do this a lot in my household. The second neurotransmitter that sauerkraut can help because of this psychobiotic powerful power is serotonin [28:01] which keeps us happy. So we've talked a lot about happiness here trying to keep you you happy. I talked a lot about it in age like a girl my newest book um where you know we can influence serotonin and GABA and some of these [28:17] lifestyle. I've talked to you all a lot about how serotonin, we can actually get more serotonin by the receptors in our eyes by going out into midday sunlight. [28:29] But what's cool about this study is again we we're looking for all these little micro doses of cool hacks that will bring you back into a balanced neurochemical state. And having sauerkraut, maybe you have it with [28:44] sauerkraut, maybe you have it with dinner, can increase serotonin. So remember, GABA is what's going to keep you relaxed and serotonin keeps you happy. Relaxed and happy seems like a good mental state to be in. I don't know [28:56] definitely be the mental state I'm looking for most of the time. And this is only, by the way, with eating 100 grams a day for 10 days. So commitment [29:08] and consistency is key here. Okay. Third thing that sauerkraut can do for you. Are you ready? It's the one you all love. and I mentioned it already is weight loss. So I talked about the fast food and kimchi coming together and they [29:24] saw that there wasn't as much obesity in that country because they put a form of sauerkraut. I know kimchi is a whole art and there's I want to be respectful to the culture um that is really um mastered kimchi, but I think it's really [29:40] fascinating that you could put this fermented vegetable um with some really toxic food and you could see that there's not as much of a of a blood sugar spike. So, there wasn't as much of a weight gain. Well, in a 2025 review, [29:57] what they found was not only is cabbage high in fiber, which helps you keeps you full and balances your blood sugar, but when you ferment cabbage, there is a bacterium called Lactobacillus plantarum [30:12] that emerges from this fermented cabbage. And what this bacteria does is three really interesting things for weight loss. It increases leptin. So leptin is the hormone that makes you feel full. So okay, what if you put some [30:29] sauerkraut with your absolute favorite meal that you're like, I can never stop eating this meal when you when you put it in front of me. I'm just going to keep eating it. Well, what if you ate it with some sauerkraut because uh and [30:43] fermented cabbage so that you get an increase in leptin. Second thing that sauerkraut can do to help support weight loss is it increases insulin sensitivity. So when you are more insulin sensitive then you are going [31:00] your hunger and your cravings are going to be more stable. This is why a lot of women going into menopause will start to see that their cravings get off the charts because they become more insulin resistant. So, what if with everybody's [31:15] HRT, we gave them a prescription for sauerkraut and they were told they needed to do a half a cup of sauerkraut every single day. Third thing that this every single day. Third thing that this study showed is that sauerkraut improves [31:29] blood lipids. And so those of you that are seeing changes in your cholesterol markers, um specifically triglycerides, LDLs, um adding this sauerkraut to your [31:41] meal can really help with your blood lipids. So you can help to bring down uh change those markers that some of you are finding on your um on your blood are finding on your um on your blood test. So it's easy. Uh if some of you [31:55] have been eating sauerkraut forever, put it in the comments there. It's simple. I think we're all being called to come back to a more simple way of living. Um, it's ancient. We've been doing sauerkraut for years. I find it [32:10] fascinating that I've done over 200 podcasts um on my resetter podcast. I've interviewed so many experts and the one food rule everybody can agree on is on [32:22] fermented foods. So, at a time when we are seeing chronic disease go up, at a time when the obesity epidemic has become so prolific, where we're only [32:34] offering solutions like weight loss drugs, we have to go back to some of these ancient principles and we'll start to see that they have tremendous healing power. Here's the trick, though, is that sometimes [32:48] these simple things you don't give it enough credit for. your doctor doesn't prescribe it, so you don't give it the same potency in your mind as perhaps the same potency in your mind as perhaps the weight loss drug. But I challenge you, [33:02] drugs, or those of you want to avoid the weight loss drugs, try doing some regular fasting, you know, 15 to 17 hours every day and break your fast with sauerkraut. Uh, a lot of times what I do with sauerkraut is so that if I don't [33:17] like if I'm not in the mood for the sour taste is I'll just dump it in my salad so it spreads out a little bit more. That can be great. Sometimes we get lazy at night and we're just I don't want to make a salad and so we'll have some meat [33:31] and a sweet potato um and some sauerkraut on the side. Um, that can be an easy dish. But I think we all need to come back to these ancient principles and really look at how we have gotten astray when it comes to complicating [33:47] health. I am here to help you bring health back into a simple, easy, effortless flow for you. I want you to find your rhythm. And if you're not doing sour sauerkraut, I'm going to strongly recommend that now [34:03] helps. And if you're a sauerkraut fanatic, tell us your sauerkraut story. Put in the comments. If this helped, don't stop here. Click on the next video don't stop here. Click on the next video and let's see what you find