Quote:
Originally Posted by PAMidge
Exactly.
The problem though, from a medical standpoint, is that with increasing doses of high fructose corn syrup, or things that are high in fructose instead of sucrose or glucose, is that it can severely damage the liver.
High doses of fructose will be metabolized in the liver, and cause very high cholesterol, triglycerides, and will actually cause fatty infiltration/deposits in the liver.
Although the liver is resilient, it will start to feel the affects and die a slow painful death much like with alcohol or other hepatic disease such as hepatitis.
This also contributes to metabolic syndromes that lead to heart disease & diabetes, and since it becomes more of a fatty infiltrative problem it isn't as readily reversible as simple diet and exercise.
So yes, moderation, but unfortunately sometimes people just don't know or aren't educated enough on what they're putting into their bodies.
|
While your basic message is correct, your rationale is inaccurate. Sugar does not just magically create liver dysfunction - what you are describing is excessive sugar intake in a person who is hyperglycemic or perhaps even suffering from diabetes mellitus. In a healthy person, high doses of sugar are in fact taken up into the liver and muscle and converted into glycogen, and also converted in the liver into fatty acids and glycerol (which are distributed to the fatty stores across your body).
The reality is that sugar is fine for you, as long as it is taken in moderate amounts, as you have said.
The rationale up until now has been that high sugar diets can result in insulin resistance and ultimately type II diabetes (the prevalent form in the U.S.). The reality is that this link has
not been definitively established.
In reality, the primary causes of type II diabetes (what people are concerned about in regards to eating alot of sugar) are obesity, esp. what they call ventral/central obesity (fat around your abdomen), alcoholism, smoking, hyperlipidemia/high cholesterol, hypertension, and high blood pressure.
So really, the rationale behind eating less sugar is that you want to cut down on how much food you are eating OVERALL, in order to reduce the risk of developing all of these obesity-related diseases.