Sugar is Sugar, Right?

But Which One Causes Liver Failure?

Spring is here and summer will be upon us soon enough.  Supermarket shelves are stocked with a wide variety of every color drink you can imagine, just in time for the hot weather.  Most people love to stay cool during the dog days with a can of their favorite sugary soft drink.  And the cans are always so pretty and brightly colored, like a rainbow…but, there’s no pot o’ gold awaiting you at the end of this rainbow! 

These drinks are loaded with sugar, and not just any sugar; they’re filled with fructose.  Hang on; we’ve all seen the corn sugar commercials with the happy families, right?  Sugar is sugar according to them, and why would they lie?

A recent study from the Duke University Medical Center reported that daily consumption of fructose, the most common and widely used sweetener (ex: High-Fructose Corn Syrup), increases liver fibrosis, which leads to scarring of the liver and, ultimately, progressive loss of liver function.

Fructose, and this includes high-fructose corn syrup or corn sugar or whatever seemingly innocent name they’re giving it today, are among the worst dietary chemicals consumed by people on a daily basis.

Fructose is actually very poorly metabolized by the cells of the body and so, the liver absorbs the fructose and turns it into fat.  A portion of this fat is stored in the liver, compromising the health of this vital organ.

With proper diet of primarily vegetables, nuts, seeds, some fruits, olive oil (shown to contain liver-protective antioxidants) and regular exercise (work up a sweat 3-4 days/week) as well as limiting alcohol and sugar consumption, the liver has an amazing ability to regenerate and can function as well at age 99 as it did at age 9.  However, once it’s scarred, the scars remain for life.  Take good care of your liver and do a periodic liver cleanse.

Compared to sucrose, fructose is very difficult for cells to metabolize and utilize.  Sucrose is easily broken down and the glucose is converted to energy through various processes in the mitochondria…fructose is not.  So, all sugar is not the same…sugar is NOT sugar!  Different forms of sugar are metabolized by the body in very different ways.

Sucrose is actually a disaccharide which is a combination of two saccharide molecules.  In the case of sucrose, the two saccharides are glucose and fructose.

            So, sucrose is 50% fructose and 50% glucose whereas High Fructose Corn Syrup is either 42%, 55%, or 90% fructose depending on the application.  That’s right, there are actually 3 different types of HFCS used in various food stuffs from drinks, to baked goods, and everything in between.

            Table sugar is bad enough, so why consume all that extra fructose?

            Some people like to argue that fructose is found naturally in fruits, but they always seem to forget that fresh fruits provide enzymes that assist in the metabolism of the sugar.  HFCS is highly, highly processed and provides no enzymatic assistance.

            So the next time someone tells you that sugar is sugar and the body can’t tell the difference, you can correct them.  Think of all the chemical processes, enzymatic reactions, and mechanical movements that go on within the body each second of the day, the body isn’t stupid.

Source(s):

Brent A. Tetri, MD, professor of internal medicine, director, division of gastroenterology and hepatology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis.

www.dukehealth.org