It’s Sunday, time for another YouTube video.
I’m thinking about turning this into a regular feature on my blog.
Each Sunday, posting an interesting health related video with a bit of commentary.
What do you think?
How Excess Sugar Can Harm Your Liver And Give You Diabetes
The topic is fructose (from added sugar and high fructose corn syrup) and how an excess of it can poison your liver and make you fat and diabetic.
This is yet another interview where paediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert H. Lustig is featured, this time with psychologist Dr. Elissa S. Epel.
A few points:
- Statistical analysis reveals that refined sugar is the only “food” that correlates directly with the diabetes epidemic.
- According to this analysis, it is 50 times more potent than total calories at explaining diabetes rates, worldwide.
- Sugar contains both Fructose and Glucose. These molecules are related and look similar, but are very different to the body’s cells.
- The only organ that can metabolize Fructose is the liver.
- Fructose is a “chronic, dose-dependant liver toxin” — basically: long-term, high consumption of fructose makes your liver sick.
- Always be suspicious of low-fat products because they may contain a lot of sugar.
The video is 9 minutes long.
Lustig has obviously stirred a lot of feathers in the nutrition community, especially the “calories in, calories out” folks.
It is true that fructose isn’t harmful unless in the context of caloric excess, and Lustig is quick to point this out.
Therefore, healthy diets that include fruit (which have a low energy density) are NOT in any way harmful because your liver is very capable of processing moderate amounts of fructose.
What Lustig says applies to excess consumption of fructose in the form of added sugar and HFCS. It does not apply to moderate consumption of fruit. Period.
“Excess consumption” of *anything* is harmful, right? And as long as consumption of a certain amount of food or macro nutrient doesn’t have negative effects it’s not “excess consumption”…
So it’s just a matter of moderation after all…
Excess consumption of fructose is particularly harmful, given the effects it has on the liver.
It is a matter of moderation, of course. Lustig pointed that out in the video. If you have added sugar only rarely and in small amounts, then it’s not going to harm your liver.
I was recently diagnosed with Type II Diabetes after a somewhat 2 yr stretch of lower carb controlled Diet. Doc gave me 2 months to get my sugars from 11/12′s to 5/6′s. I am trying Ketsumeisei which is an eastern herb mix supposed to detox the liver and increase overall metabolism. Have you any knowledge or scientific backing. The testimonials are good but I want hard data if there is any…
Can you explain what you mean by a lower carb controlled diet, with some details about what you’re eating on a typical day?
Hi Kris,
By lower carb, I mean Meat (egg/fish/nut), full fat, lots of veg, some fruit, some low Gi grains- no sugar-nothing white. (the odd “bad day’) My blood sugars are going down after .5 of a month on the Ketsumeisei, but I don’t know enough to attribute it to anything…
It would probably help significantly to ditch the fruit and grains completely. In a way it sucks, but it’s a 100 times better than having diabetes.
I recommend to all diabetics who comment or contact me to check out this site here: http://www.diabetes-warrior.net/
The guy who owns this site is a friend of mine, and he completely reversed his diabetes with a low-carb/paleo diet.
This is a good place to start: http://www.diabetes-warrior.net/a-meal-plan-you-can-live-with/
Keep your doctor involved though, as a quick reduction in carbohydrate intake may need a similar reduction in meds.
Heya Kris, good stuff.
Re fructose, have you heard about the Glycination Phenomenon?
Apparently, if you have pure, isolated fructose alone, it does not raise insulin. Which is a problem, since the fruit sugar can consequently not be shuffled into the cells (I guess once liver stores are full).
Then what happens is the fructose oxidizes, Glycinates, iow. This in turn gums up the outside of cells and wreaks huge havoc.
NOT SO GOOD! :-)
Mark