If you’re like most Americans, last year you ate 150 pounds of a food that can cause fatty liver, a leading cause of liver failure. To avoid this fate, you must stop eating this food or suffer the liver problems that now afflict more than 20 percent of people in the U.S.
The problem is that we are eating way too much sugar. And research shows it doesn’t matter what form that sugar is in. If you drink too many soft drinks containing high fructose sugar (HFCS) or eat cookies that contain sucrose (a combination of fructose and glucose), you are still at risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver.
We are eating so much sugar that even 10 percent of children now have this problem.
And while many people have blamed HFCS for this epidemic, research shows that just about any refined carbohydrate can contribute to liver difficulties.
“[W]e found (HFCS) behaves no differently than glucose or refined starches. It is only when you consume excess calories in the form of fructose that you see a signal for harm but no more harm than if you consume excess calories as glucose,” says John Sievenpiper.
The main problem we face is that we are hooked on processed foods like candy, cookies, cakes, bread and crackers. Our livers are finding it hard to cope.
“The debate over the role of fructose in obesity, fatty liver and other metabolic diseases has distracted us from the issue of overconsumption,” Sievenpiper says. “Our data should serve to remind people that the excess calories, whether they are from fructose or other sources, are the issue.”
Healthwise
Healthwise
