fructoseTag Archives

Correcting fatty liver disease

Fatty liver disease has been on the increase since the government advised a low-fat/high-carbohydrate diet. It’s even being found in kids now.

Fructose consumption can be a factor in the development of fatty liver disease. Did you know that fructose is metabolized in the liver the same way as alcohol? I would be wary of fruit and anything made with added sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.

Have you heard of foie gras, the goose liver paté? It literally means “fat liver.” It is liver from a goose induced with fatty liver disease by force-feeding it grains, usually corn. So I would be wary of grains, too, if you want to reverse fatty liver disease.

I looked around online for information about fatty liver reversal. I found this blog entry by someone who reversed his fatty liver by eating a low-carb diet. And there’s this blog by someone else who also reversed his fatty liver with a low-carb diet (scroll down to the bottom of the post for the specifics of what was done). And this link quotes studies, including one showing that a low-carb diet is best for getting rid of liver fat. One commenter on the page cited vegetable oil as a potential contributor to fatty liver disease as well.

I’m sure there are more references out there.

Do we really need five a day?

I’m currently reading Trick And Treat – how ‘healthy eating’ is making us ill by Barry Groves.  Barry Groves has taken a close look at many studies.  Often, the abstracts on the medical journal articles do not agree with what the data presented in the article would indicate.  Also, some recommendations have no basis in research.  One of those recommendations is the Five a Day advice for fruits and vegetables.  Studies have shown that two a week is sufficient to get maximum benefit.  I like vegetables enough that I’ll keep eating them anyway.  As for fruits, they contain fructose, the most harmful of sugars.  Their value is questionable when the nutrition they contain can just as easily be gotten from vegetables.  Fructose is the sugar that causes belly fat.  Fructose is also the sugar most detrimental to the immune system, though the other simple sugars aren’t far behind.  Another source I’ve seen said that fructose is metabolized in the liver the same way that alcohol is, and we know what alcohol can do to the liver.  Table sugar and high fructose corn syrup are about half fructose, which makes them dangerous, too.  Barry Groves’ site: http://www.second-opinions.co.uk