Just curious what people thought of this one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
It was very interesting. I hadn't realized that fructose was metabolized in the liver while glucose is metabolized everywhere. Basic point was that fructose is the villain, not in fruit because fruit has fiber, but free fructose in things like soda and sugar and so on. Apparently fructose doesn't trigger the hormones that let you know that you ate and basically gradually poisons your liver. I liked that he didn't vilify fruit, stating that fructose is fine with the fiber it comes with in nature.
I watched it because I found out that I have borderline fatty liver which makes very little sense considering my diet. I've been using agave nectar (90% fructose) in my coffee because I thought it was healthier than sugar.. lol The only real difference between last year when my liver was fine and this year when it is borderline not fine is that change. Thought I would share because it was a cool video with a lot of science included.
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@Dominique wrote:No single food item (e.g. sugar / fructose) is good or bad in itself / in isolation. Every food item should be considered in the context of your entire diet. Sugar in itself doesn’t make us fat. If a large part of our diet comes from it (especially in its refined form and in highly-processed foods, as opposed to fruits, for instance), it has the potential to put us in a caloric surplus. This is what makes us fat (given enough time). However, a chronic caloric surplus is usually caused by a combination of several food items consumed in excess: it’s not only sugar, but also other carbohydrates, fats etc.
Btw, how did you determine you now have a "borderline fatty liver", while it was just fine one year ago? Is it the only health indicator that is worrying you?
Congrats for the 20 lbs you’ve lost so far! Getting your weight into a healthy range goes a long way toward solving a number of health issues, including those related to your liver.
I generally agreed with you until I watched this video. It's a scientist who works with obese children and he's discussing the pathways by which different sugars get digested and the pathway for fructose is definitely a lot more destructive than some other things. The big impact on obesity being that the hormones that let you know that you've eaten aren't triggered effectively by fructose (but fine with fiber because fiber triggers?) If you don't feel like watching the whole thing, you can safely drop in at around 42:35 and get the biochem portion which was the part I enjoyed.
I had a bunch of lab work done recently, I had elevated numbers on 2 liver enzymes, in the low range of 'high' but still above normal. Last year my scores for both of those were right in the middle of normal; so a pretty big increase especially considering I weigh 20 lbs less. My doctor ordered an ultrasound which diagnose fatty liver. My triglycerides are well within normal, my cholesterol is normal on all counts, yet, somehow have fatty liver. My fasting blood sugar was on the high end of normal, my AIC was well within normal.
The screenings were done as I messed up my back and my doctor wanted to check everything out before prescribing pain medications since so many interact poorly with kidneys or liver.
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