I read something interesting recently about fruit juices and commercial soda, some doctors suggest avoiding corn syrup, especially when obese, that it seems to punch above its weight so to speak, as an outsize contributor to metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes. They were careful to point out fresh fruits are OK in moderation. I’ve heard it said “don’t drink your calories” and that’s pretty good advice for weight control.
Corn syrup - or high fructose corn syrup. HFCS. We’ve all heard “sugar is sugar”, though the argument is while that might be true chemically, the claim being made is that while glucose can be utilized directly by practically every cell in the body, fructose is unique in that it is only metabolized by the liver. Does that sound right?
Non-alcoholic fatty liver is a problem associated with metabolic syndrome, chronic high insulin levels, inflammation and obesity. It is also an ingredient widely used in a great many processed foods.
“Sugar” added to food as cane sugar and “HFCS” both have the same numbers of fructose and glucose molecules. They are both equally as bad. The big difference is that HFCS is relatively so cheap that manufacturers started adding lots more sweeteners to lots more foods. Quantity and all pervasiveness.
The big difference between sugar in fruit and foods with added sweeteners is most if all the delivery system, the food matrix it is in. Very pertinent to this glucose flattening thread, added sugar peaks fast, in contrast sugars in fruit is contained in cells wrapped up with fiber and hosts of photochemicals, so the sugar is delivered and absorbed much slower and with lots of other good stuff that have huge health benefits. Further fruits have high satiety: few overeat fruit. (Sugar in fruit also has both molecules btw.)
Juice eliminates that delivery matrix and much of the other good stuff. It’s mostly sugar water and a big hit of it.
I’m actually a bit dubious about this. I have been known to over-eat fruit, especially good ripe fruit. I’ve eaten so much fruit that it gave me stomach aches and stuff. I’ve eaten a LOT of calories of fruit in a short amount of time, too. I can happily eat several large apples, or more than a pint of blueberries or cherries, for instance.
Right - ignore fresh fruits for the purposes of the discussion as mentioned. It is tough to eat “too many”, but it is trivial to imbibe quarts of fruit juices or sodas for many people. I thought that was clear, maybe not.
I think what’s important, is fructose particularly in the form of juices and corn syrup, is likely to be a specifically added burden to an already overloaded liver.
Is it in fact true that fructose (unlike glucose) can only be metabolized by the liver?
If this is the case, I think this is an important distinction. Remember, we’ve all been constantly told “sugar is sugar”, and while this might be true more or less chemically, apparently there is a large difference in how it is actually handled inside our bodies. See where I’m goin’ with that? It would further stand to reason corn syrup and fructose drinks may be especially bad for individuals with an enlarged fatty liver.
Four large apples or a pint of blueberries are perceived as a huge amount to eat. You feel full to stuffed after eating either of those. Calories are under 450 and under 230 respectively. OTOH given a pile of Oreos put in front of them many could easily keep eating a whole box without feeling full. Many do.
Nine regular Oreos gets you past the four apples mark for calories. How many people will be reaching for another apple versus saying they’ve had enough? How many are too full for another three Oreos?
Real fruits are, relative to most highly processed foods, high in satiety and more moderate in “hedonic value” - literally in how hard they hit those two brain centers that are in charge of eating.
You seem to be missing the point. HFCS does NOT have higher amounts of fructose than table sugar does. They are BOTH equal amounts of glucose and fructose. The liver metabolism bit is immaterial.
Cane sugar sweetened soda is not any healthier than HFCS soda.
Unless you are trying to reverse a non-alcoholic fatty liver issue that is making your cells insulin resistant and causing Type 2 Diabetes. I think that this may have been the point. People who do not have an existing liver problem can eat as much fruit as they like (without going to extremes).
I love fruit, but have given it up while I work to reverse my T2 diabetes and fatty liver. The liver can only process the fructose in fruit, so while it is not toxic it does put an increased load on the liver. So part of reversing fatty liver is avoiding all things possible that the liver has to process, including fruits, vegetable oils, food additives and various toxins. I think calling it a liver detox is misleading as its more of giving your liver a vacation in order to heal.
Even those with NAFLD can handle real fruit in moderate amounts. I can see an argument for those individuals to limit to two or three servings a day. Which would be completely swamped by the harms of getting the same amount of fructose contained in other foods with added sugar.
The last bit relating to flattening but this side fructose flattening: the added sugar source (cane or HFCS) delivers the fructose more quickly than the liver can handle. The sugars from real fruit are delivered in more of a gradual trickle and are handled better.
On this type of nutrition plan, nuts are basically a super food, because they contain both protein and fiber, and therefore would be a complete “meal” unto themselves. (Really useful when you want to snack while watching football)
I totally and wholeheartedly endorse this post.
It used to make me so sad when my mom would tell me she doesn’t eat fruit because of her “blood sugar”, but would binge on things like popsicles because they were “sugar free”. I believe her health would have been so much better if she’d eaten the fruit instead. But, again, whole fruit.
huh, no, I don’t feel full, nor stuffed. I feel like I’ve eaten a lot of sugar, though. I could happily eat more, I just feel like it’s not a good idea. And I could happily eat a large chunk of cheese after eating either.
Fats are ok, too. But healthy fats. A good rule of thumb is that they should be liquid at room temperature. So, fats from nuts, fish, seeds, that sort of thing. I take a fish oil supplement with my last meal, and I add a squirt of hemp seed or flax seed oil to my morning protein drink.
Then yes you are one of a few. For most fresh fruits are in the … sweet spot … of moderately high satiety and moderate hedonic value.
Yes higher when its fiber is combined with protein.
Agree with @Moriarty here, while not disputing that calorie counting works for some, nuts (unsalted) are a magic food. Again the satiety-hedonic value balance is key. Eating a good handful of nuts as snack tends to result in less intake otherwise in the day. Of course also healthy in their own right.
If you calorie count be aware that the listed calorie count for nuts overestimates their calorie impact as they are not fully absorbed and also take energy to digest.
My trick is a little dish like for soy sauce, they hold two tablespoons. Open the bag, fill dish, PUT BAG AWAY, eat nuts. Otherwise it’s just too easy to have a few extra…
For me it’s the open bag above my desk. I skip lunch but snack on nuts all day.
Looking up some more - most recent review finds that the increased energy expenditure (EE) of nut intake is less of an issue than decreased intake later as a result of consumption.
