Fructose, insulin resistance, and metabolic dyslipidemia
Fructose consumption as a risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: While the rise in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) parallels the increase in obesity and diabetes, a significant increase in dietary fructose consumption in industrialized countries has also occurred. The increased consumption of high fructose corn syrup, primarily in the form of soft drinks, is linked with complications of the insulin resistance syndrome. Furthermore, the hepatic metabolism of fructose favors de novo lipogenesis and ATP depletion. We hypothesize that increased fructose consumption contributes to the development of NAFLD. METHODS: A dietary history and paired serum and liver tissue were obtained from patients with evidence of biopsy-proven NAFLD (n=49) without cirrhosis and controls (n=24) matched for gender, age (+/-5 years), and body mass index (+/-3 points). RESULTS: Consumption of fructose in patients with NAFLD was nearly 2- to 3-fold higher than controls [365kcal vs 170kcal (p<0.05)]. In patients with NAFLD (n=6), hepatic mRNA expression of fructokinase (KHK), an important enzyme for fructose metabolism, and fatty acid synthase, an important enzyme for lipogenesis were increased (p=0.04 and p=0.02, respectively). In an AML hepatocyte cell line, fructose resulted in dose-dependent increase in KHK protein and activity. CONCLUSIONS: The pathogenic mechanism underlying the development of NAFLD may be associated with excessive dietary fructose consumption.
Great Post. Thanks.
I am a compulsive label reader, have been for decades.
Some of the things I look for most often are MSG; high in sodium; HFCS; and long strings of unintelligible additives. If I can’t pronounce it then I don’t want to eat it.
We are now eating more fresh vegetables, salads, brown rice, and broiled, poached, or grilled beef, chicken, and fish - all cooked sodium free with little or no added fat. I use canola or olive oil and we rarely drink hard liguor, instead sipping a small glass of wine with our evening meal.
I suspect we’ll all live longer. Now, if I can only get my teenager away from fried bean burritos!
It’s getting very hard to buy many kinds of foods without HFCS. That and partially hydrogenated oil are ubiquitous.
The horrible significance of HFCS is almost beyond the scope of normal human consciousness. It is my assumption that most of the metabolic-related degenerative diseases (heart disease, solid tumor cancers, strokes, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, MS, and many others all share a common causation in the form of iron over-load (which is exascerbated by HFCS).
BUMP
HFCS is no less dangerous than MSG.
We consumers MUST use our purchasing power to inform the USDA, Kraft, Pepsico, CocaCola, etc that we want REAL, CANE sugar in our foodstuffs!
Key words there.
Fructose is by far a healthier sweetener than refined white sugar. (glucose) which is the real monster behind diseases like diabetes.
Of course, anything in excess isn't healthy for you, doesn't matter what it is. Too much water can kill you.
Sucrose is split to fructose and glucose. Glucose is used directly by the body, but is implicated in Type II diabetes and other protein-sugar related diseases. Fructose has to be metabolized by the liver, going into several energy pathways. Too much of that can overload your liver, and too much of some of the downstream radicals might cause other problems.
Don't drink too much alcohol, either, although fructose primes the enzyme pathway to metabolize ethanol. Drink fruity cocktails!
Thank you for the great post!
Useful & needed information.
"Ellis: No. … Of course, you know that that abundance of cheap corn benefits the HFCS industry. The reason that industry is so successful is they’re able to sweeten things much less expensively than sugar. The reason they’re able to do that largely is because the raw material in HFCS is incredibly cheap. Our one acre of corn could have sweetened 57,000 cans of soda. We grew 10,000 pounds of corn and it took us about two hours of labor and a couple hundred dollars of input and that’s just incredible. That’s unbelievably cheap, and the reason it’s so cheap is that the subsidies system keeps everybody there growing corn. "
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Just want to say thank you for all your posts. They are very informative. Keep up the good work.
Ray
I’ve often wondered if this is why so many under the age of 30 are so fat. (Pardon the expression). I wonder if many children balloon up because of the HFCS in everything.
bump. Thanks for posting.
Lowfat salad dressing is (and other lowfat products are) often loaded with HFCS. Thanks neverdem.
Private FReepmail coming.
Cheers!
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