Why Fructose Stresses Your Liver (And How Much Sugar Is Too Much)

Fruit has fructose. Soda has fructose. So is fructose good or bad?

On Tea Talk, my live morning show, I answered questions about why fructose stresses the liver, whether a little is okay, and what the world would look like without refined sugar. Here's what you need to know.

Only your liver can handle fructose

Every cell in your body can use glucose. But fructose is different. Only your liver can process it. In that way, fructose is a lot like alcohol.

In fact, everything you eat goes to your liver first. All roads lead to the liver. It sorts your food, packages it and sends it where it needs to go. That's why liver health matters so much.

Why too much fructose stresses your liver

Picture a factory with a conveyor belt. Workers take each item off and send it where it belongs. Now imagine the belt starts moving way too fast. Things pile up and fall off the side. The workers say, "Just set those aside for later."

That's your liver when it gets hit with soda after soda, candy after candy and constant snacking on refined foods. It can't keep up. So it stores the extra as fat, right inside the liver.

That's how fatty liver starts. Little by little, year after year, it builds. A fatty liver becomes an insulin resistant liver. Then your body struggles to use energy from food, and that opens the door to metabolic syndrome, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Is a little fructose okay?

Yes. The problem isn't fructose. It's the dose and the speed.

When fructose comes in a piece of fruit, it comes with fiber. The fiber slows everything down, so the sugar trickles in. Your liver can handle a slow trickle. Fruit also brings vitamins and minerals with it.

High fructose corn syrup is a different story. It can be up to 70% fructose, and it rushes in all at once.

How much added sugar is too much?

The recommended limit for added sugar is about 24 grams a day. That's for everyone, with diabetes or without.

Every 4 grams is 1 teaspoon. So 24 grams is just 6 teaspoons for the whole day.

A single can of regular soda has more than that. A store-bought smoothie can have 12 teaspoons or more. Add in the sugar hidden in bread, sauces and condiments, and it's easy to blow past the limit before lunch.

Back in the day, I used to put 6 teaspoons of sugar in just one cup of tea. So I understand how it happens!

What if refined sugar disappeared?

I believe we would be much healthier. My grandmother lived to be 104. She had sugar, but she made everything herself, so she controlled how much went in. Her family wasn't drinking factory-sweetened drinks all day long.

When you buy drinks and snacks, the company decides how much sugar you get. When you make them yourself, you decide.

What about white rice and potatoes?

Starch breaks down into glucose, so portion matters. I eat white rice myself. But I never let it take over the plate. Here's my simple rule:

• A third of your plate or less: rice, potatoes or other starch.
• A third or more: vegetables. Aim for at least three, in different colors.
• A third or more: protein.

The vegetables and protein slow the starch down, so your liver isn't overwhelmed.

Bottomline?

Your liver can handle fructose in small, slow amounts, the way nature packaged it in fruit. It's the flood of refined sugar that causes trouble. Cut back on sweet drinks and processed snacks, keep starch to a third of your plate, and give your liver a break.

And remember, eating is one of the simple pleasures of life. Enjoy a good variety of foods straight from the land and the sea.

Worried about your liver or your blood sugar? Request a consultation. I see patients by video in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, Idaho, Oregon and Antigua & Barbuda.

Your health is your wealth.

Dr. Amina