Although all the organs have their contribution to keeping the body healthy, the role of the liver becomes very important in many cases. All the blood coming out of our stomach and intestines passes through the liver. The liver processes this blood, breaks it down, and stores nutrients. Not only this, it also produces many types of essential hormones and bile which are necessary for the body to function properly.
However, if seen globally, the risk of liver-related diseases is increasing rapidly. Serious liver disease can also be fatal, therefore health experts advise all people to take special care regarding the health of this organ.
Among the things that have been seen to have the greatest risk of causing damage to the liver, alcohol is prominent. However, experts have advised people to be careful about consuming other things that are harmful to the liver like alcohol.
Sugar is as dangerous as alcohol
Many studies have been alerted about the problems caused by alcohol in the liver. Excessive consumption of alcohol can also cause problems like liver cirrhosis and liver failure. The team of researchers found that, like alcohol, people who consume too much sugar also have an increased risk of developing serious liver diseases.
Sugar has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease, and obesity, and it also increases the risk of serious and life-threatening liver diseases.
Damage to the pancreas and liver due to sugar
In a related article published in the journal Nature, scientists said that consuming sugar in large amounts or repeatedly during the day causes liver damage in the same way as has been seen due to alcohol. Fructose sugar in particular increases the risk of insulin resistance, dyslipidemia (excess triglycerides), and hypertension, which is also harmful to the liver.
Over time, consuming too much sugar can cause problems for the entire body, researchers say. This is seen as causing damage to vital organs including the pancreas and liver.
What do the researchers say?
Researchers say, our liver metabolizes fructose, however, due to its excess, additional pressure increases on this organ. In this condition, the liver starts converting excess fructose into fat which gets stored in the liver and can also get into the bloodstream. Due to an increase in the amount of fat in the liver, its function starts getting affected which over time causes serious liver-related diseases.
The problem of fatty liver is increasing
Related to this, in a 2016 paper published in the journal Nutrients, scientists tried to understand what could cause excess fat to accumulate in the liver. It was found that a high fructose diet is the main reason for this and the risk of fatty liver and non-alcoholic fatty liver problems is also seen in such people.
Experts say that we should reduce the amount of both alcohol and sugar. Fructose has been shown to have the same negative effects on metabolism as alcohol does with ethanol.
(PC: ISTOCK)
