Sugar & the Liver (Zoe Bingley-Pullin)

I swear I will talk about something other than the negative effects of sugar soon.

Just wanted to share this piece emailed out to all the newsletter subscribers of Zoe Bingley-Pullin today.

"When planning a diet or eating plan, we do not often associate the amount of calories and simple carbohydrates with affecting the fat levels within our liver. The truth is that it is the chemical process by which these are broken down during digestion that can have detrimental effects on liver health.

Firstly, let’s take a look at why it is so important to maintain your liver and how its level of well-being can impact multiple body functions. The liver is an amazingly integral part of the human body and we cannot survive without it. There are only a few organs that do not rely on the liver in some form to function properly. The liver is a part of protein synthesis, processing the nutrients from your foods and is integral in the removal of toxins from your blood. In saying this, many of the facets of today’s society, such as stressful living and work conditions, processed foods and/or high alcohol consumption, can have a severe and damaging effect on the liver’s capacity for optimum functionality[1].

Glycogen storage is one of the primary functions of the liver and fat metabolism is so important to keep your energy levels high enough to face the daily grind, for both your digestive system as well as your energy output. This is where the sugars (refined) in your diet can impact your liver[2]. Sugar, once consumed through food, begins the process of insulin production and when the insulin reaches the liver, this stimulates triglyceride formation (a chemical form of fat). Even though triglycerides are used as a part of energy inducing processes for your body, any amount of them that are left over after this cycle are transferred to your fat cells to be stored for future use[3]. Scientists have found that over-stimulation of triglyceride production can lead to fatty liver disease. Ultimately this can lead to imbalances in the metabolism of fat, which in turn may cause weight gain and lead to complications associated with obesity such as heart disease or diabetes[4].

It is clear that one way to reduce the risk of fatty liver disease and generally maintain the health of your liver is to reduce the amount of simple carbohydrates, in particular, refined sugar, as a part of your daily diet. The good news is that the liver has a high regenerative potential which means it can recover from damage that may have already been done by past activities. So start looking closely at the foods you consume each day and aim to make the sugars that you ingest come from natural sources and do not exceed the RDI of dietary energy intake which is approximately 10.8MJ (for sedentary lifestyle) to 13.8MJ (for moderately active lifestyle)[5]."

Just another reason to avoid!

Visit her web site to join up, and maybe ask her if this means she'll stop selling Vaalia's Activia yoghurt which, although I've never read the packaging of, I can only assume is pumped with sugar...

Stay well,

Natalie

PS. I was asked if all of this means I will stop baking today.

No, it doesn't. I just won't ever eat a whole lot of it again.