Why sugary drinks might hurt your liver
Fructose drives de novo lipogenesis affecting metabolic health
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Fructose increases liver fat even under energy-balanced conditions—meaning you don’t need to eat more calories to get fatty liver from it.
Most people think fat buildup only happens from overeating. This shows fructose alone can reprogram your liver to store fat, regardless of total calories.
Practical Takeaways
Swap one sugary drink per day for water, sparkling water, or unsweetened tea.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Fructose increases liver fat even under energy-balanced conditions—meaning you don’t need to eat more calories to get fatty liver from it.
Most people think fat buildup only happens from overeating. This shows fructose alone can reprogram your liver to store fat, regardless of total calories.
Practical Takeaways
Swap one sugary drink per day for water, sparkling water, or unsweetened tea.
Publication
Journal
The Journal of Endocrinology
Year
2023
Authors
Bettina Geidl-Flueck, P. Gerber
Related Content
Claims (6)
Eating too much fructose, like the sugar in soda and sweet snacks, makes your liver create more fat, which raises bad fats in your blood and causes body-wide inflammation, making heart disease more likely.
Eating fructose (like in sugary drinks) makes your body store more fat around your organs and liver than eating the same amount of glucose, even if you’re not eating too many calories overall.
Drinking sugary sodas and other drinks high in fructose may cause your liver to make more fat than when you eat glucose, leading to fatty liver and other health problems.
If you eat less fructose—like the sugar in soda and candy—your liver will make less fat, even if you don’t eat fewer calories overall. This can help reduce fat buildup in the liver, especially if you’re overweight or have fatty liver disease.
Eating a lot of fructose (like in sugary drinks) might turn up the activity of certain liver enzymes that process sugar and make fat, especially in people who already have metabolic problems like obesity or diabetes.