Glucose can be used by every cell in your body. Fructose is handled mainly by the liver, which takes 50 to 70% of it on the first pass. Intake has climbed from about 15 grams a day to about 55 over the past century, and at that load the liver’s capacity is overwhelmed, fructose is converted to fat, and fatty liver disease develops — a process that parallels alcoholic liver damage, but from sugar. The liver pays the price for America’s sugar consumption.
This companion covers the metabolic difference, what happens in the liver, and practical implications. (4 min read)
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