Fructose is metabolized the same way alcohol is. If this statement had an impact on you, let’s look more into it.

Sugar (from cane, beet, corn) is made up of 2 monosaccharides (simple sugars): glucose and fructose having a 50-50% structure. While glucose is vital to the body, fructose is one of the most toxic ingredients in products nowadays. The main function of glucose is to provide energy to organs and tissues (being regulated by insulin), whereas the body has no mechanism to deal with fructose. As a consequences, it heavily relies on the liver to process it (just as it does for alcohol).

Only 20% of the ingested glucose ends up in the liver, the rest being transported to other cells. After using the needed amount of glucose for short term energy, the rest will be stored as glycogen. Glycogen is a useful, always available energy storage for when the body runs out of “fuel”.

Unlike glucose, ethanol (alcohol), with no function what so ever in any biological process, is metabolized by the liver like most toxins are. 10% will get to the stomach and intestines, another 10% to the kidneys, muscles and brain, whereas for the remaining 80% the liver has to put a considerable amount of effort into handling. So, the liver gets 80% of the ethanol and 20% of the glucose intakes.

If glucose ingestion determines the pancreas to secrete a hormone called insulin which helps the energy in glucose to get to the cells and makes sure the blood sugar levels are in check, alcohol, on the other hand, gets straight to the liver without being noticed. Due to its limited capacity to regulate ethanol, the liver will immediately turn it into fat. Part of this fat will stay in the liver, causing alcoholic steatosis (or fatty liver due to alcohol consumption), while the rest will end up in the blood stream as free fatty acids. Alcohol consumption leads to increased number of fat cells, heart disease, cancer, premature ageing. (1)

If still unclear to you how alcohol and sugar are connected, let’s analyze how similar ethanol and fructose (the second component of sugar) are being metabolized. Like alcohol, the body does not need fructose to function, therefore almost 100% of it gets to the liver, without triggering the insulin. Once in the liver, it is also transformed into fat which is either kept there (causing non-alcoholic fatty liver) or released to the blood stream creating the same serious health problems as alcohol. (2)

In 2015, the World Health Organization recommended that the total daily intake (both added sugar and the one naturally found in fruit, honey, vegetables, juice etc.) should not be greater than 10% of the total calorie intake, but highly advised to lower this figure to 5%. (3) So, if your total calorie intake is 2000 kcal, you should not exceed 200 kcal from sugar alone (this may come from 2 medium bananas, a handful of dates, or 3/4 of a milk chocolate). Just keep in mind that sugars (carbohydrates) can be found in a vast range of foods, whether we are aware of it or not, so try to mindfully limit the amount of sugar as much as possible.

Once you understand the impact fructose has on our bodies there’s no room left for doubt or supposition. The nutrition facts label includes data regarding the quantity of sugar products contain. Use this piece of information to your advantage. Also, ingredients are ranked from the highest quantity present in the product to the lowest so, if cutting down sugar is not an option, try to, at least, choose those products that place sugar to the bottom of the ingredient list.

To find out more information on fructose read the article Free fructose vs natural fructose: the same monosaccharide, a different story.