水果攝入過量提防脂肪肝

"We haven't eaten enough vegetables today, let's eat some fruits to make up for it!" "If you're afraid of getting fat, you can eat a piece of fruit instead of a meal." If you've ever thought like this, I'm afraid you've already stealthily entered the obesity risk range! Weight loss doctor Song Yanren reminded that today's market fruits have been improved by varieties, the sugar content has long exceeded the public's expectations, sometimes only eat an apple, may lead to daily sugar intake exceeds the standard; if you further use fruit to replace the main meal or vegetables, it is more likely to cause the accumulation of liver fat, triggered by health problems, such a practice is not desirable.

A single apple can push your sugar intake off the charts.

Dr Yen-Jen Song pointed out that most of the nutrients and enzymes contained in fruits can actually be obtained from vegetables. The biggest difference between the two is that fruits contain higher concentrations of sucrose and fructose. Especially in Taiwan, which is known as the "Kingdom of Fruits", various improved fruit varieties have been introduced one after another, and the sweetness of these improved fruits has increased two to three times compared to the past. "Sometimes, even eating an apple can exceed the recommended daily sugar intake of 25 grams, which makes eating fruits more like taking in extra sugar rather than just supplementing nutrition."

Excessive intake of fructose may cause fatty liver and high blood pressure.

From the human body metabolic mechanism, most of the fructose will first be converted to very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) in the liver, and then transported out of the liver, through the blood into the adipose tissue, and ultimately converted to triglycerides (also known as "fat") stored, long-term will lead to increased body weight, leading to obesity. If a large amount of fructose intake, the amount of VLDL synthesised in the liver will increase dramatically. When these lipoproteins are not transported out of the liver, they will directly accumulate in the liver to form fat particles, which, after accumulation over a long period of time, can be developed intofatty liver。

In addition, fructose in the metabolic process of the liver, in addition to going to the pathway of lipogenesis, but also produce uric acid. This uric acid not only has the risk of triggering gout, but may also damage the endothelial cells of blood vessels, causing the endothelium to be unable to properly produce the important factors that relax the smooth muscle of blood vessels, which in turn increases the prevalence of high blood pressure.

Study confirms that eating fruit after a meal is better for health

However, a recent study published in the journal Cell Metabolism suggests that simply choosing the right time to eat fruit can reduce the conversion of sugar intoliver fatThe research team has studied the metabolic process of fructose in the human body through isotope tracking technology. The research team used isotope tracking technology to study the metabolism of fructose in the human body, and found that most of the fructose is first broken down into glucose and organic acids in the small intestine, and then flows to the liver through the portal vein. However, when the metabolic load of the small intestine is too heavy to break down all the fructose in time, the fructose that is not metabolised will flow directly back to the liver through the portal vein, and then the liver needs to use its own reserve function to metabolise this fructose, which may lead to fatty liver in the long run.

Based on this finding, the researchers suggest that if you take a small amount of sugar before eating fruit, you can activate the ability of the small intestine to metabolise fructose, so that the small intestine to fructose clearance efficiency. In this way, more fructose will be directly converted into glucose into the blood circulation, rather than accumulating in the liver to increase the number ofMetabolic burden。

Therefore, for those who like to eat fruits, Dr Song Yen-Jen suggests to follow the following two principles to enjoy the taste of fruits and at the same time minimise the burden on the body:

If you do need to eat fruit, try to eat it after a meal. The metabolism of the small intestine has improved after the meal, and can better process the fructose in the fruit, thus providing some protection for the liver.

Prioritise fruits that are high in fibre and low in sugar. For example, small tomatoes can be used to replace bananas, longan and other fruits with high sugar content. These low-sugar fruits and vegetables are not only low in sugar, fructose release rate is also slower, both from the dose of intake or metabolic time, will not bring too much burden to the small intestine.