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RickyDontLoseThat t1_j8ndwbz wrote

It's all that high-fructose corn syrup they put in everything, isn't it?

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notsurewhattosay-- t1_j8nsc9g wrote

Is it true we can't even digest high fructose corn syrup??

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Fortified_mouthwash t1_j8ojhb0 wrote

Most people can, but some people have fructose intolerance/malabsorption or even sucrose intolerance (similar to lactose intolerance where they can't make enough of an enzyme).

After it's absorbed, fructose goes straight to the liver, and unlike glucose (which in excess is stored as glycogen), the liver doesn't really know what to do with excess fructose, so a good chunk of it is stored as liver fat.

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[deleted] t1_j8nyavq wrote

[deleted]

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DecentChanceOfLousy t1_j8o427j wrote

It's worth saying that this is true of almost all food. There are tons of essential nutrients that you basically can't absorb or use without gut bacteria, which is why microbiomes are so important for digestive health.

The fact that fructose has to be broken down first (in the liver) is essentially trivia (and information about what you can eat after antibiotics/surgery) rather than some deep statement about what is "natural" for humans to consume (which I think is what the comment you responded to was implying).

Edit: I think fructose is actually broken down in the liver, not the digestive tract. The point still stands though: the digestive system is complex, and the chain being more than one step long is normal.

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p00ponmyb00p t1_j8ogwyz wrote

adult male liver can handle about 50g/day, after that starts giving you diseases IIRC

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