If you ask young children what they like best about Halloween, there is a big chance that they will answer: “Candy!!” While the Halloween sweet treats may bring smiles to trick-or-treaters of all ages, they may also bring unwanted liver disease. Parents and guardians need to be cautious. Candies and other sweet goodies are now commonly made with artificial sweeteners, which are more of a threat than a treat to our bodies’ health.
Think twice about those sugar-filled halloween goodies. (Photo credit: Pixabay)
Most of the Halloween treats are made with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and crystalline fructose. In the 1970s after discovering that HFCS is 20% sweeter than table sugar and cheaper to produce, the food and beverage industry switched to corn syrup. Sadly, at present, 55% of sweeteners — used in manufacturing food and beverages in America — are HFCS. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that about 25% of American calorie consumption is in the form of added sugars, most of which is HFCS. Dr. Talal Adhami, a member of American Liver Foundation’s National Medical Advisory Committee, argues that fructose in any form — including HFCS and crystalline fructose — is a major health hazard.
How do sugar substitutes — particularly the alternative processed fructose — damage the liver?
First, one of the problems with artificial sweeteners is that they are marketed as either healthier or safer alternatives because — as some “experts” say — “they pass through your body undigested.” In response to this train of thought, people are consuming fructose in greater, massive quantities. Yet the may be unaware that fructose, when excessively consumed, turns into a chronic, dose-dependent liver toxin.
The liver carries the entire burden of metabolizing fructose. Dr. Robert Lustig, professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, explains that our livers have a very limited capacity to metabolize sugar, particularly processed fructose. Because our liver cannot metabolize 100% of our fructose consumption, it turns into free fatty acids (FFAs), harmful forms of cholesterol, and triglycerides, which get stored as fat. This may lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver, and other liver diseases.
As fantastically fun as it is, Halloween is still no excuse to expose oneself to potentially frightful health hazards caused by artificial sweeteners. Enjoy this season — while taking care of your liver — by consuming candies and sweet goodies in moderation. After all, October is Liver Health Awareness month!
For additional information on why artificial sweeteners are worse than sugar, check out this article.
For a short list of what not to consume to protect our liver’s health, read this article.
For more information about your liver health and liver awareness month, visit this site.
