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A comment on Children under eight should avoid slushies as glycerol leads to hospitalisations. Parent comment

Re:Children under eight should avoid slushies as glycerol le... by flowerthoughts on Wednesday March 12, 2025 @04:59PM (#43347608)
From what I learned 15 years ago, but am too lazy to fact check now...

Fructose is metabolized in the liver, i.e. similar to alcohol. Glucose can be used directly by cells. The biggest issue is that fructose doesn't tell the brain that you've had enough, while glucose does (I'm guessing it's because of the delay the liver adds.) So you can eat more fructose than glucose without starting to feel weird. At the same time, you're straining the liver.

If you're eating equal parts glucose and fructose (like sucrose), it's not a problem, as your body is used to it and can adjust its glucose sensitivity. But if you completely remove that signal substance, it doesn't stand a chance.

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Re:Children under eight should avoid slushies as glycerol le... by jorvi on Thursday March 13, 2025 @07:21PM (#43358235)
> The biggest issue is that fructose doesn't tell the brain that you've had enough, while glucose does (I'm guessing it's because of the delay the liver adds.) So you can eat more fructose than glucose without starting to feel weird. At the same time, you're straining the liver.

This might be the money shot. Basically, HFCS isn't much worse in of itself, but humans are much more prone to overconsume products with high amount of sucrose.

Thanks for making the point!

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