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A growing body of evidence suggests added sugars play a role in the development and/or progression of fatty liver disease. A 2018 trial, led by Miriam Vos (Emory) and Jeffrey Schwimmer (UCSD), considered whether removing added sugar from the diet could improve fatty liver disease in children. The authors conclude, “In this study of adolescent boys with NAFLD, 8 weeks of provision of a diet low in free sugar content compared with usual diet resulted in significant improvement in hepatic steatosis.”

"Overweight children with fatty liver disease sharply reduced the amount of fat and inflammation in their livers by cutting soft drinks, fruit juices and foods with added sugars from their diets, a rigorous new study found. The new research, published in JAMA, suggests that limiting sugary foods and drinks may be a promising lifestyle strategy to help alleviate a devastating condition linked to the obesity crisis that is spreading rapidly in adults and children. An estimated 80 million to 100 million Americans have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which causes the liver to swell with dangerous levels of fat. Roughly seven million of those are adolescents and teenagers."

This brief 2013 review summarizes two studies investigating the metabolic impact of fructose overconsumption, placing them in the broader context of the scientific literature. The authors note that “diets high in fructose could cause excess fat accumulation in the liver, leading to ... fatty liver disease, steatohepatitis and, ultimately, cirrhosis. Liver fat could also be released into the circulation and taken up by fat cells in other tissues, resulting in obesity. Furthermore, the circulating fat could accelerate the onset of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. So fructose over-consumption may be at the heart of metabolic syndrome, which has also been linked to poor outcome of a wide range of cancers.”

Drs. Mary Dan and Michael Eades continue their series on the cardinal sins of scientific research, reviewing the bait-and-switch methods researchers often employ to earn or redirect attention. They discuss how statin manufacturers shifted their desired endpoints, turning their focus to cholesterol reduction (regardless of whether such reduction is shown to improve health) rather than the actual prevention of cardiovascular events in order to justify drug prescriptions. The technique of p-value hacking is also considered.