When the liver is in the grip of pathology, burdens are best avoided. A diet high in simple sugars will provide a means for maintaining blood sugar levels at normal levels without exacting a price from the liver. It is particularly important that low blood sugar levels be avoided, because that will stimulate gluconeogenesis, a process that imposes considerable strain on the liver, since amino acids will be stripped of their amino groups and transformed to carbohydrate metabolites.
Under conditions of sugar shortage, the combustion and reformation of lipids are also impeded. A shortage of carbohydrate could easily result in a ‘‘sputtering’’ lipid metabolism in which toxic products might form. A production of ketone bodies, for example,would challenge pH stability and the stability of the liver as well. Providing the simplest fuel molecules reduces the work that the liver must carry out.
