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High fructose consumption, particularly from High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), promotes NAFLD by inducing gut microbiota dysbiosis, increasing intestinal permeability, and directly causing hepatic steatosis through de novo lipogenesis.

Limit intake of added sugars, especially HFCS. High fructose intake is directly linked to liver fat accumulation and gut barrier dysfunction.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Abundant evidence both from preclinical and clinical studies suggests a major role for fructose in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and also NASH. Fructose is known to induce gut microbiota dysbiosis and increase intestinal barrier permeability due to the disruption of tight junctions.
Tomas Hrncir et al. · Microorganisms · 2021

Why this rating

Strong preclinical and clinical evidence cited.

Source

Gut Microbiota and NAFLD: Pathogenetic Mechanisms, Microbiota Signatures, and Therapeutic Interventions

Tomas Hrncir et al. · Microorganisms · 2021

DOI 10.3390/microorganisms9050957

narrative_reviewCited 170×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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