Study Claims Fructose Increases Some Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors
A recent study has reportedly claimed that consumption of fructose-sweetened beverages raised blood lipid levels in overweight subjects, whereas glucose-sweetened beverages did not incur analogous effects. Kimber L. Stanhope, et al., “Consuming Fructose-Sweetened, Not Glucose-Sweetened, Beverages Increases Visceral Adiposity and Lipids and Decreases Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight/Obese Humans,” Journal of Clinical Investigation, April 20, 2009.
University of California, Davis, researchers created two groups from 32 overweight men and women matched for age, weight, fasting triglyceride levels, insulin concentrations, total cholesterol, and other factors. Each group then consumed either fructose-sweetened or glucose-sweetened beverages for 10 weeks while living at a research center and while eating a normal diet as outpatients. The results indicated that although both groups experienced similar amounts of weight gain, the group assigned to fructose-sweetened beverages had larger gains in abdomen fat and increased blood levels of triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins when compared to their counterparts in the “glucose” group.
Meanwhile, the study authors have apparently cautioned that their work does not examine the health effects of high-fructose corn syrup. The findings “do not imply that anyone should avoid fruit, which contains only small amounts of fructose and has other important nutritional benefits,” according to lead researcher Dr. Peter J. Havel. See FoodNavigator.com, April 22, 2009; The New York Times, April 23, 2009.
