Soft Drink Sweetener May Add Fat

Study Suggests Fructose Leads To More Body Fat Than Plain Sugar

(WebMD) 
More Weight, More Body Fat

All of the mice weighed about 39 grams at the start of the study. Those that drank the fructose-sweetened water gained an average of 8 grams during the course of the study compared with average weight gains of less than 5 grams among the others.

The fructose-drinking mice also gained more body fat. Body fat increased by nearly 11 percent in the fructose group of mice -- significantly more than the 5 percent increase in the water group. Body fat increased by 7 percent to 8 percent in the soft drink and diet soft drink groups.

Researchers say the results suggest that the body metabolizes fructose differently than other sweeteners or carbohydrates and in a way that favors fat storage.

Their findings appear in the current issue of Obesity Research.

A 2004 report showed that Americans eat 132 calories each day of high-fructose corn syrup and that the figure is closer to 300 calories for the top 20 percent of Americans.

WebMD spoke to study researcher George A. Bray when that study was released.
Bray said between 1970 and 1990, high-fructose corn syrup consumption increased by more than 1,000 percent, largely because the nation's soft drink manufacturers switched from sucrose to high-fructose corn syrup.


SOURCES: Jurgens, H. Obesity Research, July 2005; vol 13: 1146-1156. News release, University of Cincinnati.