The worldwide consumption of sucrose, and thus fructose, has risen logarithmically since 1800. Many concerns about the health hazards of calorie-sweetened beverages, including soft drinks and fruit drinks and the fructose they provide, have been voiced over the past 10 years. These concerns are related to higher energy intake, risk of obesity, risk of diabetes, risk of cardiovascular disease, risk of gout in men, and risk of metabolic syndrome. Fructose appears to be responsible for most of the metabolic risks, including high production of lipids, increased thermogenesis, and higher blood pressure associated with sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Some claim that sugar is natural, but natural does not assure safety.
YudkinJ. Pure, White and Deadly. London: Penguin Books; 1986.
2.
BrayGANielsenSJPopkinBM. Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004; 79 (4): 537–43.
3.
MintzS. Sweetness and power: The place of sugar in history. London: Penguin Books; 1986.
4.
VosMBKimmonsJEGillespieCWelshJBlanckHM. Dietary fructose consumption among US children and adults: the third national health and nutrition examination survey. Medscape J Med. 2008; 10 (7): 160.
5.
AppelLJMooreTJObarzanekEVollmerWSvetkeyLPSacksFMBrayGAVogtTMCutlerJAWindhauserMMLinPHKaranjaN. A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure. New Engl J Med. 1997; 336 (16): 1117–24.
6.
SacksFMSvetkeyLPVollmerWMAppelLJBrayGAHarshaDWObarzanekEConlinPRMillerERSimons-MortonDGKaranjaNLinPH; DASH-Sodium Collaborative Research Group. Effects on blood pressure of reduced dietary sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. N Engl J Med. 2001; 344 (1): 3–10.
7.
VainioHWeiderpassE. Fruit and vegetables in cancer prevention. Nutr Cancer. 2006; 54 (1): 111–42.
8.
HeFJNowsonCALucasMMacGregorGA. Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables is related to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease: meta-analysis of cohort studies. J Hum Hypertens. 2007; 21 (9): 717–28.
9.
BrayGA. The low-fructose approach to weight control. Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing; 2009.
10.
CohenJCSchallR. Reassessing the effects of simple carbohydrates on the serum triglyceride responses to fat meals. Am J Clin Nutr. 1988; 48 (4): 1031–4.
11.
ElliottSSKeimNLSternJSTeffKHavelPJ. Fructose, weight gain, and the insulin resistance syndrome. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002; 76 (5): 911–22.
12.
HavelPJ. Dietary fructose: implications for dysregulation of energy homeostasis and lipid/carbohydrate metabolism. Nutr Rev. 2005; 63 (5): 133–57.
13.
MalikVSSchulzeMBHuFB. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006; 84 (2): 274–88.
14.
OlsenNJHeitmannBL. Intake of calorically sweetened beverages and obesity. Obes Rev. 2009; 10 (1): 68–75.
15.
MalikVSPopkinBMBrayGADesprésJPHuFB. Sugar-sweetened beverages, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease risk. Circulation. 2010; 121 (11): 1356–64.
16.
PalmerJRBoggsDAKrishnanSHuFBSingerMRosenbergL. Sugar-sweetened beverages and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in African American women. Arch Intern Med. 2008; 168 (14): 1487–92.
17.
PaynterNPYehHCVoutilainenSSchmidtMIHeissGFolsomARBrancatiFLKaoWH. Coffee and sweetened beverage consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study. Am J Epidemiol. 2006; 164 (11): 1075–84.
18.
MontonenJJärvinenRKnektPHeliövaaraMReunanenA. Consumption of sweetened beverages and intakes of fructose and glucose predict type 2 diabetes occurrence. J Nutr. 2007; 137 (6): 1447–54.
19.
BazzanoLALiTYJoshipuraKJHuFB. Intake of fruit, vegetables, and fruit juices and risk of diabetes in women. Diabetes Care. 2008; 31 (7): 1311–7.
20.
NettletonJALutseyPLWangYLimaJAMichosEDJacobsDR. Diet soda intake and risk of incident metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Diabetes Care. 2009; 32 (4): 688–94.
21.
DhingraRSullivanLJacquesPFWangTJFoxCSMeigsJBD'AgostinoRBGazianoJMVasanRS. Soft drink consumption and risk of developing cardiometabolic risk factors and the metabolic syndrome in middle-aged adults in the community. Circulation. 2007; 116 (5): 480–8.
22.
LutseyPLSteffenLMStevensJ. Dietary intake and the development of the metabolic syndrome: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. Circulation. 2008; 117 (6): 754–61.
23.
FungTTMalikVRexrodeKMMansonJEWillettWCHuFB. Sweetened beverage consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009; 89 (4): 1037–42.
24.
ChoiHKCurhanG. Soft drinks, fructose consumption, and the risk of gout in men: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2008; 336 (7639): 309–12.
25.
AeberliIZimmermannMBMolinariLLehmannRL'AllemandDSpinasGABerneisK. Fructose intake is a predictor of LDL particle size in overweight schoolchildren. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007; 86 (4): 1174–8.
26.
MattesRD. Fluid energy—Where's the problem?J Am Diet Assoc. 2006; 106 (12): 1956–61.
27.
MattesRDCampbellWW. Effects of food form and timing of ingestion on appetite and energy intake in lean young adults and in young adults with obesity. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009; 109 (3): 430–7.
28.
RollsBJKimSFedoroffIC. Effects of drinks sweetened with sucrose or aspartame on hunger, third and food intake in men. Physiol Behav. 1990; 48 (1): 19–26.
29.
JohnsonRJPerez-PozoSESautinYYManitiusJSanchez-LozadaLGFeigDIShafuMSegalMGlassockRJShimadaMRoncalCNakagawaT. Hypothesis: could excessive fructose intake and uric acid cause type 2 diabetes?Endo Rev. 2009; 30 (1): 96–116.
30.
CirilloPGerschMSMuWSchererPMKimKMGesualdoLHendersonGNJohnsonRJSautinYY. Ketohexokinase-dependent metabolism of fructose induces proInflammatory mediators in proximal tubular cells. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2009; 20 (3): 545–53.
31.
StanhopeKLSchwarzJMKeimNLGriffenSCBremerAAGrahamJLHatcherBCoxCLDyachenkoAZhangWMcGahanJPSeibertAKraussRMChiuSSchaeferEJAiMOtokozawaSNakajimaKNakanoTBeysenCHellersteinMKBerglundLHavelPJ. Consuming fructose-sweetened, not glucose-sweetened, beverages increases visceral adiposity and lipids and decreases insulin sensitivity in overweight/obese humans. J Clin Invest. 2009; 119 (5): 1322–34.
32.
TeffKLGrudziakJTownsendRRDunnTNGrantRWAdamsSHKeimNLCummingsBPStanhopeKLHavelPJ. Endocrine and metabolic effects of consuming fructose- and glucose-sweetened beverages with meals in obese men and women: Influence of insulin resistance on plasma triglyceride responses. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009; 94 (5): 1562–9.
33.
BantleJ PRaatzSKThomasWGeorgopoulosA. Effects of dietary fructose on plasma lipids in healthy subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000; 72 (5): 1128–34.
34.
CouchepinCLêKABortolottiMda EncarnaçaoJAOboniJBTranCSchneiterPTappyL. Markedly blunted metabolic effects of fructose in healthy young female subjects compared with male subjects. Diabetes Care. 2008; 31 (6): 1254–6.
35.
TappyLRandinJ PFelberJPChioleroRSimonsonDCJequierEDeFronzoRA. Comparison of thermogenic effect of fructose and glucose in normal humans. Am J Physiol. 1986; 250 (6 Pt 1): E718–24.
36.
BrownCMDullooAGYepuriGMontaniJP. Fructose ingestion acutely elevates blood pressure in healthy young humans. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2008; 294 (3): R730–7.
37.
RabenAVasilarasTHMøllerACAstrupA. Sucrose compared with artificial sweeteners: different effects on ad libitum food intake and body weight after 10 wk of supplementation in overweight subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002; 76 (4): 721–9.
38.
SørensenLBRabenAStenderSAstrupA. Effect of sucrose on Inflammatory markers in overweight humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005; 82 (2): 421–7.
