Fructose makes bellies fat

Thanks to Eric for alerting me to this article.

Consuming fructose-sweetened, not glucose-sweetened, beverages increases visceral adiposity and lipids and decreases insulin sensitivity in overweight/obese humans

Not much time to comment on it, so a quick look. The research team fed people diets in which 25% of calories came from either a glucose- or a fructose- sweetened beverage.

The results: "Consumption of fructose-sweetened but not glucose-sweetened beverages for 10 weeks increased DNL [denovolipogenesis], promoted dyslipidemia, decreased insulin sensitivity, and increased visceral adiposity in overweight/obese adults."

Small dense LDL results: The glucose-consumers had no net increase in the apparently harmfull small-dense LDL. "In contrast, fasting sdLDL concentrations increased progressively in subjects consuming fructose."

Mean 24 hour triglycerides increased 2.5% in glucose-consumers, 18.2% in fructose-consumers.

For glucose consumers, 23 hour triglyceride area under curve decreased by 32%, whereas for fructose consumers it increased by 99%.

Fasting oxidized LDL increased by 0.7% in glucose consumers, but 12.8% in fructose-consumers.

Cane sugar (white or brown) and high fructose corn syrup both provide about 50% of their carbohydrate as fructose. Honey consumed occasionally by hunter-gatherers has less fructose, at about 39%.

This study gives some indication why diets based on starch (primarily glucose) but containing little fructose do less health damage than diets containing plenty of sugars.