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1 August 2005
Fructose Behind Soft Drink Obesity? 
A study from the University of Cincinnati suggests that drinking large amounts of beverages containing fructose adds body fat. The researchers also believe that sweetening with fructose could be even worse than using other sweeteners. The study, published in Obesity Research, looked at mice who freely consumed either water, fructose sweetened water or soft drinks. The researchers found increased body fat in the mice that drank the fructose-sweetened water and soft drinks - despite that fact that these animals decreased the amount of calories they consumed from solid food. The researchers believe that consuming fructose affects the metabolic rate in a way that favors fat storage. "Our study shows how fat mass increases as a direct consequence of soft drink consumption," said study author Matthias Tschöp. "We were surprised to see that mice actually ate less when exposed to fructose-sweetened beverages, and therefore didn't consume more overall calories. Nevertheless, they gained significantly more body fat within a few weeks." Results from an earlier study in humans led by Peter Havel, at the University of California, found that several hormones involved in the regulation of body weight, including leptin, insulin and ghrelin, do not respond to fructose as they do to other types of carbohydrates, such as glucose. Based on that study, the researchers now believe that another factor contributing to the increased fat storage is that the liver metabolizes fructose differently than it does other carbohydrates. Whether or not high-fructose corn syrup in soft drinks is directly responsible for the current increase in human obesity will have to be ascertained in human studies conclude the researchers.
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