ScienceDaily: Fructose-sweetened Beverages Increases Risk Of Obesity In Rats

ScienceDaily: Fructose-sweetened Beverages Increases Risk Of Obesity In Rats

In this study, rats receiving fructose-containing beverages presented a pathology similar to metabolic syndrome, which in the short term causes lipid accumulation (hypertriglyceridemia) and fatty liver, and at later stages hypertension, resistance to insulin, diabetes and obesity.

"The fructose in fruit has nothing to do with this study," stresses Professor Laguna. "Fruit is healthy and its consumption is strongly recommended. Our study focuses on liquid fructose intake as an addition to the ordinary diet."

[...]

The fructose used to sweeten beverages alters the lipid metabolism in the liver and, according to the authors, represents a calorie overload to which the body’s metabolism is unable to adapt. Specifically, fructose increases fat synthesis in the liver and reduces its degradation through action on a specific nuclear receptor (PPARa), which controls fatty acid ß-oxidation. “The most novel finding,” says Laguna, “is that this molecular mechanism is related to an impairment in the leptin signal. Leptin is a hormone that plays a key role in the body’s energy control; among its peripheral actions, it accelerates fat oxidation in the liver and reduces its synthesis.”