More Bad News About Fructose
Recently I published a news article about the relationship between fructose and the development of gout. Well, now there is more bad press about fructose, the sugary substance commonly found in soft drinks, baked goods and other foods. A recent study in the March 10 issue of the Journal of Hepatology (2008) has shown that fructose consumption parallels the growth in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The consumption of fructose is further linked to insulin resistance.
The study looked at dietary histories and paired serum and liver tissue biopsies from patients with NAFLD without cirrhosis and controls matched for gender, age and BMI.
Consumption of fructose in patients with NAFLD was nearly 2-3 folds higher than controls. In patients with NAFLD, hepatic mRNA expression of fructokinase, an important enzyme in the metabolism of fructose, and fatty acid synthase, an important enzyme for lipogenesis were all increased significantly.
The conclusion was that the pathogenic mechanism underlying the development of NAFLD may be associated with excessive dietary fructose consumption. Granted this was a small study, but a previous study noted similar findings as this small study in the Journal of Hepatology. I think the bottom line is we are consuming too much junk food with added fructose and high fructose corn syrup with metabolic aberrations developing as a result. Other studies state that there is no role for fructose in sugar supplementation in obesity or cardiorenal disease. The question arises then, what is the usefulness of using fructose as a sweetening agent when it obviously is detrimental to our health?
Reference:
http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/45/5/1012
About the Author
Kathy Shattler received her Master of Science degree from Michigan State University in E. Lansing Michigan in Human Nutrition. Her twenty-two years of practice includes holding positions as a Lecturer, Chief Clinical Dietitian and Program Manager. Kathy is the Founder of Nutri-Care Consulting and is currently the Nutrition Director of www.CEU4U.COM, an online continuing education management company for Registered Dietitians and Dietetic Technicians.
