Consuming fructose has many negative health consequences

Which type of sugar is the unhealthiest?
Consuming too much sugar is not good for our health. Researchers now found that not only the amount but also the type of sugar used can lead to serious health effects. Fructose seems to be particularly harmful.

Researchers at the University of Barcelona found that eating fructose is particularly damaging to the metabolism and vasculature compared to consuming glucose. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology".

Fructose is colloquially known as fructose. Physicians found that intake of high levels of fructose can cause significant adverse health effects. (Image: PhotoSG / fotolia.com)

Fructose damages the metabolism and the vascular system
The current study examined the dangers that can be caused by gluco and fructose for human health. The results show that the consumption of fructose leads to more damaging effects on the metabolism and the vascular system glucose, explain the experts. Fructose is a type of sugar, which is also known as fructose. In nature, fructose occurs mainly in fruits such as apples, pears and berries.

Fructose has a high amount of sweetener and low production costs
Fructose is simple sugar (monosaccharide), which is commonly found in fruits. This type of sugar is one of the most common sweeteners in the food industry. He has a high amount of sweetener and low production costs compared to sugar from sucrose or corn syrup with fructose, the researchers explain in a press release.

Physicians are testing the health effects of sugar in animal models
In the current study, scientists found that female rats are more sensitive to metabolic changes than male rats. In addition to their normal diet, the test rats additionally received glucose or fructose fluid complementation. Depending on the type of sugar ingested (glucose or fructose), the animals showed differences in body weight, triglycerides and vascular physiology, the experts explain.

What was the effect of fructose in the experiment?
One of the outstanding metabolic effects is the high concentration of plasma triglycerides in the group of rats given fructose, the authors say. This effect can not only be explained by a large synthesis of liver lipids, since both glucose and fructose induce hepatic lipogenesis, the researchers explain. The protein content of a key enzyme in fatty acid oxidation (CPT1A) was reduced only in the rats receiving fructose.

This group also showed an increase in the expression of a protein called MTP, which helps transport triglycerides from the liver to the plasma. The observed effects indicate that fructose is in a certain way able to reduce the oxidation of fatty acids and increase the movement of triglycerides from the liver into the plasma, the researchers explain. Presumably, so-called hypertriglyceridemia causes these effects.

Fructose leads to vascular and hepatic changes
When rats are given glucose, the ability of the aorta to relax when exposed to an active substance with nitric oxide (sodium nitroprusside) increases, the authors say. In the rats of the fructose group, this ability of the aorta was lower. Here, from the vascular perspective, fructose has a negative effect on the relaxation of the aorta. Glucose is more beneficial here, the researchers add. The rats given fructose also showed changes in their liver and gained weight faster. Earlier studies had shown that the intake of fructose in rats was associated with hepatic changes.

Fructose can cause so-called fatty liver in male and female rats. Apart from the noted vascular and hepatic changes, there is a higher body weight gain in these rats, although they consumed fewer calories than the rats from the other group.

An increased intake of fructose can cause inflammation
The fact that fructose reduces the oxidation of fatty acids and increases the synthesis of liver lipids can lead to an increase in so-called lipid deposition in the organ (fatty liver), say the experts. This accumulation of lipids in the liver can in turn lead to liver inflammation.

Fructose can massively affect the body
The increase in body weight seems to be related at first glance only to the increase in calorie intake, but there are also other factors involved, explain the authors. In particular, the weight gain in the liver, which was found in the fructose group of rats, could be related to the accumulation of lipids in this organ and massively affect the body, according to the researchers. (As)