Fructose from sweetened drinks tied to harmful levels of cardiometabolic biomarkers

Consumption of fructose from sweetened beverages contributes to unfavourable profiles of several cardiometabolic biomarkers, reveals a study.

A group of researchers explored the relationships of fructose from three major sources (ie, sugar-sweetened beverage [SSB], fruit juice, and fruit) with 14 insulinaemic/glycaemic, inflammatory, and lipid markers. They used cross-sectional data from 6,858 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, 15,400 women in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), and 19,456 in NHSII who were free of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer at blood draw.

A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to assess fructose intake. Finally, the percentage differences of biomarker concentrations according to fructose intake was estimated using multivariable linear regression.

An increase of 20 g/d in total fructose consumption correlated with a rise in concentrations of proinflammatory markers by 1.5 percent to 1.9 percent plus 3.5-percent lower adiponectin and 5.9-percent higher triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio. Adverse profiles of most biomarkers were associated with fructose derived from SSB and juice only.

On the other hand, fruit fructose correlated with lower concentrations of C-peptide, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, leptin, and total cholesterol. Replacing SSB fructose with 20-g/d fruit fructose contributed to a 10.1-percent lower C-peptide, 2.7-percent to 14.5-percent lower proinflammatory markers, and 1.8-percent to 5.2-percent lower blood lipids.

“Previous studies on the relationship between fructose intake and cardiometabolic biomarkers have yielded inconsistent results, and the metabolic effects of fructose are likely to vary across food sources such as fruit versus SSB,” the researchers noted.