It’s really hard to keep up with all the studies that connect fructose with one health problem after another. Yet another study was just published that links fructose-sweetened beverages to metabolic syndrome.
This study — from researchers at the University of Barcelona — who published their findings in the journal Hepatology — showed that rats ingesting fructose-sweetened drinks showed signs of metabolic syndrome, MedicalNewsToday.com reported.
What’s more, the researchers evidently found clues to explain the molecular mechanism through which the fructose in drinks could alter lipid energy metabolism and cause fatty liver and metabolic syndrome.
I’ve reported here on a number of occasions previously that scientists find it curious that as obesity in developed countries has risen, so has the increase in the consumption of beverages sweetened with fructose.
Anyhow, according to the University of Barcelona scientists, the fructose used to sweeten drinks alters the lipid metabolism in the liver and and represents a calorie overload to which the body’s metabolism is unable to adapt.
“The most novel finding is that this molecular mechanism is related to an impairment in the leptin signal,” says the study’s lead author, Juan Carlos Laguna, who’s with the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutic Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy.
“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,” continues Laguna, who’s also director of the research group.
Hmm. It’s hard to ignore the mounting evidence against fructose-sweetened beverages such as soda and fruit drinks.