In a 10-week study, 13 out of 23 volunteers were assigned to get 25 percent of their calories by drinking high fructose corn syrup-sweetened beverages. The others received an identical percentage of calories from glucose-sweetened drinks. Glucose is a simple sugar derived from plants.
After just two weeks, only the high fructose group developed a lipid profile typical of atherosclerosis. Their measurement of post-meal blood-fat levels more than doubled, with triglycerides up 212 percent. By study’s end, the high fructose group also showed increases in fasting blood concentrations of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
Investigators, led by Kimber Stanhope, M.D., concluded that people at risk for cardiovascular disease should think twice before consuming large quantities of high fructose corn syrup-sweetened drinks.
Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter
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