High-Fructose Heart Risks

Only two weeks of modest consumption of high-fructose corn syrup causes cholesterol and triglyceride levels to rise, and the more consumed, the greater the increases.

Researchers divided 85 people chosen for their healthy lipid profiles into four groups. One group consumed drinks sweetened with 25% high-fructose corn syrup; the second with a 17.5% concentration; the third 10%; and the last drinks sweetened only with aspartame.

The results, in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, were consistent: The more corn syrup, the worse the lipid profile. While LDL (or “bad” cholesterol) in the aspartame group remained the same before and after the diet, the 10% group went to 102 from 95, the 17.5% to 102 from 93, and the 25% group to 107 from 91. Optimal LDL levels are under 100.

Other blood tests of cardiovascular risk – non-HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid and others – moved in the same negative directions.

“It was a surprise that adding as little as the equivalent of a half-can of soda at breakfast, lunch and dinner was enough to produce significant increases in risk for cardiovascular disease,” said the lead author, Kimber L. Stanhope, a research scientist at the University of California, Davis. “Our bodies respond to a relatively small increase in sugar, and that’s important information.”

Could Artificial Sweeteners Promote Diabetes and Obesity?

For those who are diabetic or dieting, you may think artificial sweeteners are your best friend.

They allow you to get the taste of sugar from foods and beverages without the elevated blood sugar levels or calories. But a new study suggests this may not be the case; artificial sweeteners could actually promote obesity and diabetes.

The research team, including Eran Elinav of the Department of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, recently published their findings in the journal Nature.

Because artificial sweeteners are low calorie and do not contain carbohydrates, they are often recommended to help with weight loss or to treat or prevent metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes.

However, Elinav and colleagues note that, although some studies support such recommendations, others have indicated that artificial sweeteners actually increase weight gain and raise the risk of metabolic disorders. A study from the Washington University School of Medicine published last year claimed the artificial sweetener sucralose is linked to increased glucose and insulin levels.

“Despite the controversial data, the FDA approved six NAS (non-caloric artificial sweetener) products for use in the US,” the researchers note. These are saccharin, sucralose, aspartame, advantame, neotame and acesulfame potassium.

In this latest study, the team investigated how artificial sweeteners affected the metabolism of mice. For 11 weeks, some mice were supplied with drinking water supplemented with an artificial sweetener – either saccharin, sucralose or aspartame – and glucose, while others drank just water alone or water containing only sugar.

The team found that the mice that drank the water containing glucose and an artificial sweetener developed glucose intolerance – elevated blood sugar levels, whereas the mice that drank water alone or water containing only sugar did not.