Friday July 24, 2015 (foodconsumer.org) -- Eating sweets with fructose is a bad thing to do for patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to a study published in Hepatology.
The current study suggests that fructose consumption may increase risk of chronic liver diseases like fibrosis or worse the hepatic condition in those who have developed NAFLD.
The study led by scientists at Duke University in Durham, NC shows that fructose consumption was associated with reduced steatosis but increased fibrosis. In adults aged 48 or older, daily fructose consumption was correlated with increased liver inflammation and hepatocyte ballooning.
The study also finds that increased fructose consumption was correlated with hypertriglyceridemia (high triglyceride), low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, increased energy intake, and hyperuricemia (high uric acid) in adults.
In the study, 427 adults with NAFLD enrolled in the NASH Clinical Research Network were surveyed for their fructose consumption and liver biopsy was performed to determine the effect of fructose consumption.
Early studies have found fructose consumption or sugar sweetened beverages associated with increased risk for obesity, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. NAFLD is more likely to be diagnosed in those who had increased intake of fructose compared to those who did not eat foods with fructose.
Studies have suggested that glucose does not cause "side effects" as fructose does. Studies on maltose are fewer, but maltose with two glucose molecules may be even safer than glucose. Unfortunately, maltose is more expensive than fructose-containing sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup - the most common source of fructose. Also glucose and maltose do not taste as sweet as fructose. (David Liu)
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