Obese people who drink sweetened with fructose in their food have a greater increase in triglycerides after a meal, according to new research from the Monell Center.
“The increase in triglycerides after a meal, serve as predictors of cardiovascular disease,” says Monell member and study author Karen L. Teff, a metabolic physiologist.
“Our results show that beverages sweetened with fructose elevate triglyceride levels in obese people, who are already at risk for metabolic disorders such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”
Triglycerides are produced by the body fats obtained in the diet and are the most common form of fat that is transported in the blood.
Although normal levels of triglycerides are essential for good health, high levels are associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis and other predictors of cardiovascular disease.
In the study, published online by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Teff and colleagues studied 17 obese men and women, each was admitted to the clinic twice in the Research Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
In each entry, subjects were given identical meals and had blood taken via intravenous catheter over a period of 24 hours, the only difference being the sweetener used in drinks accompanying the meals, sweetening drinks during an admission glucose and fructose in the other.
Triglyceride levels in blood were higher when the subjects drank the fructose-sweetened beverages.
Tags: Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes, Disease, Drink sweetened, Food, Fructose, Health, Sweetener, Triglycerides,
