News flash! Or, maybe not. We’ve known for years that the use of high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener has led to increased obesity and heart disease across all age ranges. Now, after a controlled and randomized study, it’s more or less verified.
During a three month period researchers at the University of California, Davis, concluded that consumption of high-fructose sweetened drinks can lead to higher levels of bad cholesterol (known as L.D.Ls) and triglycerides in overweight subjects. And, as we all know, L.D.Ls and triglycerides are linked to increased risks of cardiovascular disease. I won’t go into the gory details of the study. Needless to say, test subjects who drank the fructose-sweetened drinks (as opposed to the others who drank glucose-sweetened beverages) gained weight and increased the fat around their abdomens.
This is some staggering news. But, I wonder what the industry is going to do about it. Most likely nothing, since fructose syrup may be the least expensive way to sweeten up your favorite beverages. Sure, they could add back the sugar, but that’s going to do the same amount of damage. Yes, there are substitutes like Splenda. However, they have their side effects as well that may be slightly worse than increased belly fat.
The best thing that we, as consumers and parents, can do is keep away from those fructose-sweetened drinks as much as possible. Maybe requesting a warning label on these products wouldn’t be such as bad idea, either.
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on Apr 24, 2009 @ 10:01 EST5EDT
I haven’t read it yet, but I wonder if this also includes the pure (crystaline) fructose used by Vitamin Water?
What I’ve read about the crystalline fructose is that it’s even worse than regular high fructose corn syrup: https://search.mercola.com/Results.aspx?q=crystalline%20fructose&k=crystalline%20fructose
There are almost no solely fructose sweetened drinks. There are drinks sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, which is about 55% fructose, as opposed to table sugar, which is 50% fructose. This study does not touch on high fructose corn syrup. I’m not a fan of HFCS but this study isn’t the smoking gun.