Zee Media Bureau
Washington: Beware soda consumers, you may be actually consuming a much higher dose of the harmful sugar fructose than you have been led to believe, according to a new study.
The study, carried out by the Childhood Obesity Research Center (CORC) at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), found that beverages and juices made with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, Mountain Dew and Sprite, all contain 50 percent more fructose than glucose, a blend that calls into question claims that sugar and HFCS are essentially the same.
The researchers have found that what ends up being consumed in these beverages is neither natural sugar nor HFCS, but instead a fructose-intense concoction that could increase one's risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver disease.
“The human body isn't designed to process this form of sugar at such high levels and unlike glucose, which serves as fuel for the body, fructose is processed almost entirely in the liver where it is converted to fat,” said Michael Goran, Ph.D., director of the CORC and lead author of the study.
The research also shows that the ingredients on some product labels do not represent their fructose content. For example, the label on Pepsi Throwback indicates it is made with real sugar (sucrose) yet the analysis demonstrated that it contains more than 50 percent fructose.
The study has been published in the journal Nutrition.
(With Agency Inputs)
