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Review
. 2008 Dec;88(6):1733S-1737S.
doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.25825D.

Endocrine and metabolic effects of consuming beverages sweetened with fructose, glucose, sucrose, or high-fructose corn syrup

Kimber L Stanhope  1 , Peter J Havel
Affiliations
Review

Endocrine and metabolic effects of consuming beverages sweetened with fructose, glucose, sucrose, or high-fructose corn syrup

Kimber L Stanhope et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Dec.

Abstract

Our laboratory has investigated 2 hypotheses regarding the effects of fructose consumption: 1) the endocrine effects of fructose consumption favor a positive energy balance, and 2) fructose consumption promotes the development of an atherogenic lipid profile. In previous short- and long-term studies, we showed that consumption of fructose-sweetened beverages with 3 meals results in lower 24-h plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, and leptin in humans than does consumption of glucose-sweetened beverages. We have also tested whether prolonged consumption of high-fructose diets leads to increased caloric intake or decreased energy expenditure, thereby contributing to weight gain and obesity. Results from a study conducted in rhesus monkeys produced equivocal results. Carefully controlled and adequately powered long-term studies are needed to address these hypotheses. In both short- and long-term studies, we showed that consumption of fructose-sweetened beverages substantially increases postprandial triacylglycerol concentrations compared with glucose-sweetened beverages. In the long-term studies, apolipoprotein B concentrations were also increased in subjects consuming fructose, but not in those consuming glucose. Data from a short-term study comparing consumption of beverages sweetened with fructose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, and sucrose suggest that high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose increase postprandial triacylglycerol to an extent comparable with that induced by 100% fructose alone. Increased consumption of fructose-sweetened beverages along with increased prevalence of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes underscore the importance of investigating the metabolic consequences of fructose consumption in carefully controlled experiments.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes of body weight from baseline in male rhesus monkeys consuming 380 kcal/d of fructose- or glucose-sweetened beverage for one year (n=8/group). Baseline body weights were not significantly different. Data are mean ± SEM (analysis described in Figure 2). Response to each sugar over time was analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA (ap<0.01; bp<0.05 using SAS 9.1 (Cary, NC)), with contrasts comparing weights at 3, 6, and 12 months to baseline weights (*p<0.05, **p<0.01). Comparison of fructose and glucose response analyzed by 2-factor repeated measures ANOVA: Sugar×Time interaction = NS. Data are mean ± SEM. B. Percent change of energy expenditure (measured by indirect calorimetry) from baseline in rhesus monkeys after 3, 6 and 12 months of consuming 380 kcal/d of fructose- or glucose-sweetened beverages. Baseline energy expenditure was not significantly different between groups. Response to each sugar over time analyzed by repeated measures one-factor ANOVA (ap<0.05; bp<0.01 with Greenhouse-Geisser Epsilon correction using SAS 9.13 (Cary, NC)), with contrasts comparing energy expenditure at 3, 6, and 12 months to baseline energy expenditure (*p<0.05, **p<0.01). Comparison of fructose and glucose response analyzed by two-factor repeated measure ANOVA: Sugar×Time interaction = NS. n=6/group. Data are mean ± SEM.
Figure 2
Figure 2
14-h area under the curve (AUC) for plasma TG at baseline and at 2 and 10 weeks of dietary intervention in women consuming 25% of energy as glucose-sweetened beverages (n=3) or fructose-sweetened beverages (n=5). Comparison of fructose and glucose response analyzed by two-factor repeated measures ANOVA using GraphPad Prism (version 4.03; San Diego, CA) with Bonferroni posttests. Sugar×Time interaction: P = 0.017; *P < 0.05 vs 10 wk glucose. Data are mean ± SEM.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Change of plasma TG concentrations from mean baseline levels (0800–0900 h) during four separate 24-h periods (0800–0800 h) in 7 men consuming HFCS-, sucrose-, fructose- and glucose-sweetened beverages at 25% of calculated energy requirements with each meal. Baseline TG concentrations were not different on the four study days. The effects of the 4 sugars on 24-h TG AUC were significantly different (p=0.007: repeated measures one-factor ANOVA) and the 24-h AUC during HFCS was significantly higher than during glucose consumption (p<0.01, Tukey’s post-test). Data are mean ± SEM.
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