Study: Added sugar in U.S. diet harmful

U.S. researchers found evidence that human consumption of fructose-sweetened but not glucose-sweetened beverages can adversely affect sensitivity to insulin.

Peter Havel and colleagues, at the University of California at Davis, said that in 2005, the average American consumed 141 pounds of added sugar, a sizable proportion via drinking soft drinks. Added sugar is any sugar added to food — sugar in cake, candy or soft drinks — but not sugar naturally found in foods like an orange or apple, researchers said.

In the study, overweight and obese individuals consumed glucose- or fructose-sweetened beverages that provided 25 percent of their energy requirements for 10 weeks.

During this period, individuals in both groups put on about the same amount of weight, but only those consuming fructose-sweetened beverages exhibited an increase in intra-abdominal fat — belly fat.

Only these individuals became less sensitive to the hormone insulin, which controls glucose levels in the blood, and showed signs of dyslipidemia — increased levels of fat-soluble molecules known as lipids in the blood, the study said.

The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.