Corn syrup and sugar do not increase liver fat…..

By 18. February 2013Blog, Health, Nutrition, Quality

…when consumed at normal levels. Research published this week ahead of print on the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism’s website has found that consuming high fructose corn syrup or sugar at levels comparable to 90% of the population did not increase the level of fat in the liver or muscles.

It has been suggested that excessive fructose consumption can lead to increased fat levels in the liver and muscles. It has also been suggested that that consuming glucose with fructose heightens this build up. Bravo et al. hypothesized that these statements are incorrect and so gave volunteers milk sweetened with high fructose corn syrup or sugar at levels covering 90% of the average intake. Some previous research had apparently given volunteers level that were far in excessive of the normal diet or given glucose or sucrose alone, a situation that does not normally occur.

There have already been negative statements posted about this paper because one of the authors has received funding from the Corn refiners association and Pepsico. However, this is obviously a topic they are interested in and that is why in research publications you have to state any conflicts of interest. Whether it holds up to scrutiny or not, it makes an interesting read.

The paper is available from the NRC research press website.