High fructose diet not good for monkeys

By 23. July 2013Blog, Health, Nutrition

In a study published in the August edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers claim that non human primates (NHP) fed a calorie controlled diet but high in fructose showed signs of kidney damage.

Previous animal studies have suggested that high fructose intake can lead to fatty acid disease but these diets were also high in calories. In this study the NHPs were split into 3 groups, (1) high fructose non restricted diet, (2) high fructose calorie controlled diet and (3) low fructose low fat (control) diet. In diet (1) the amount of ectopic fat, i.e. fat in places where it should not be, increased in relation to the duration of the diet, and diabetes also increased. In diet (2) markers of liver damage increased but the animals did not develop fatty liver.

However, in a comment on the research published in the same journal limitations of the research were noted including that the fructose fed group were significantly older than the control group so conclusions must be drawn carefully, especially in relation to the incidence of diabetes.

Nevertheless a though provoking publication. Oh and just for the record, despite looking like he’s one of the calorie controlled group, the grumpy guy in the picture did not take part in the study.

Click here to read the article, click here to read the comment.