In The Regular Diet of Adolescents Increases Cardiovascular Risk
Study Confirms High Levels of
Fructose Intake by Adolescents Evidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes
risk is present in the blood of adolescents who consume too much fructose, commonly consumed
as high fructose corn syrup.
Compounding the problem is excess belly fat, according to researchers from the Medical College
of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University.
The potential for heart ailments increases even more when there's fat around their midsection.
An analysis of 559 adolescents age 14-18 correlated high-fructose diets with higher blood pressure, fasting glucose, insulin resistance and inflammatory factors that contribute to heart and vascular disease.
The adolesents who consume high amounts
also tend to have lower levels of cardiovascular protectors such as such as HDL cholesterol and adiponectin, according to the researchers.
These dangerous trends are further aggrevated by fat around their midsection (called visceral adiposity) another known risk factor for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Interestingly. the association did not hold up for adolescents with more generalized, subcutaneous fat.
"It is so very important to provide a healthy balance of high-quality food to our children and
to really pay close attention to the fructose and sucrose they are consuming at their home
or anyone else's," said Dr. Vanessa Bundy,
one of the researchers and authors on the
study published in The Journal of Nutrition.
"The nutrition that caregivers provide their children will either contribute to their overall
health and development or potentially contribute
to cardiovascular disease at an early age,"
Dr. Bundy said. The best way caregivers can support healthy nutrition is to be good role models, she said. A healthy diet with plenty of physical activity, not dieting is the best prescription for growing, learning children.
"Adolescents consume the most fructose so it's really important to not only measure the levels of fructose but to look at what it might be doing to their bodies currently and, hopefully, to look at cardiovascular disease outcomes as they grow," co-researcher Dr. Pollock said.
More scientific evidence is needed to support dramatic steps to effectively curb consumption by children, such as asking schools to remove soda and other vending machines or, at least, to limit access, the researchers said.
They noted that more study is needed to specifically understand the relationship between high fructose consumption and cardiovascular risk and whether these early associations predict adult disease.
Although Fructose (defined as fruit sugar) is naturally found in fruits and veggies, it mostly
consumed in high fructose corn syrup, the low
cost sweetener commonly used in processed
foods and beverages.
Researchers suspect growing bodies crave the cheap, liberally-used sweetener...
The food companies often target young consumers in their marketing and advertising.
"Fructose itself is metabolized differently than other sugars and has some byproducts that are believed to be bad for us," the researchers explained. They said. "The overall amount of fructose that is in high fructose corn syrup is not much different than the amount in table sugar, but it's believed there's something in the syrup processing that plays a
role in the bad by-products of metabolism."
The study looked at food consumption adolescents' lives, specifically looking at overall fructose consumption, as well as their general diet history and body fat. "A unique aspect of our study design is that we took into account the fructose released
from sucrose during digestion along with the fructose found in foods and beverages," the
research scientists said.
"Because sucrose is broken down into fructose and glucose before it arrives at the liver for metabolism, it is important to consider the additional fructose from sucrose when determining the overall health effect of fructose."
Story Source:
Georgia Health Sciences University.
Journal Reference:
Greater Fructose Consumption Is Associated with Cardiometabolic Risk Markers and Visceral Adiposity in Adolescents. Journal of Nutrition, 2011;
Georgia Health Sciences University
(2012, January 24).
"High levels of fructose consumption by adolescents may put them at cardiovascular risk, evidence suggests"
This article is for informational and educational purposes only; It is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Consult your doctor orhealthcare professional.
