Washington, April 25 (IANS) A 10-week study has thrown up evidence that consumption of fructose-sweetened, not glucose-sweetened beverages, can adversely affect both sensitivity to insulin and how the body handles fats, creating conditions that invite heart attacks and strokes.
In the study, conducted by Peter Havel and colleagues at the University of California-Davis (UCD), overweight individuals consumed glucose-or fructose-sweetened beverages that provided 25 percent of their energy requirements for 10 weeks, said a UCD release.

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

Further, 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).