Nutritious food is generally associated with bland taste, but natural healthy food has a saviour when it comes to taste buds in the form of fruit sugar or fructose. This sugar found in fruit is a health boon, but as it finds place in artificially sweetened beverages, its high content could be a health risk. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, recently put 23 overweight adults, between 43 to 70 years of age, on a strictly-controlled high-carb, moderate-fat diet for two weeks, following which their heart disease risk factors, such as blood fats, cholesterol, and weight, were measured. Then, for eight weeks, the volunteers were allowed to eat whatever they wanted, as long as they drank three sweetened beverages every day. Half the subjects drank pure fructose-sweetened beverages, the other half took pure glucose-sweetened drinks. In just two weeks, those on fructose-sweetened beverages showed signs of increasing risk of heart disease such as increased LDL (low-density lipoprotein) or “bad” cholesterol and blood fats. Their insulin sensitivity decreased, putting them at risk of diabetes. Besides, they also gained weight. Those on glucose drinks showed none of these signs. 

Dieticians say, notwithstanding the new study, there’s no need to worry about fructose as you bite into your fruit. “It’s only standalone fructose which can cause a problem. In fruit, it occurs with fibre. The roughage uses fructose for breaking down, which means less of the sugar is deposited in the body and, as a result, no real harm sets in,” says Dr Kajal Pandya, nutritionist, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, Delhi.
The point remains though that fructose, when consumed without fibre, could be harmful, if used in large quantities over a long period of time—something that’s difficult to ascertain. For, fructose, because of its syrupiness quotient, has become an ubiquitous commercial sweetener —used in soft drinks, cakes, breads, toffees and chewing gums. 

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