The fructose content in some sweetened drinks might increase your blood pressure.
There is a growing body of evidence that too much of the ubiquitous sugar - found in fruits as well as high-fructose corn syrup and table sugar - can have important health consequences. To test the link between blood pressure and fructose, researchers studied 4,528 Americans who answered a survey that included questions about all sources of fructose.
On average, the researchers found that the participants consumed 74 grams of fructose per day - roughly the amount in four soft drinks. Even though none of them had experienced blood pressure problems, about a third turned out to have borderline high blood pressure and eight percent had high blood pressure.
The more fructose their diet had, more likely were they to have high blood pressure. Of course, that could have been influenced by a variety of factors, such as obesity and disease, or getting too much of other sugars, salt or alcohol. But even after adjusting for all these factors, the chances of having high blood pressure were still high in those whose fructose intake was above average. For the most severe form - stage 2 hypertension - the chances were 77 percent higher.
The researchers recommend that people should watch out for the fructose content in sweet drinks they consume.
There is a growing body of evidence that too much of the ubiquitous sugar - found in fruits as well as high-fructose corn syrup and table sugar - can have important health consequences. To test the link between blood pressure and fructose, researchers studied 4,528 Americans who answered a survey that included questions about all sources of fructose.
On average, the researchers found that the participants consumed 74 grams of fructose per day - roughly the amount in four soft drinks. Even though none of them had experienced blood pressure problems, about a third turned out to have borderline high blood pressure and eight percent had high blood pressure.
The more fructose their diet had, more likely were they to have high blood pressure. Of course, that could have been influenced by a variety of factors, such as obesity and disease, or getting too much of other sugars, salt or alcohol. But even after adjusting for all these factors, the chances of having high blood pressure were still high in those whose fructose intake was above average. For the most severe form - stage 2 hypertension - the chances were 77 percent higher.
The researchers recommend that people should watch out for the fructose content in sweet drinks they consume.
