Fructose May Not Be Sole Cause of Weight Gain

Fructose may not be any more responsible for increased weight gain than other carbohydrates, a new study found. 

In trials analyzing normal energy intake, fructose had no effects on body weight, found David Jenkins, MD, PhD, DSc, of the University of Toronto, and colleagues. 

While high doses of fructose are associated with weight gain, overall caloric intake could just as easily be responsible.  

"Excess energy may be a more important consideration than the type of sugar for weight gain," Jenkins and colleagues wrote.

Using a collected 637 patients from 31 isocaloric trials and 119 patients from 10 hypercaloric trials (excluding trials in which fructose was given as high-fructose corn syrup), researchers found that fructose had no effect on the isocaloric patients and was associated with a significant weight gain in hypercaloric patients.  This gain, however, may be attributed to excess calories, rather than the fructose itself. 

"It becomes difficult to disentangle the relative contributions of fructose, excess energy, and their interaction in the body weight-increasing effect of fructose in hypercaloric trials,” researchers concluded.