A study conducted jointly by specialists from the University of Zurich and the University Hospital of Zurich highlights the harmful effects of sugar in certain forms.
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The devastating effects of fructose and sucrose
In the Swiss study published on 5 March in the Journal of Hepatology, 94 men were kept under observation. No women were included in this panel to avoid any disturbance linked to hormonal cycles or contraception. Some of the participants took a sweetened drink containing fructose every day for seven weeks, others glucose, others sucrose (which is composed of glucose and fructose), and finally a group consumed a sugar-free drink.
The researchers followed these 94 guinea pigs and the results were clear. Those who consumed a drink with fructose continued to produce twice as much fat 12 hours after ingestion as those who took a drink with glucose or without sugar. And it was even worse for those who took drinks containing sucrose.
Only '8 dl of a commercial soft drink' is needed
The drinks that contained fructose, glucose or sucrose, contained the equivalent of 80g of sugar. Philipp Gerber, head of the study, explained in a statement how the results of the study translate into our daily lives.
80 grams of sugar per day, the equivalent of about 8 decilitres of a commercial soft drink, increases fat production in the liver. And this overactivity continues for a longer period of time, even if you don't add any more sugar.
In 2015, the World Health Organization issued a press release calling on countries to reduce sugar intake in adults and children. It explained that the ideal would be to reduce sugar intake to 5% of total energy intake, or 25 grams (about 6 teaspoons).
