Kathleen A. Page, M.D., of Yale University School of Medicine, and colleagues reported the first examination of the effects of fructose on brain chemistry and activity in brain regions that regulate appetite in the January 1, 2013, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study included 20 healthy adult volunteers who underwent two magnetic resonance imaging sessions in conjunction with fructose or glucose drink ingestion. The primary outcome measure for the study was the relative changes in cerebral blood flow to the hypothalamus after glucose or fructose ingestion.
“Glucose but not fructose ingestion reduced the activation of the hypothalamus, insula, and striatum - brain regions that regulate appetite, motivation, and reward processing; glucose ingestion also increased functional connections between the hypothalamic-striatal network and increased satiety."
"The disparate responses to fructose were associated with reduced systemic levels of the satiety-signaling hormone insulin and were not likely attributable to an inability of fructose to cross the blood-brain barrier into the hypothalamus or to a lack of hypothalamic expression of genes necessary for fructose metabolism."
The projected rates of obesity in Alabama by 2030 (17 years) are 60 percent according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The research indicates a lower consumption of fructose may improve a person’s chances of weight loss if they have made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight.
The research was reviewed at the Eureka Alert website the date of publication.
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